Masafer Yatta: Israel army fire damages Palestinian homes during exercise

The Israeli army used live rounds during an exercise in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, damaging Palestinian homes, an activist said.

Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta face expulsion from their land, with Israel's military having declared the villages an army firing zone.

Activist Fouad Al-Imour said the exercises took place around homes in the village of Khallat Al-Dabaa in Masafer Yatta and put lives at risk.

A minimum of four homes were struck and damaged, frightening villagers, Al-Imour told official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Another exercise took place in the Masafer Yatta area only last week.

Israel's Supreme Court in May upheld Israel's army's designation of Masafer Yatta as a firing zone, greenlighting the destruction of homes and forcible ejection of over 1,200 people from 12 villages.

The court said Palestinians did not reside permanently in Masafer Yatta, located near Hebron, when the military claimed it four decades ago.

But locals and Israeli rights groups reject this, saying they have been there even before Israel's 1967 capture of the West Bank.

Palestinian residents are refusing to leave Masafer Yatta, hoping their resilience and international pressure will keep Israel from carrying out the expulsions.