An Israeli military order has blocked a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank from reaching their bathroom for three weeks, residents said Monday, after tensions with nearby settlers prompted the army to intervene.
Ikhlas al-Hathalin, 42, lives with her family of 14 in the village of Umm al-Kheir, near the settlement of Carmel.
Their outhouse sits between their home and a caravan that Israeli settlers installed less than 100 meters away last year.
“In order to disperse all parties involved, a temporary closed military zone order was issued,” the military told AFP.
Hathalin told AFP that prior to the military order, “the settlers would come to the bathroom and knock on the door, wanting us to leave.”
The family now goes “to the community center's bathrooms or to the neighbors,” she added.
“The embarrassment and hardship of going to the toilet is beyond what you can imagine.”
The dispute escalated earlier this month when settlers installed a swinging chair between the family's house and the outhouse, triggering a confrontation that drew in Israeli forces.
The military said soldiers stationed in the area regularly witness “unlawful activity by Israelis, some of which may include violent incidents or actions directed at Palestinians or their property.”
Hathalin said the military order also prevents the family from accessing the nearby sheep pen -- its source of livelihood -- except when Israeli forces are in the area, every three to four days.
The military said the closure was temporary, without giving an end date, and maintained that the family retains access to its livestock.
“We are trying to put pressure on the occupation authorities, but the matter is in the hands of the settlers, and the current occupation government is itself a government of settlers,” said Ahmed al-Hathalin, a member of the village council.
Behind the Hathalin home, five new mobile homes mark the latest settlement outpost taking shape in the area.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, among some three million Palestinians.
