Settlers prevent Palestinian children from using soccer pitch that Israel seeks to raze

Settlers planted themselves on a disputed pitch in the southern West Bank Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair on Sunday, preventing local children from holding a soccer practice, according to local media.

Footage published by Palestinian outlets shows at least a dozen Orthodox Jewish men and boys, clad in white, sitting and standing on the turf. One of them leads the rest in a chant of Deuteronomy 33:4 (“When Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob”) as children in jerseys sit and watch in silence.

According to Palestinian media, the soccer pitch was built with foreign funding some two years ago to give children a place to play in the 200-strong village, which forms part of the embattled Masafer Yatta area near Hebron.

مستوطنون يمنعون أطفال قرية أم الخير بمسافر يطا جنوب الخليل من ممارسة اللعب بالكرة في ملعب مهدد بالهدم ويستفزونهم بالأغاني العبرية .. pic.twitter.com/oQTKqezNMB

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) May 10, 2026

The pitch was built on private Palestinian land, and the village is located in the West Bank’s Area C, where Israel wields both military and civil authority — meaning Palestinian construction is subject to Israeli approval, which is almost never granted, forcing villagers to build illegally.

In February, Israel issued a demolition order for the soccer pitch after Regavim, a settler organization opposed to Palestinian construction in Area C, complained that the synthetic grass installed in the pitch “threatened” the settlement of Carmel, which lies several dozen meters away.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.