Lasafer

Laseifer لصيفر Lasafer; Lseifer; al-Laseifer; Khirbet Laseifer
Hamlet
Laseifer Location within the West Bank, Palestine
Coordinates: 31°22′18″N 35°07′25″E / 31.3716°N 35.1235°E / 31.3716; 35.1235
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Hebron Governorate
Area	Masafer Yatta
Elevation	734 m (2,408 ft)
Time zone	UTC+2
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3

Laseifer (Arabic: لصيفر; also: Lasafer, Lseifer, Khirbet Laseifer) is a small Palestinian herding hamlet in the South Hebron Hills, within the Masafer Yatta cluster of communities in the Hebron Governorate of the southern West Bank. Like other Masafer Yatta localities, it lies in Area C; large parts of the surrounding landscape were designated Firing Zone 918 in the 1980s, constraining planning, service connections and access to land.^[1]

Geography

Laseifer is situated east of Yatta among the dispersed cave-dwelling and herding sites that comprise Masafer Yatta. Humanitarian and field profiles describe the area as characterized by seasonal grazing grounds, rain-fed cisterns and agricultural tracks linking adjacent hamlets such as Umm al-Kheir, Tuba and al-Tha'la.^[1]

History

In the late nineteenth century the Survey of Western Palestine described Khurbet el Asfir as consisting of “foundations, and heaps of drafted masonry,” noting that “no cisterns were found.” A Roman road was also recorded as passing the ruin.^[2]

The broader Masafer Yatta landscape (Arabic masāfer, “travelling”) has long supported semi-sedentary pastoralism adapted to caves and cistern-based water storage. Communities like Laseifer developed around family compounds, with structures ranging from tents and tin shacks to stone rooms, alongside carved caves used as dwellings or storerooms.^[1]

The village is inhabited by the Abu Qubeita family is a Palestinian family from Yatta, noted for its decades-long struggle to remain on its land in the face of repeated attempts at displacement by Israeli authorities and settlers. Since the early 1980s, parts of the family's land in the al-Asafeer area were incorporated into the settlement of Mitzpe Yair (also known as "Metzadot Yehuda"), despite the family's possession of Ottoman-era land deeds.^[3]

Legal–administrative context

Following the June 1967 war, the area came under Israeli occupation and was later categorized as Area C under the Oslo Accords. In the 1980s, large parts of Masafer Yatta were declared Firing Zone 918, restricting civilian construction, service connections and access to land.^[1] Humanitarian organizations have warned of escalating risks of forcible transfer facing Masafer Yatta communities, including through settler violence, demolitions and movement restrictions.^[4]

In 2009, *Al Jazeera* reported on the longstanding struggle of the Palestinian Abu Qbeita family who have lived for decades under difficult conditions while resisting eviction from their inherited lands near the Israeli settlement of Meṣadot Yehuda (Beit Yair). According to the report, several households from the family have endured repeated demolitions of their tin and stone homes—in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2008—as well as ongoing harassment by Israeli soldiers and settlers aimed at forcing them to leave their property in the al-Asafeer area. Family elder Muḥammad Khalīl Abū Qbeita (Abu Khalīl) stated that he holds Ottoman-era title deeds proving ownership of about 150 dunams of land, but Israeli authorities nevertheless began building a settlement on parts of it in the early 1980s. The family lives without basic services such as water, electricity, or transport, relying on an old tractor to move about, and must cross an Israeli checkpoint daily to reach their homes enclosed by the separation barrier. Despite multiple appeals and limited court rulings in their favor that were never implemented, they continue to face restrictions on movement and frequent searches of children and school pupils at the checkpoint. Abū Qbeita emphasized that he has received little support from Palestinian officials or rights organizations and remains determined to remain on his ancestral land despite the hardships.^[5]

The village underwent four demolitions between 2002 and 2008, as well as restrictions on movement imposed by military checkpoints and the construction of the separation barrier around the settlement. The family of around sixty people, many of them children, lives without basic infrastructure such as water and electricity, and relies on makeshift shelters and an old tractor as their sole means of transport.^[3]

Legal proceedings in Israeli courts occasionally acknowledged the family's claims, including a ruling to remove a settlement playground built on their land, but such rulings were not enforced. Residents are also required to obtain permits from the Israeli military to live in their own homes or to cross the settlement's checkpoint, where children are subjected to document checks on a daily basis.^[3]

Despite repeated appeals to Palestinian officials and international human rights organizations, the family reported little effective support. They describe their struggle as a solitary effort to preserve their land and identity against continuous pressure to leave.^[3]

Access and services

• Road access: Access is by unpaved agricultural tracks that link neighboring hamlets; humanitarian sources note recurrent access constraints typical of firing-zone localities.^[1]
• Water and power: Households rely on rain-fed cisterns and trucked water; electricity is typically provided by small solar arrays rather than a public grid connection.^[1]
• Planning and permits: Rights groups and local outlets document stop-work and demolition orders affecting homes and structures in Laseifer.^[6][7]

Population and livelihoods

Laseifer's families rely primarily on small-ruminant herding (goats and sheep), with seasonal grazing and limited dryland plots—patterns typical of Masafer Yatta hamlets under Area C restrictions.^[1]

Notable incidents

• 22 May 2025: Media reported an Israeli military raid and wide searches in the village of Laseifer in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.^[8][9]
• Early 2025: Palestine TV reported the demolition of a house in Laseifer without prior notice.^[7]

See also

• Masafer Yatta
• South Hebron Hills
• Firing Zone 918
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict

External links

• UN OCHA – materials on Masafer Yatta

References

1. "Fact sheet: Masafer Yatta communities at risk of forcible transfer". UN OCHA. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
2. C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener, The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology, Volume III: Judaea (London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1883), p. 408.
3. "عائلة "أبو قبيطة".. عقود في مواجهة الاحتلال والمستوطنين". Al Jazeera. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
4. "Call to Action: Risk of Forcible Transfer in Masafer Yatta". ReliefWeb (NRC et al.). 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
5. عوض الرجوب (5 March 2009). "عائلة "أبو قبيطة".. عقود في مواجهة الاحتلال والمستوطنين" [The Abu Qbeita Family: Decades Confronting the Occupation and Settlers]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Media Network.
6. "الاحتلال يسلم اخطارات وقف عمل لمساكن المواطنين في قرية لصيفر الواقعه خلف الجدار بمسافر يطا". Facebook (Menbar al-Karmel) (in Arabic). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
7. "هدم منزل في قرية اللصيفر بمسافر يطا جنوب الخليل". Palestine TV (Instagram) (in Arabic). January 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
8. "عاجل | قوات الاحتلال تقتحم قرية لصيفر في مسافر يطا جنوب الخليل وتنفذ عمليات تفتيش". Nabd (in Arabic). 22 May 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
9. "قوات الاحتلال تقتحم قرية لصيفر في مسافر يطا جنوب الخليل وتنفذ عمليات تفتيش". Quds News Network (Twitter/X) (in Arabic). 22 May 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.