Beit Ummar, Halhul, Sa'ir, South Hebron Hills
Today we took a new route that passes through Road 60 towards Gush Etzion. We turned off Route 35 toward Halhul-Sa’ir and drove along Route 60.A large number of soldiers are standing on the sides of the roads and at the intersections are soldiers with weapons on hand … scary. In addition, the pillbox overlooks the traffic, so the feelings of the those travelling the road (like me) are not pleasant.
We passed through Beit Ummar and the refugee camp al-‘Arrub. We turned onto Route 367, which the settlers called “the breach road.” The road connects the Ella Valley to Gush Etzion and is 17 km long. We stopped at Etzion DCO, an important landmark for stopping. We met Mahmud Yussef Hassan Jibril who brought his documents to prove that the land is his in order to obtain the necessary documents of ownership.
The villagers received 8 orders to stop building houses in Sha’b al-Butum even though the land belongs to them according to the documents and everyone has come here to submit documents.
One of the women in the waiting room, Nada, came running to me along with her daughter. She has an appointment for a medical examination in Israel and needs a permit. Nada, as well as 5 other men who came, are waiting in the waiting room for someone to see them. In front of my eyes see the red light which tells us that there is no entry. I shout aloud, sorry, sorry, and received no answer. A phone number written on the board to which Nada drew my attention was helpful. I called the number 029703854 and received a speedy answer from a pleasant man named Yoav. I informed him that we were at that moment in the waiting room of the DCO Gush Etzion and that I was waiting together with 6 other people hoping to be taken notice of but most unsuccessfully. We are all waiting for the red light to turn green so that the turnstile will open and the people who have already waited a long time will be allowed in to the offices. At the end of the call and after a minute or two all those waiting entered.
To the attention of the IDF, the number-taking facility is broken and has been so for a very long time. As has the women’s toilet which has been closed for months.
Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
(Walter de la Mare)
Beit Ummar
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Beit Ummar
The Gush Etzion-Hebron road - which is the main axis of the southern Hebron Mountains - passes through the boundaries of the village. Many incidents of stone throwing occurred on this section of road. There is a checkpoint at the entrance to the village.
In March 2006, a 25-dunam land seizure order was issued around the settlement for the purpose of establishing a "special security area" (SHBM) and a warning fence around the nearby settlement, Carmei Tzur. In April 2019, 401 dunams of the land of the villages of Beit Omer and Halhul were expropriated for the purpose of paving a road that bypasses the house of Omer to the east. Demonstrations are held by the villagers against the seizure of land with the participation of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists.
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Etzion DCO
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serves residents of Bethlehem and surrounding villages who need magnetic cards, work permits for Israel, permits for one-time entry for religious or health reasons, various police permits, etc.
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Halhul-Hebron Bridge
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Generally allows free flowing traffic, except for sudden checks by soldiers stationed permanently in the pillbox, on Route 35 in the southern West Bank.
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Sa'ir
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A relatively affluent suburb of Palestinian Hebron. West of Highway 60 leading from Bethlehem to Hebron. The entrance to Highway 60 and to Shuyukh and Beit Einun to the east is open, but is subject to changes - concrete blocks denying passage are stationed according to the needs of the army.
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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
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