ימי הקורונה וצום הרמדאן הורידו שקט עצוב על הרחובות
Al Fawar-Dura Junction, the town of Bani Naim
Hardly any yellow (Palestinian) taxis on road 60 and no cars in the Palestinian car park.
Although the State of Israel let Palestinian workers enter it for work, almost 50% of the permit holders did not use them. A combination of Corona-fears and the Ramadan month of fasting.
People complain of boredom and lack of livelihood. In Al Fawar the children do not go to school, so their boredom was the reason for throwing fire bombs at the army’s pillbox post at the junction. Immediately, as collective punishment, the army sealed the entrance to Al Fawar.
Hebron city
The soldiers manning the Hebron checkpoints wear masks. Both settler-colonist and Palestinian children pay in the streets. In the Kapisha neighborhood the grocery store is open and they say that the heart of the Corona crisis is the steep break in business and livelihood, and a sad Ramadan month. No one is hosting anyone else, no one is out on visits (traditionally an important part of this festive month). There have not been settler-colonist harassments of their neighborhood so quiet reigned.
A Hebrew sign in a shop tells us to “please wash your hands”. Corona makes for quiet.
The Jewish settler-colonists in Hebron have used this Corona crisis time to tighten their grip. In the disputed house on Zion Road, the settler-colonists are renovating apartments and the entire ground floor, building a car-park and more. The Cave of the Fathers plaza is deserted, no tourists, no one praying, no Jews nor Muslims.
Tel Rumeida
Noontime. The lighter instructions are in place but Ramadan fasting and the lack of work leaves people closed in their homes. As long as we were there, everything was quiet.
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
Raya YeorMay-15-2025No-traffic signs around Dahariya
-
