Al Arrub – sudden blockades day and night
Again, we drove along road 60 to the south of Gush Etzion to the entrance to the Al Arrub refugee camp in order to see what the barriers and blockades which surround Hebron look like.
We were happy to see that the southern entrance to Hebron at the foot of Beit Hagai is open with no army presence.
At the next entrance to Hebron in front of Qilqis, there is a checkpoint manned by soldiers who are holding up cars.
Surprisingly, the Sheep Crossing was open on both sides of the road and without troops.
Zsa’ir -Shuyakh junction is open and there are no soldiers. On road 60 the cement barrier is manned by a soldier with a drawn weapon.
Then we drove again on the new section of the road that bypasses the entrance to Al Arrub.
In Ibrahim’s grocery shop he again says, as I have already reported, that the situation has not improved as they had hoped. The army continues to encircle and strangle the Palestinians with roadblocks and house searches, even though the stone-throwing incidents hardly ever occur when Jewish vehicles are moving on the remote road. Ibrahim says that during all hours of the day and night until, 12 at night, there are roadblocks. His livelihood is greatly affected by the lack of traffic near him.
Other people who came to the grocery store talked about the constant pressure that the IDF exerts on them.
One of the soldiers who came down from the pillbox to take the supplies that were brought to them, approached me and asked who we were. To my surprise, he had heard about MachsomWatch because he had been in the army preparation course, Telem, where he had met one of our colleagues who had lectured to them. He is from the Nahal unit.
Of course, I asked his opinion about us. His body language was negative.
On the way back, along the old route of Route 60, at the gas station near the entrance to Karmei Zur, we were told that the army still demonstrates a presence, mainly in the evenings, a little less than the time before the new way. There, at the point of connection between the old and the new, the cement barrier is manned with troops and weapons drawn.
On the way back, when children return from school, there are still soldiers at the checkpoint in front of Qilqis, and this is what their childhood looks like.
It is interesting what the authorities think about the future generations of Palestinians, that this is their daily routine, and this is what their daily meeting with the State of Israel looks like.
Hakvasim (sheep) Junction
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One of the roadblocks (earthworks, rocks, concrete blocks or iron gates) that prevent transit of vehicles to Route 60 in the southern West Bank and block the southern entrance to Hebron. A manned pillbox supervises the place.
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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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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
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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
Muhammad D.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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