General Background

Alhumra-Wadi Hitan is an unrecognized village located between Kseifa and Arad, north of route 31. 800 people live in the village from several families: Krishat, Kuraan, Gbua and Almadani. The name of the village derives from the reddish colour of the land. Sometimes it is also called Wadi Hitan named after the dry stream that runs closeby. Sometimes it is also called Wadi A Tin, after a big fig tree on a hill in the area. The village has been populated for hundreds of years, before the establishment of the State of Israel.

Infrastructure and services

There are no health and education services in the village. In the past the students had to walk a distance of 5 km to the schools in the township Kseifa. Nowadays the students are bussed to Kseifa by the Regional Council of El Kasum. There is no infrastructure for water and electricity in the village. For health services the residents have to go to Kseifa.

Water is carried to the homes from a connecting point of Mekorot, a few kilometers from the village. In 1996, with Mekorot’s permission, the villagers decided to install a pipe from the water connecting point to the village, constructed and paid by the villagers. However they were requested to sign a contract by which the water is not to be used for agricultural purposes. This stipulation deprives the residents from their traditional agricultural livelihood and forces them to find employment out of the village.

The mosque of the village hosts every Friday the families of the village and the village itself is known as a meeting point for the area. 

Threats

The Southern Regional Council, based on the recommendation of Dr. Talma Duban , a researcher who reviewed the metropolitan outline plan, approved in the past the establishment of a village in Tel Arad and Alhumra. However, after a short while and following pressure by the Prime Minister Office, the decision was cancelled.

Presently there are no demolition or eviction orders to the villagers. According to the partial outline plan for the Beer Sheva Metropolis 4/14/23 the village is in an area defined as rural agricultural landscape.

As far as we know an option to join together the village with Marit is being considered but no decision has been made yet.