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Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, South Hebron Hills

Observers: Daphna and Muhammad; Translator: Natanya
Dec-06-2020
| Morning

Sunday, according to Muhammad, in the early hours was particularly busy. There was also a police and border presence checking people and cars which definitely slowed down the traffic.

Along Road 60 we passed the intersection of Samu’, Dahariya, Karma, Abda  where everything was open, without checkpoints and without military vehicles and soldiers.

At Khursa, we visited Yusuf Shahtit, who lives near the pillbox. The soldiers have  added barbed wire  around their post, but in such a way that the family cannot go through to the diwan (a meeting place) which is  across from  the house.

At times the army also adds checkpoints at the nearby mosque.

Recently the army has not entered houses at night and there is no harassment at the crossing,  (apparently a commander has been replaced …)

Later Tawfiq arrived,  very frustrated by the aggravated economic situation of people, the merchants do not have permits to trade in Israel and the situation of many people has become  more and more difficult.

We drove to the Al Fawwar junction which was open with  no checkpoints or soldiers,  but there are road works and a big traffic jam. There is no sale of vegetables at the junction, as before, the Palestinians have been  expelled.

We drove to Simia and met Farhan. The school is open and the children are studying.

The Antiquities Authority comes and harasses them  from time to time, saying that they are  sitting on antiquities.

Good news: They received money from the European Union for the construction of electricity, water and road infrastructure for the village. They are supposed to start right in the next few days and finish within a few months.

  • 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.
  • 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

       

       

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