Hebron, South Hebron Hills
Road 60 is open and there is very little traffic along the length of the road. The checkpoints of the month of Ramadan have been removed and we were surprised to see new circles. One is being built at the crossroads between Yatta to road 315 and a green one at the southern entrance to Hebron opposite Pnei Hever.
Golani is now on duty in Hebron.
On each guard post is a notice of sympathy for the soldier who was shot by a bullet shot by one of those under his command. Today all exercises have been cancelled. We peep into the army camp which is at the bottom of Shuhada street. It seems that there is a gathering of soldiers who are being given a lesson or a lecture. Besides the soldiers who man the guard posts there are no patrols or presence of army vehicles.
On the steps which lead to the girls’ school a soldier opens the gate to an elderly Palestinian but not to his young son, although the Palestinian tells the soldier that they both belong to a family who live at the top of the steps and they have a permit of passage. The soldier is suspicious. Checks the list in the guard post, phones his superiors and then allows the young man through. When I ask in surprise what he does when the teachers of the school comes he says that he does not answer such questions.
Under the checkpoint at Tel Rumeida is a Palestinian house which has been renovated – the money comes from Abu Dhabi. At the rolling checkpoint we ask to pass so as to visit the cemeteries and the soldiers allow us to go through.
Below is a photograph of the cemetery of those killed in the pogrom of Tarpat (1929) which is now the civil and army cemetery of Hebron.
Next to the grocery shop which is behind the checkpoint a house has been opened on which is written “Doct ors without borders.” Underneath in the road is a car of the organization and the driver inside speaks to us in Hebrew
He drives to the doctors who visit Palestinians in their homes. They come when they are asked to and it seems that regularly they can treat people in the “shop“ at Tel Rumeida.
Abed is in a pensive mood. He shows us a youtube video which shows a demonstration of his family opposite the Palestinian Authority building where he is speaking. The demonstration is after the killing of his nephew by an IDF officer. Abed says that that the officer was interrogated at Ofer camp as a result of the demand by the Palestinian Authority.
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Opposite his shop we meet young American women from the organization Code Pink who have come to demonstrate at the trial of the Hebron activist, Issa. They say that the trial will take place on Sunday at the Offer camp and they are trying to arrange a large presence of those who are against his arrest.
On the way back it is already afternoon and everything seems to peaceful.
Hebron
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According to Wye Plantation Accords (1997), Hebron is divided in two: H1 is under Palestinian Authority control, H2 is under Israeli control. In Hebron there are 170,000 Palestinian citizens, 60,000 of them in H2. Between the two areas are permanent checkpoints, manned at all hours, preventing Palestinian movement between them and controlling passage of permit holders such as teachers and schoolchildren. Some 800 Jews live in Avraham Avinu Quarter and Tel Rumeida, on Givat HaAvot and in the wholesale market.
Checkpoints observed in H2:
- Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
- Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
- The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
- Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station
Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs
Muhammad D.May-13-2026Hebron - Request for compensation for land expropriation
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South Hebron Hills
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South Hebron Hills
South Hebron Hills is a large area in the West Bank's southern part.
Yatta is a major city in this area: right in the border zone between the fertile region of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants.
The surrounding villages are called Masafer Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.Since the beginning of the 1980s, many settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with withholding water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.
There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Roadblocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.
Updated April 2022
Muhammad D.Jul-13-2026Michal with O.
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