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Hebron, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills

Observers: Yael Zoran, Paula R. (reporting); Translator: Natanya
Oct-22-2017
| Morning

9.00 -12.30

We went to Herbon to investigate two happenings at the end of the week.

– A demonstration on Friday by Peace Now activists calling for the immediate evacuation of a building seized in the summer and for the of  honoring the High Court’s decision.  This was met  by a  the group of the hooligans of  Lahava and La Familia who came to reinforce the lawbreakers of Hebron; (I learned about this group in the morning when I got on the bus and the driver examined me and asked if I was not from MachsomWatch, and told me about his confrontation with the small “marked ones ” in Hebron.)

An incident on Saturday, in which a settler boy was hit in the head by a stone while splashing with his friends in the spring and needed several stitches in his head before being released home.

We met with Issa Amro at Beit Michael, the Palestinian youth center. International volunteers were harvesting four olive trees in the area. The TIPH people came to record the testimony from Issa about the incident at the spring (which is under his house) and he told them that when he heard that a youth had been wounded he ran to the area to offer help, and instead he was removed by the police. He is also convinced that the police know who the young man was  threw the stone, a violent young man who has nothing to do with the local  Palestinians  in the area. Following the incident, he said, the settlers set out on a campaign of rioting against the Palestinian houses under the hill of Harsina, and the army closed the road leading from Shuhada Street to the spring. On our way back, we did not see it closed.

On Friday, Issa joined the Peace Now demonstration but was ostensibly detained for questioning by a police superintendent. He who was released immediately when the demonstration was over, without casualties and the crowd dispersed.

Issa Amro added that the army was uses live bullets against  the Palestinian youths. And a few days ago, 16 boys were arrested for throwing stone.They were put into a container, detained by the police and finally transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

On Friday at the Peace Now demonstration he was also detained  for several hours.

We also visited the house of the Abu Shamsia family at the top of the road to Tel Rumeida following a report of stones thrown at his house. He looked very depressed and said that such harassment was a day to day occurrence.

The Old City – except for two groups of tourists – is desolate.

We went back through Road 317 and visited our friend Nabil in the grocery.

Many car in the parking lot and around Sansana-Meitar checkpoint.

  • Hebron

    See all reports for this place
    • 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:

       

      1. Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
      2. Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      3. The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      4. Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
      5. The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      6. Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      7. Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
      8. Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station

      Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs

      חברון - יוסרי ג'אבר וחלק ממשפחתו
      Raya Yeor
      Dec-18-2025
      Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
  • Meitar checkpoint / Sansana

    See all reports for this place
    • Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the  Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians  are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing  has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination  Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened  in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
  • South Hebron Hills

    See all reports for this place
    • 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

       

       

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