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Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, South Hebron Hills

Observers: Hagit Back (reporting and photographing); Translator: Natanya
Sep-25-2017
| Morning

Quiet, quiet, all is quiet. Not the quiet of tension but of routine. An evil routine, a despairing routine but routine. No obstructions, no soldiers.

Three people walking  towards the Beit Hagai crossroads. They are working on the road without the surveillance of  the soldiers.

We did not enter Hebron.   We did not have the strength of will.

At the Dura-El Fawwar junction we met people who wanted “Sylvia’s” number. They also diagnose the silence as routine.

The Palestinian police are working together with the Israeli police to remove the cars which  in Israel were removed from the roads but are  are still traveling in Palestine, confiscating cars and imposing fines. High fines. More than 3000 NIS. People are afraid that if they do not pay the fines, they will be prevented from entering  Israel. The vehicles which are  caught are crushed by Palestinian bulldozers.

In the photos:

The locked gate to Bani Na’im at the southeast entrance. Impossible to enter Nebi Yachin right now.

The big pillbox that has been taken down and there is now a small watchtower facing the settlement of Pene Hever.

We visited Khirbat Tuwani to find out what is happening with the kindergarten. We were pleased to learn that the Palestinian Ministry of Education had taken it under its wing. The Palestinian Ministry of Education does not easily approve of cooperation with the Israelis.

We met with our old friend J., who is a  cousin of Mohammad who is the new head of the council.

The locked gate to Bani Na'im at the southeast entrancePhoto: Hagit Back
  • 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

       

       

      פנים הבית השרוף
      Michal Tsadik
      Jul-25-2025
      The interior of the burnt house
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