Fayha Shalash
The New Arab / June 18, 2025
West Bank – While illegal Jewish have air defence systems and shelters, Palestinian areas in the occupied West Bank lack any protection.
Palestinian lives in the occupied West Bank face extreme risk from falling Iranian and Yemeni missiles or shrapnel from Israeli interceptor missiles fired by air defence systems.
They accuse Israel of deliberately diverting these interceptors from the airspace of illegal Jewish settlements to Palestinian villages and towns without any regard for the lives of residents.
In the town of Sa’ir, east of Hebron/Al-Khalil, five Palestinian children were slightly to moderately injured on Friday by shrapnel from a Yemeni missile after Israeli missiles intercepted its path.
Interceptor missiles attempt to divert the threat of rockets as far as possible from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, resulting in these rockets or shrapnel often scattered throughout Palestinian areas.
Maysa Tarawa told The New Arab that four of her children and her nephew were injured after a Yemeni rocket landed in their garden.
She explained that air raid sirens sounded in the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba, followed by a loud explosion that shook the house violently. She then heard her children screaming and crying.
“Yara, 12, was carrying her sister Julia, 4, in front of the house when stones fell on them, injuring them. Meanwhile, Nour (10) and Zaid (8) were playing outside with my nephew Karam (8) and they all suffered burns from the force of the rocket,” she said.
The house was immediately filled with dust, and the family couldn’t fully comprehend what had happened. A short time later, they discovered that all the windows had been shattered, with some of them torn out of their frames, the kitchen counter had also been blown away, and the furniture had been pushed over one another.
In 2014, during the war on the Gaza Strip, an interceptor missile landed near the house, causing no casualties but extensive material damage.
“The children are still afraid, and Yara still refuses to go back to sleep at home. She sleeps at her grandfather’s house. They all live in fear, anxiety, and a difficult psychological state,” Maysa concluded.
The town of Dhahiriya, south of Hebron, is one of the areas most affected by shrapnel from interceptor missiles, which has caused material damage so far.
Ali Shaban, the mayor, told TNA that shrapnel falls most days, hitting homes, streets, and residential areas. The town covers a vast area, but it is all populated.
He said he contacted the Palestinian military liaison office and informed them of this problem, but there appears to be no solution.
“Residents are constantly reporting shrapnel from interceptor missiles falling on the roofs of their homes or in their gardens, to the point that most days unfortunately witness shrapnel,” he added.
Exploiting the war
The racism of the Iron Dome system isn’t limited to the occupied West Bank. In the territories occupied in 1948, Israel considers Palestinian communities to be ‘open areas’ and doesn’t intercept missiles for them.
Among these areas is the town of Tamra, near Haifa, which witnessed the tragic death of four Palestinian women by an Iranian missile on Sunday. This is due to the lack of an air defence system in that area.
There are no shelters in Palestinian villages and towns, both there in the 1948 areas and in the West Bank. Protection from missiles falls on the Palestinians themselves, who cannot develop even the infrastructure in their areas due to deliberate Israeli restrictions.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza and Israel’s new war on Iran, not a single shrapnel from Yemeni or Iranian missiles or interceptors has fallen on any Jewish settlements. In contrast, dozens of such missiles have fallen inside Palestinian villages and towns, reinforcing Palestinians’ conviction that their lives are not as important as those of settlers.
Issa Amro, an anti-settlement activist, told TNA that Israel is protecting the lives of its settlers and exploiting the current escalation with Iran to expand its control and isolate Palestinians.
He emphasised that Israel’s protection of settlers at the expense of Palestinians violates international law and is a serious violation of civilians, who are supposed to be fully protected.
“Israel is exploiting this war to establish facts on the ground related to settlements and the displacement of Palestinians. It exploits every conflict in the world to force Palestinians to flee and leave their lands,” he added.
At the same time, Jewish settlers continue to relentlessly attack Palestinians under the protection of the Israeli army, which evacuates its headquarters and camps and hides among Palestinians who lack food, water, and energy security and lack safe places to protect them.
“They are putting us in danger and starving us, and they are blatantly violating international law and the law of war without any punishment or concern from anyone,” Amr said.
Fayha’ Shalash is a journalist from Ramallah in the West Bank
