Palestinians fearing eviction from their homes resolve to stay put.

Everything in Jinba, a Bedouin village in the West Bank, is improvised, the result of decades of insecurity. Homes are made of tin and plastic sheets, water is delivered by truck, and electricity is provided by batteries or a few solar panels.

Thousands of Palestinians in a cluster of Bedouin communities in the southern West Bank have had their lives put on hold for more than four decades, when Israel proclaimed the area they farmed and lived on a military fire and training zone.

Residents of the Masafer Yatta region have faced demolitions, land seizures, restrictions, food and water supply shortages, and the persistent threat of genocide since that decision in early 1981.

This Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court maintained a long-standing deportation order against eight of the twelve Palestinian hamlets that make up Masafer Yatta, potentially displacing at least 1,000 people.

On Friday, some inhabitants expressed their determination to remain on the property.

The decision came after Palestinians had fought for more than two decades in court to keep their homes. Israel claims that the people only use the property for seasonal agricultural and that they were offered a deal that would allow them access to the land on a limited basis.

According to Palestinians, if the verdict is enforced, all 12 communities with a population of 4,000 people, predominantly Bedouins who rely on animal husbandry, will be evicted.

Residents of Jinba, one of the hamlets, warned on Friday that any compromise would be unacceptable because they have lived in the area since long before Israel invaded the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.

Issa Abu Eram was born 48 years ago in a cave in the rough mountainous region and has had a difficult existence because development is prohibited here.

He and his family dwell in a cave during the winter. They dwell in caravans around the cave throughout the summer. His goats provide revenue, and he had spread out dozens of hardened goat milk yoghurt balls on the roof of a shanty to dry on Friday.

He claimed that his children were raised with the threat.

“He didn’t live anywhere else than Jinba.” “How are you going to persuade him… to relocate?” he wondered.

The Palestinian leadership issued a statement on Friday condemning an Israeli Supreme Court verdict issued on Wednesday, when most of Israel was closed for Independence Day.

The removal order “amounts to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, in contravention of international law and applicable UN Security Council resolutions,” according to Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel’s interior minister said on Friday that plans to build 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank are moving forward. If passed, it would be the most significant step forward in settlement negotiations since the Biden administration took office.

The White House opposes settlement expansion because it jeopardizes the likelihood of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem in the future.

For nearly 55 years, the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation. Masafer Yatta is located in the 60% of Palestinian land where the Palestinian Authority is not allowed to operate. Palestinians want the West Bank to be the centerpiece of their future state.

In the area, Jewish settlers have built outposts that are not officially sanctioned by Israel but are defended by the IDF. A community in the vicinity was attacked by dozens of settlers last fall, and a 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after being hit in the head with a stone.

For the time being, the families claim they only have one option: to remain on their farm.

“I don’t have a choice, and they can’t take me away,” said Khalid al-Jabarin, a farmer standing outside a goat shed. “Israel’s entire government is powerless to remove me.” We will not go… we will not leave because we are the people who live here.”

“Why would they send a replacement from South Africa to live in the high mountains, on our territory, and replace us, and remove us, why?” he asked, referring to settlers from other countries.