Ongoing Violation of the Rights of Duma Residents Due to Military Blockades and Settler Violence
- ACRI
- Mar 16
- 4 min read
The Palestinian village of Duma is home to approximately 3,500 inhabitants. Its economy relies mainly on agriculture and grazing, including growing olives, grains, fruit trees, and sheep, and in the past enjoyed unfettered access to four natural springs. However, over the last decade, the villagers have seen their economic situation and freedom of movement decline significantly. This has been the result of settlement expansion, the establishment of illegal settler outposts adjacent to the village, as well as military policies.
After the outbreak of the war in October 2023, the army blocked all four access roads to the village. After a month the western access road was reopened, but the other three roads, which connect the village to agricultural areas, springs, and grazing lands, remain blocked. This prevents the movement of shepherds, agricultural vehicles, and agricultural tools and causes major harm to the village’s agricultural activity.
Moreover, outpost residents engage in systematic violence against Duma residents. This has included invading the lands of Duma residents, burning crops, stealing herds, armed attacks, and taking over springs and turning them into tourism sites for Jews only. In addition to the military blockades, settlers have also established private blockades to prevent Palestinians from accessing their lands—and those who try are sometimes attacked. Twice in the past year, dozens of settlers raided the village; burned houses, cars and agricultural equipment; broke into homes; and attacked residents. Soldiers who arrived at the scene did not prevent settlers from harming residents, and despite the severity of the incidents there were no investigations and no indictments were filed.
On June 10, 2025 ACRI and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights appealed to the General of the Central Command and the head of the Civil Administration, demanding the removal of all blockades (military and private) and the provision of effective protection for Palestinian shepherds and farmers while they work the land and graze sheep. In the appeal, Attorney Hila Sharon from ACRI and Wadiana Yusuf Maradi Atari from Bimkom describe the ways in which the village’s residents rights are violated, the heavy economic losses they incur, and the danger to their lives and physical safety. They emphasize the army's obligation, under both international law and the Supreme Court’s rulings, to allow Palestinians continuous access to agricultural lands and to protect them from settler violence.
The appeal was not substantively addressed. The military's response on June 15, 2025 asked us to provide the locations of the military's own roadblocks so that it could respond to the appeal. Although we did so, we never received a response.
On November 12, 2025, ACRI and Bimkom sent a third appeal, demanding to receive the order under which the roadblocks had been installed. On December 31, 2025, more than two years after the blockages were put in place, and more than six months after our first appeal, we finally received the directive ordering their placement, which also states that the three blockages are to remain in place until July 1, 2026—i.e, for more than two and a half years the agricultural roads will be blocked and unusable for residents.
On January 29, 2026, ACRI and Bimkom sent an additional appeal to the Commander of IDF Forces in the West Bank, the Head of the Civil Administration, and the Legal Advisor for the West Bank. We noted that roadblocks serve the settlers in the area by pushing Palestinian residents out of increasingly large areas, who then take control of Palestinians' property and land through violent means. Disregarding this reality when making decisions about imposing movement restrictions is contrary to the most basic duties of the military commander to enforce the law, maintain public order, protect the local population, and safeguard their human rights. The fourth appeal reiterated the organizations' previous demands, including the demand to remove the unlawful blockage set up by settlers.
On March 16, 2026, following an escalation in settler violence in the area of the village of Duma, we sent yet another appeal. At the beginning of the war with Iran in 2026, the military closed the main (and only remaining) entrance to the village of Duma for about a week. Residents were able to enter and exit on foot, but settlers from the nearby northwestern outpost harassed those who tried to do so, as well as Palestinian vehicles that stopped near the closed gate to drop off or pick up passengers. The military reopened the gate on March 8, 2026, but for two days settlers continued to prevent residents from leaving, and placed coils of wire on the road to interfere with any vehicles. Settlers also erected another fence along the road leading into the village as an “addition” to the gate set up by the military. In a number of cases, soldiers not only failed to protect residents from violence and harassment, they assisted it by detaining the Palestinians who were being attacked, or by deleting documentation.
In the newest appeal, we noted that the escalation in settler violence in the area since the start of the war with Iran had already led to the displacement of the Ka’abneh community that had been located east of the village, and that the community of Khirbet Marajim, located west of the village, was also on the verge of displacement. We demanded immediate action to remove the violent settlers from the village and its agricultural lands, as well as from the area of the Khirbet Marajim community in order to prevent its displacement. We further demanded that proactive steps be taken to prevent settlers from placing additional blockages or from blocking the entrance to the village.We also reiterated the demands detailed in our previous appeals.
Appeal by ACRI and Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights, June 10, 2025 (Heb)
IDF's response, June 15, 2025 (Heb)
Response from ACRI and Bimkom, July 22, 2025 (Heb)
Appeal by ACRI and Bimkom, January 29, 2026 (Heb)
ACRI's appeal, March 16, 2026
The appeals were written with the assistance of ACRI's field coordinator, Muhannad Anati
