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Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, Hebron, South Hebron Hills

Observers: Michal Ts.; Translator: Tal H.
Jun-28-2016
| Afternoon

Hebron, South Hebron Hills

Oh, all the thirsting who go to the water source, with bottles

Everything looks routine, quiet. The workers are homebound early.
Then we reached the spring which they call Birke, but a reliable source told me its name is Dalba. It is situated about one kilometer south of the Dura-Al Fawwar Junction.

And this is what we saw and heard:

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I asked – Why are you here? I was answered that only here is the water cold and clear.

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Don’t you have running water in the villages? No, they answer. And if there is, we are not allowed to pump it out of the ground…

Do you come here every day? Yes. That is what does on in the summertime. Every time I go by here, I take water. There are always people here.

Where do you come from? I ask. From everywhere, the fellow answers. From Dura and Yatta and Dahariya, and Beit ‘Awwa. I’m from Beit ‘Awwa. And they (Israelis) don’t get in your way? Don’t chase you away? Can you always fetch water here? Not always. Sometimes the army comes and chases us away. If they see many cars here they don’t let us do it.

This is the way things stand.

Hebron seems deserted and quiet in the hot noon hours of Ramadan.

All the checkpoints look more fortified now, more secured and sophisticated. The fences are higher. At the inspection posts soldiers are only heard. Not seen. No physical encounter with the passersby.  The gray, somber, threatening architecture reminiscent of East Germany of bygone days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhoDfoybG54

  • 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 - יוסרי ג'אבר וחלק ממשפחתו
      Raya Yeor
      Dec-18-2025
      Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
  • 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

       

       

      דפנה עם עזאם בסוסיא
      Muhammad D.
      Apr-21-2026
      Daphna with Azzam in Susiya
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