At the end of the 1970s the IDF announced that a 30 thousand dunam area, south of Har Hebron, which is home to 12 communities, would become a closed military zone. This was to be firing zone 918. In 1999, contrary to international law, the army expelled some of the Bedouins and Palestinian inhabitants, despite the fact that their communities had been living there prior to 1967. After submitting a petition to the Supreme Court some of the inhabitants returned to their land, where they live under grueling conditions. They suffer from a lack of infrastructure, a water shortage and harassment on the part of the settlers in the region. The decision on the future of the area is still unclear after a petition was submitted to the Supreme Court.