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Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, Hebron, South Hebron Hills

Observers: Hagit Back (reporting and photographing); Natanya Ginsburg (translating)
Mar-26-2018
| Morning

On Route 60, soldiers stand on  the hill at Abda.

Soldiers erect a checkpoint at the Dura al-Fawwar junction.

We heard stories from Palestinians about the terrible disorder at the DCO. Then we dared to endanger our lives and entered the DCO which is located in Area A and in Hebron in Area H1.

It turns out that every time  thirty people are allowed to go inside. Inside the building there is a machine which issues numbers.

The bureaucracy of the occupation is always ugly, and so are the gray barbed wire fences.

In the two pictures below:

The house of the Patriarchs has been evacuated of  its inhabitants.

The door is closed with a lock which has been welded. Remaining are the flags, the lamp and the electric light.

(I wonder who will pay the bill)

The house of the Patriarchs has been evacuated of its inhabitantsPhoto: Hagit Back

The meat market which is behind the Our Father Abraham neighborhood is being decorated for the many expected guests. We’ll have to follow to make sure that the decorations are taken down after the holiday. The settlers have a tendency to forget this.  And the property belongs to someone.

In the pictures below:

The pillbox above the Abu Snan neighborhood with the base built around it. Photographed from Gross Square.

On Route 60 before entering Dhahariya, four signs have been erected to to warn Israelis not to enter Area A.

A romantic sign of the occupantion.

Waiting for the comics.

The pillbox above the Abu Snan neighborhood with the base built around it. Photographed from Gross SquarePhoto: Hagit Back
  • 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.
  • 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 - בקשת פיצויים בגין הפקעת אדמה
      Muhammad D.
      May-13-2026
      Hebron - Request for compensation for land expropriation
  • 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

       

       

      סמדר עם טאלב במשמרת בקוואוויס
      Muhammad D.
      Jul-12-2026
      Smadar with Taleb on duty at Qawawis
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