The next step in pushing out the residents of Masafer Yatta – live-fire drills right next to homes

The IDF has resumed live-fire training in Firing Zone 918 in Masafer Yatta, where about 1,150 Palestinians live. The 405th Artillery Battalion trained there last week. The IDF explains that illegal construction prevented such drills for years. On the margins of the zone, the state is advancing a plan for 278 housing units in the Avigail outpost, which was established without a permit.

The IDF has resumed live-fire training in Firing Zone 918 in Masafer Yatta, where about 1,150 Palestinians live. The 405th Artillery Battalion trained there last week, and the IDF explains that illegal construction in the area prevented such drills for years. On the margins of that firing zone sits the Avigail outpost, established in 2001 without a permit, part of which lies within the zone. The Palestinian villages may be evacuated for training purposes, as the High Court of Justice ruled in 2022. The state is regularizing Avigail: a plan for 278 housing units there is at the stage of resolving objections. The article highlights a contrast between the treatment of Palestinian villages and the regularization of the outpost.