Al-Rakiz
Khirbet al-Rakiz is a small Palestinian herding hamlet in the South Hebron Hills within the Masafer Yatta area of the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. Like other Masafer Yatta communities, it is administered under Palestinian local frameworks yet lies in Area C under direct Israeli civil and military control. Since the 1970s much of Masafer Yatta has been designated as Firing Zone 918, with residents facing demolition orders, restrictions on infrastructure, and recurrent settler-related incidents.
History and archaeology
The broader Masafer Yatta region historically functioned as a seasonal grazing landscape with cave dwellings adapted for semi‑sedentary life; many present‑day hamlets trace their families to nearby Yatta and other localities. While specific archaeological surveys at al‑Rakiz are limited in published sources, the hamlet shares the region's pattern of caves, cisterns, terraces and small field plots characteristic of the South Hebron Hills.In December 2020, soldiers attempted to confiscate a generator belonging to a resident, Ashraf Amor. His friend, Harun Abu Aram, was shot in the neck while trying to prevent the seizure and was left paralyzed. The case became emblematic of the ongoing military pressures on Masafer Yatta communities. Residents presented material artifacts such as old ovens, farming tools, and pottery to document their longstanding presence in the area when asked for proof by their lawyers in 2021.
Legal–administrative context
Following the June 1967 war, Masafer Yatta came under Israeli occupation and was included in Area C. Large parts were declared Firing Zone 918 for military training, restricting civilian building and service connections. In May 2022, the Supreme Court of Israel dismissed petitions by residents, paving the way for evictions across eight hamlets in the firing zone. As in neighboring villages, residents of al‑Rakiz report chronic barriers to connecting to the electricity grid and water networks and rely on solar panels and water tankers.Population and livelihoods
Al‑Rakiz is one of the smaller Masafer Yatta communities, with estimates typically in the low hundreds. Households practice mixed herding, small‑plot dryland farming, and seasonal grazing. Water is primarily supplied by tanker and rain‑fed cisterns; electricity is commonly provided by solar units, with periodic confiscations and demolitions reported.Settler abuse of the civilian population
On 1 January 2021, resident Harun Abu Aram was shot in the neck at close range during an Israeli operation to confiscate a generator in al‑Rakiz, leaving him paralyzed. He died of his wounds on 14 February 2023. He starred in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.Additional incidents reported by human‑rights and humanitarian organizations include demolitions, tent seizures, vandalism of fences and trees, and grazing incursions by settlers in and around al‑Rakiz.
Shooting of Saʿīd Muhammad Rabāʿ al-ʿAmūr
The shooting of Saʿīd Muhammad Rabāʿ al-ʿAmūr occurred on 17 April 2025 in Khirbet al-Rakiz. According to human rights organization B'Tselem and multiple Palestinian and regional news outlets, an armed Israeli settler—reportedly wearing an IDF uniform—shot al-ʿAmūr, aged 59, at point-blank range while he was on his land, seriously injuring him and leading to the amputation of his right leg.Incident
According to B'Tselem’s field investigation, four armed settlers—including the security officer the illegal nearby settlement of Avigayil—entered the agricultural land of Saʿīd al-ʿAmūr near his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez, and began erecting poles and stretching wires through his property. When al-ʿAmūr approached them with his sons and demanded that they leave, one of the settlers attacked his 16-year-old son Ilyās, who was filming the incident on his phone. As al-ʿAmūr intervened to protect his son, the settlement guard fired two shots into the air before shooting al-ʿAmūr at point-blank range in the leg.Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting. Instead of detaining the assailant, they arrested the injured father and his son. Al-ʿAmūr was taken by an Israeli ambulance to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where he underwent two surgeries; doctors amputated his leg above the knee due to the severity of the wound.
The following day, police interrogated al-ʿAmūr in hospital on the false charges of "assaulting soldiers." His son Ilyās, who had been detained immediately after the incident, was interrogated at the Kiryat Arba police station on allegations of attempting to seize a weapon, and was later transferred to Ofer Prison. Both father and son were released on bail after a military court hearing on 20 April 2025.
Eyewitness accounts collected by B'Tselem and local residents indicated that the shooter was wearing an Israeli army uniform and that settlers present had repeatedly threatened al-ʿAmūr in previous weeks, ordering him to leave his land.
Aftermath
After being released from Israeli custody, al-ʿAmūr was transferred by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, where he remained under treatment. His family reported ongoing trauma and fear of further attacks.Human rights groups including B'Tselem and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights denounced the attack as part of a broader pattern of settler violence against Palestinian residents in the South Hebron Hills under Israeli military protection.