Nidal Younis is the mayor of Masafer Yatta and head of the Masafer Yatta village council. He has been active in attempts to save his community since the 1990s. Interview recorded February 29 2024.
Masafer Yatta is a Palestinian hamlet in the occupied West Bank, which has been fighting for its survival. Israel’s occupation forces declared this area made up of 12 Palestinian villages a firing zone in the 1980s. By 1999, the Israeli army had rounded up more than 700 Palestinian residents into trucks and expelled them to other villages. In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition against the eviction of more than 1,000 Palestinian inhabitants from the area.