A unique way of life in the West Bank is under threat after Israel renewed a legal bid to evict more than 1,600 cave-dwelling Palestinian farmers from their land in the desert hills near the Biblical city of Hebron.
srael’s defence ministry is expected to seek court approval this week to destroy up to 12 traditional “fellaheen” communities situated in an area designated as a training zone for the occupying Israeli army.
The issue has threatened to heighten tensions with the Palestinian leadership, which has refused to resume peace talks with Israel as long as it continues to build settlements on land it occupied in the Six Day War of 1967.
It has also set the Jewish state on a collision course with European powers, particularly the British government which funded the construction of cisterns and sanitation facilities for the cave-dwelling communities, home to some of the poorest Palestinians in the West Bank. 
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