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Al-Mirkaz

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Al-Mirkaz
المركز(Arabic)
Village / hamlet
Al-Mirkaz is located in the West Bank
Al-Mirkaz
Al-Mirkaz
Location within the West Bank
Coordinates: 31°21′49″N 35°09′04″E / 31.36361°N 35.15111°E / 31.36361; 35.15111
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron Governorate
AreaMasafer Yatta
Population
 • Total
~150–300 (2,022–2,025 est.)
Time zoneUTC+2 (UTC+3 DST)

Al-Mirkaz (Arabic: المركز) is a small Palestinian hamlet located in the Masafer Yatta region of the Hebron Governorate, in the southern West Bank. It is administered under Palestinian local frameworks but lies within Area C of the West Bank, under direct Israeli civil and military occupation. The hamlet faces chronic challenges related to displacement, loss of infrastructure, and settler-related violence.[1]

History and archaeology

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1880s al-Mirkaz on the PEF Survey of Palestine map of Masafer Yatta
al-Mirkaz on 1940s-50s Survey of Palestine map of Masafer Yatta

The Masafer region is called after the Arabic words for 'traveling.'[2]

The site appears as "Mirkus or Mirkad", on Van de Velde's map of Palestine, charted in 1851-1852, and published in 1858.[1]

According to the 1870s Survey of Western Palestine, Khurbet el-Merkez contained “traces of ruins,” including “foundations and heaps of stones.”[3]

Al-Mirkaz was first settled by families from Yatta in the 19th century. The area encompasses caves and terraced fields that local scholars and residents identify as part of longstanding seasonal and permanent habitation.

In the British Mandate Period, Al-Mirkaz's residents relied on a mixed agrarian economy of animal husbandry, orchard cultivation and field crops. Natan Shalem, the geographer who surveyed the area in 1931, recorded Markaz as one of the Yatta offshoot villages with caves, water cisterns, and cultivated fields, emphasizing its permanent nature long before 1967.[4]

Khirbet al-Markaz was shelled during an Israeli assault of November 1966. UN Security Council records describe Israeli tanks and armored vehicles bombarding the settlement before troops entered and blew up houses. The Israeli state later argued that the area was only sporadically inhabited.[5]

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Al-Mirkaz, Masafer Yatta, general view

Since 1967, Masafer Yatta—including Al-Mirkaz—has fallen within Israel’s declared Firing Zone 918, allowing routine demolitions and displacement under the Israeli military framework.[6] A 2022 Israeli Supreme Court ruling upheld eviction orders affecting eight penalized hamlets in Masafer Yatta, potentially impacting over 2,000 residents.[7]

Al-Mirkaz’s residents frequently face demolition orders for homes, cisterns, and solar units due to the difficulty of obtaining Israeli-issued building permits. Many inhabitants rely on temporary structures and community cisterns.[8]

The increasing persecution, harassment and violence have compelled many families to leave al-Mirkaz—a process NGOs described as ethnic cleansing.[9][10][11]

Population and livelihoods

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Massafer Yatta in the Hebron Hills, West Bank

Local inhabitants are sedentary farmers, numbering approximately 150–300 in recent years. They speak Arabic and maintain livelihoods based on goat herding, olive cultivation, and grazing. Dependence on water tankers, solar panels, and community cisterns is common due to limited infrastructure access.[12]

Settler violence

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Saturday Evening armed Israeli settler attack against unarmed Palestinian civilian and international humanitarian aid workers, Khirbet al-Mirkaz, November, 2025

In November 2025, several Palestinian, regional, and international media outlets reported a sharp escalation of Israeli settler attacks against the civilian population of al-Mirkaz accompanied by injuries, property damage, and growing insecurity for residents. According to Al Jazeera, settler violence intensified across the South Hebron Hills during this period, with assaults documented in and around the hamlet as part of a broader surge in West Bank attacks.[13]

Video published by the Times of Israel showed settlers assaulting Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, consistent with additional reports identifying al-Mirkaz as one of the affected communities.[14] A separate live report by the same outlet noted that seven settler attacks were recorded in a single night across the West Bank, indicating what it described as an intensifying pattern of violence that included incidents in the South Hebron Hills region.[15]

More detailed accounts from regional and local agencies reported direct injuries in al-Mirkaz itself. Anadolu Agency stated that five Palestinians were wounded when settlers attacked residents with sticks and stones, damaging property before Israeli forces arrived.[16] Najah News likewise reported settler groups entering the hamlet, assaulting residents, and vandalizing structures belonging to local families.[17] The Egyptian newspaper Youm7 also reported injuries resulting from attacks on al-Mirkaz, describing beatings and extensive property damage.[18]

On January 27, 2026, approximately 100 Israeli settlers raided al-Tabban, al-Fakhit, Halawah, and al-Mirkaz. The marauders attacked the unarmed citizens with sticks fitted with knives, injured six Palestinians (including two women and a child), stole 300 sheep, and burned the villages' supply of firewood necessary for staying warm in the middle of winter.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jinba Background – Living Archive". living-archive.org. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
  2. ^ At Tuwani &Mosfaret Yatta Profile. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ). 2009.
  3. ^ Conder and Kitchener, Survey of Western Palestine, Vol. III: Judaea, p. 409.
  4. ^ Amira Hass, "Israel Blew Up Their Houses in 1966. Now It Claims Their Village Never Existed," Haaretz, 27 April 2021
  5. ^ Amira Hass, "Israel Blew Up Their Houses in 1966. Now It Claims Their Village Never Existed," Haaretz, 27 April 2021
  6. ^ https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2013-07-05/ty-article/.premium/tiny-wb-village-to-be-huge-army-training-zone/0000017f-db6c-d856-a37f-ffecdb870000
  7. ^ Reiff, Ben (2022-05-12). "Armed with High Court expulsion order, Israel's bulldozers arrive in Masafer Yatta". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  8. ^ abukhdeir, thawra (2022-10-01). "Evacuation of Villagers in the Masafer Yatta Area of the South Hebron Hills | Association for Civil Rights in Israel". ACRI - english. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  9. ^ ""Israel is Implementing Practices of Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians" | Faces of the Occupation | Looking the Occupation in the Eye". www.mistaclim.org. Retrieved 2025-06-14.
  10. ^ "Ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta: a focus on Susiya". Home. 2025-04-03. Retrieved 2025-06-14.
  11. ^ "Breaking the Silence › Testimony › The village was turned upside down". Breaking the Silence. Retrieved 2025-06-14.
  12. ^ McKernan, Bethan (2022-05-12). "Israel approves 2,700 housing units in illegal West Bank settlements". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  13. ^ "تصاعد اعتداءات المستوطنين في الضفة". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  14. ^ "Footage shows settlers attacking Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  15. ^ "7 settler attacks reported overnight across West Bank". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  16. ^ "الضفة: إصابة 5 فلسطينيين بهجوم مستوطنين جنوب الخليل". Anadolu Agency (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  17. ^ "اعتداءات مستوطنين على خربة المركز جنوب الخليل". Najah News (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  18. ^ "إصابات بهجوم مستوطنين على خربة المركز جنوب الخليل". Youm7 (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  19. ^ Ta'ayush (in Hebrew) https://taayush.org/?p=6501. Retrieved 2026-03-02. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

31°24′N 35°06′E / 31.4°N 35.1°E / 31.4; 35.1