Back to reports search page

Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, Hakvasim (sheep) Junction, Hebron, South Hebron Hills

Observers: Hagit Back (reporting and photographing); Natanya Ginsburg (translating)
Jun-25-2018
| Morning

On Route 60, checkpoints at the exit from Samu’, at the Dura-al Fawwar junction, at the exit from Hebron near Beit Hagai, antt the Sheep Junction.

A military post  with a flag and soldiers with  rifles drawn at the entrance to Hursa, next to Abda, and next to the pool of Dura al Fawwar.

In the pictures below:

Palestinians are handcuffed at the Sheep Junction. When we arrived, they were already in the situation in which they were photographed and waiting for the army  to come and take them into custody. They told me they had already informed their families. When the car came to take them to jail I walked away. I did not confront the soldiers.

This is a picture of  the we;ded door which has again been locked in Shuhada.Street. In the house is a new tentant family and they can only go to the road through the other side of the house. The man of  the family spoke to us through the window.

Two weeks ago the Nahal unit came to Hebron instead of the paratroopers. Whenever the units are changed there is a problem with the list of names of Palestinians allowed to enter Tel Rumaida. We met and elderly woman with 2 of her children that was returning from a visit to the clinic. She told us that 2 weeks ago she was not allowed to return to her home from the Tel Rumaida checkpoint. She had to wait for 2 hours on a wheel chair. Later the soldier apologized.

What happened on Friday?

The army received information from the Palestinian security forces that there was a terrorist cell preparing to carry out an attack in the central region. The soldiers of the Nahal unit received reinforcements from Kfir soldiers and on Friday night they took all the men from the Ja’abri neighborhood out onto the road and searched all the houses. The photo below was taken by Aref at his home.

The soldiers found nothing, but left the houses and families angry and frightened. They tell us that in Ramadan children at night played with fireworks. Every time there was a noise of the firecrackers, the soldiers entered the house.

I think that just as there is preventive medicine for health, there must be one for terror. And the remedy is quite simple, stop the occupation and let people live.

What is so difficult in what I ask for?

Handcuffed Palestinians at the Sheep JunctionPhoto: Hagit Back

The soldiers found nothing, but left the houses and families angry and frightenedPhoto: 'Aarif
  • Dura Al-Fawwar Junction

    See all reports for this place
    • Junction on Route 60: west - the town of El Dura, east - the Al Fawwar refugee camp. There is a manned pillbox  at the junction. From time to time the army sets up flying checkpoints at the entrance to El Fawwar and Al Dura. Al-Fawwar is a large refugee camp (7,000 inhabitants in 2007) established in 1949 to accommodate Palestinian refugees from Be'er Sheva and Beit Jubrin and environs. There are many incidents of stone-throwing. In the vicinity of the pillbox there are excellent agricultural areas, Farmers set up stalls adjacent to the plots close to the road. In recent months the civil administration  has set up dirt embankments thereby blocking access to the stalls, and making it impossible for the farmers to sell their vegetables. Updated April 2021, Michal T.
  • Hakvasim (sheep) Junction

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.
  • 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
  • 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

       

       

      דרום הר חברון, בית חגי: סוללים דרך ביטחון פנימית
      Muhammad
      Feb-24-2026
      South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
Donate