Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, ramadin, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills
The Meitar checkpoint was full. I have not seen so many cars parked on the Palestinian side for a long time.
We went out to Khursa via Ramadin. At the intersection, stalls of the local kind of cucumbers of which the smell reaches our car . Of course there is a guard post at the junction which had no soldiers there.
We drove towards Eshkolot and it is hard not to admire the view, despite or thanks to the quarry. The road passes between shops and garages and lots of colorful nurseries and to my surprise, most of the shops were open and there was traffic on the road despite Ramadan. For some reason it seems to me that the bulk of the industry and trade in the southern Hebron Mountains is focused on scrap cars. We turned onto Road 354 through Beit al-Rush and in the area of the village of Sik the Palestinian Authority is paving new roads. We continued to the Beit Awa junction and there we turned onto road 3265 which leads to Negohot. Of course there is a pillbox at the intersection. On the ridge to our left stands Negohot B, Givat HaBustan, which is an illegal outpost for which in 2003 a demolition order was given. Meanwhile the place is blooming and flourishing and standing firmly in place. I could not find out what the status of the settlement is today. The vineyards were planted on private Palestinian lands. Further down is the Negohot Sheep Farm, possibly Negohot III, which, according to the Kerem Navot website, the settlers are taking over pastures for the Palestinians.
We continued to Khursa. The pillbox was built in the heart of the village in Area A and its role is to protect the Negohot settlers who use this road to shorten the road to Hebron.
We met Tawfiq and asked him what was happening now in Khursa. There is a new company that has taken over the pillbox and not everyone is behaving nicely. Additional defenses were added to the pillbox area – blocks of concrete – because sometimes children throw stones at the soldiers. When I asked what was happening with the schools, he said that the studies take place, but in smaller groups (capsules in our places) and not every day. When they did not go to school, the children studied on zoom.
The problem of water in the occupied territories bothers me. To my question, he said that water is divided according to neighborhoods. Each neighborhood receives water one day a week and each house has a well from which the water is pumped to a tank on the roof and from there to the taps in the house. The water to the Khursa comes from the Gush Etzion area to the water tower. The price of water ranges from five to ten shekels per cubic meter and it increases if the water consumption is high. In winter they store rainwater. There are no sewage infrastructures in the Khursa and there are septic tanks.
The opening of the divan depends on prior arrangement, but when someone dies it is difficult to coordinate in advance. Tawfiq says that the army does not want the residents to ask to open the divan but only wants to know that the divan has been opened and in Tawfiq’s opinion there is a difference. According to Tawfiq, the economic situation and standard of living are desperate and people have no money.
Regarding Corona, a new hospital was opened in Dura and tests for Corona were done there and began to vaccinate the elderly population. Due to multiple road accidents at the junction below Diwan, the Palestinian Authority decided to make a traffic circle but the works got stuck in the middle due to lack of budget.
We returned to Route 60 and just before the junction a regional emergency center was built. Is there a chance it will become a new settlement?
On the way back to the Meitar checkpoint, we did not encounter any checkpoints or the army.
Only the sewage at the Meitar checkpoint continues to smell.
Dura Al-Fawwar Junction
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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.
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Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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ramadin
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Ramadin and Arab al-Furijat, were established in the suburbs of Dahariya by Bedouins who came from the Be'er Sheva area after 1948. The village of Ramadin, numbers about 6,000 people, is located on the eastern side of the separation barrier. The checkpoint that was established at the entrance to the village (crossing by list only) to prevent passage to Israeli territory was removed in October 2007, and the road to the Meitar checkpoint leading to Israel is open.
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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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