Rights groups have decried a decision by an Israeli court that paves the way for Israeli forces to forcibly expel Palestinian Bedouin communities from Masafer Yatta, in what would be one of the largest single displacements of Palestinians in decades. According to Al Jazeera the court said in its ruling that the Palestinian residents had not been permanent residents of the area when the Israeli military first declared it a firing zone. Masafer Yatta’s Mayor Nidal Younes was however quoted by Palestinian news agency Wafa as saying that the court ignored all evidence provided by the families in the area that shows they resided there prior to the 1980s.
