taz: Mr. Khalil, I have not been able to reach you for this interview in the last few days. After two days, you wrote to me from your home in Massafer Yatta, in the south of the West Bank: “I’m terribly sorry. Things have just escalated again.” Now you have a moment to speak. What is your situation?
Ibrahim Khalil: We are desperate. We are afraid. A few days ago I came back from the hospital with my grandparents in the evening, just as the settlers’ attacks began. It was the most violent attack in a long time. The settlers attacked three of our villages in Massafer Yatta at the same time – and they appeared to have coordinated with the Israeli army.
In a village they beat a resident with sticks and clubs. Until he suffered skull fractures. They also broke his mother’s arm. Security camera footage also shows a group of settlers stealing a flock of sheep. And men in uniform running behind them.
The military also arrested two women from another village and took them to a military base, where they were held handcuffed and blindfolded throughout the night.
The military has even reduced the size of the fire zone at times – probably in order to avoid having to evacuate some settlements that would otherwise be within the zone
Ibrahim Khalil, resident of Massafer Yatta
taz: Your home has been the scene of violence for decades. Fire zone 918 – this was what the Israeli military declared large parts of Massafer Yatta in the 1980s. And thus a restricted military area. In 1999, Israel evacuated the area for the first time. You were still a toddler then.
Ibrahim Khalil: My grandparents and parents kept telling me about the eviction. And there are pictures of it in the archives of B’Tselem and other Israeli human rights organizations. On it you can see the military trucks dropping us and our belongings outside the 918 fire zone. More than 700 people were displaced at that time.
taz: Since then, your community has been fighting for the right to stay in the villages of Massafer Yatta.
Ibrahim Khalil: My family and other residents went to Israel’s Supreme Court in 2000. The Israeli human rights organization Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) supported us. The Court ruled: We can return under an interim injunction and they would make the final decision later.
The process lasted: In 2022, the Supreme Court in Israel rejected our lawsuit as inadmissible. Apparently the residents of Massafer Yatta were not already living there when the area was declared a restricted military zone. For example, there are aerial photos from the 1940s that show hamlets and cattle stables in the same locations.
taz: In June 2025, the Supreme Court rejected your last attempt to get justice. And now?
Ibrahim Khalil: There is now no way within the Israeli legal system. We can be evacuated by the Israeli military at any time.
Meanwhile, the settlers continue to build outposts around Massafer Yatta, completely cutting us off from the rest of the West Bank. The military has even reduced the fire zone at times – probably in order to avoid having to evacuate some settlements that would otherwise be within the fire zone.
What we have left now is the international public. A Ruling of the International Court of Justice from 2024 clearly characterized Israel’s occupation and actions in the West Bank as illegal. The ICJ ruling called on Israel to leave the occupied territories as quickly as possible. UN member states should contribute to implementation. That’s what we need to focus on now.
taz: The film No Other Land, which depicts your struggle in Massafer Yatta, won the Oscar in 2025. Has the situation changed as a result?
Ibrahim Khalil: The Oscar made Massafer Yatta’s name known throughout the world. We never expected that. But since the film, the whole situation has escalated even more. An example: Co-director Hamdan Ballal was released shortly after returning from the Oscars attacked by Israeli settlers in his village Susiya, they injured his head. Soldiers broke into the ambulance that was taking him to the hospital and took him out, held him for 24 hours, beat him and kept him blindfolded and handcuffed. So we have an Oscar. But we have no protection from that.
taz: The film was made by some supporters of the BDS movement (BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel) criticized. After all, it was created in collaboration with Israelis. How do you deal with such criticism?
Ibrahim Khalil: The reality is that without the Israeli activists and their years of support, the situation would be very different. Because ultimately they are the ones who can defend themselves most strongly against the occupying power, the settlers and the Israeli authorities. You are in a position of power.
If they are arrested, the worst that can happen to them is that they will be banned from the area for 10 or 15 days. Palestinians, on the other hand, can be placed in administrative detention.
taz: Did the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza do nothing to ease the situation in Massafer Yatta?
Ibrahim Khalil: On the contrary. The settlers opposed the ceasefire and put pressure on their political leaders Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to put pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu.
This was particularly noticeable during the olive harvest. The settlers have been particularly violent against the Palestinians, continuing the war in their own way against the civilians in the West Bank, in a sense against the Palestinians they can reach. As a result, Palestinians in the West Bank were hardly able to harvest olives.
taz: In Massafer Yatta you organized yourself to do something about it.
Ibrahim Khalil: Yes, in 2017 we founded the Youth of Sumud group. Sumud means resilience in German. We are young men and women from different villages in Massafer Yatta who believe in non-violent approaches.
We do a lot: we plant trees and provide medical care for people in Massafer Yatta. We do public relations work and guide journalists through our villages. We give workshops on how we Palestinians can defend ourselves – without violence and without giving the Israeli military an excuse to take action against us.
taz: Can you do something if the settlers come?
Ibrahim Khalil: Since October 7th we have had to work night shifts – to protect ourselves and our villages in the event of settler attacks. Unlike many residents of Massafer Yatta, I have to Don’t look after sheep early in the morning – so I take over the night shifts. Most nights I stay awake until 4am and then go to sleep. Since October 7, 2023, I have rarely gotten more than four or five hours of sleep.
We also ensure that all incidents in Massafer Yatta are reported to the Israeli Police. Not that they would do anything about it. But at least our lawyers are collecting these complaints.
taz: What else gives you hope in this situation?
Ibrahim Khalil: I have to admit that my mind is currently closed to anything positive. I want to hope. And I believe that all people have the right to live in peace and security, with equal rights. Maybe this belief alone is something like hope?
Ibrahim Khalil actually has a different name. For his protection, his name will not be published. But he is known to the editors.