Description

Noga Kalinsky's haunting photography documents the devastation wrought by settler violence in Palestinian villages, juxtaposing the beauty of Masafer Yatta and Mukhmas with scenes of burned homes and shattered lives

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Ofir Hovav for Haaretz
August 12, 2026
Photographer and artist Noga Kalinsky vividly remembers the first time she saw a burned-out house. It was in the summer of 2024, when she arrived in the village of Khallet al-Daba, in the South Hebron Hills (also known by its Arabic name, Masafer Yatta). A few hours earlier, a house and an olive grove there had been set on fire.

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"Post 1967
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Mukhmas has been under Israeli occupation. After the 1995 accords, 6.4% of the village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 93.6% as Area C.[4]

The Israelis have confiscated land in Mukhmas for its military bases, roads, and Israeli settlements, including Sha'ar Binyamin and Ma'ale Mikhmas.[4] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,878 in 2006.[29] In 2010, Israeli Settlers from Ofra and Migron uprooted several hundred olive trees owned by the people of Mukhmas.[4]

Israeli settlers from the "Hilltop Youth" movement throwing stones at reformist rabbi Arik Ascherman, in Mukhmas in the occupied West Bank, on December 21, 2025
The village is subject to settler attacks, invasion of fields and pastures, destruction of trees and violence against residents.[30] The Israeli authorities do not intervene to prevent these attacks and security personnel were witnessed participating in such attacks.[31] In 2011, Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement of Ma'ale Mikhmas set fire to about a hundred olive trees belonging to the people of Mukhmas.[4] in 2017 310 olive trees were uprooted.[32]

On 17 January 2026, masked Israeli settlers attacked Bedouin community in the eastern outskirt of the village, injuring two Palestinians, burning four residential structures, and displacing a family. The Settlers broke into a home while family members was inside, sprayed them with pepper spray, beat them with clubs and set the structure on fire. During the same incident, settlers also assaulted other residents and activists providing a protective presence, set fire to two vehicles, and damaged additional homes, water tanks and solar panels.[33] In February, Israeli settlers, 'behaving like animals,' attacked the town, shooting three Palestinian, killing one Palestinian-American teenager. Among the settlers were the security coordinator of the Neve Erez outpost and right-wing activist Elisha Yered.[34]" – Wikipedia

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