Gush Etzion, Hebron
1. At the entrance from the Kafisha neighborhood from the grocery store to the right (south) towards the border police base – there is a yellow gate, which means a new checkpoint. That is, there are now two checkpoints called the Ashmoret checkpoint, one right next to the base, and one in front of the grocery store.
2. The checkpoint after the grocery store to the east in the direction of Route 60 – is open .
3. But further on, a new checkpoint with soldiers, just before turning right (south) to Givat HaMevaser (The hill of the herald). That is, there is no crossing from the Kafisha neighborhood in the direction of road 60. And the crossing to Givat HaMevaser is only from the direction of road 60, from the Shuyukh intersection, near the girls’ school.
4. Gush Etzion:
The idea is to check the situation in the village of Shushahala next to the Neve Daniel settlement. Mira received a phone call from a resident, Sa’ad. I called, his son answered, Saad had a heart attack (he is 55 years old) and is hospitalized for a few days in a hospital in Beit Jala. Of course I wished a full recovery on behalf of all of us. The son explains that the entrance to the village from Neve Daniel is blocked. The only entrance now is a dirt road accessible only by 4×4 vehicles, which starts near the northern entrance from Highway 60 to Efrat. I told him that we would later try to arrange to leave our car near the northern entrance to Efrat, and from there someone from the village would come to pick us up in a suitable vehicle.
5. I also spoke with an activist from Tzur Hadassah regarding the village of Wadi Fukin adjacent to them. Also there, the logical entrance to the village is blocked because of Tzur Hadassah, a community settlement that is inside the green line but actually blocks the entrance to the village. The residents of the village have to go completely around, through the Lamed He (35) crossing to their south on the road that goes up from the lowlands to Gush Etzion near the village of Jaba’, or through another settlement, the city of Beitar Illit. There is a barrier from the village to Beitar Illit, but Palestinians from the village who work in the settlement can pass there and enter the settlement (and maybe further from there). In any case, the activist explained to me that Wadi Fukin is a special case, because of their proximity to the green line drawn in the armistice agreements in 1949. The IDF raided it in 1951 and drove them deep into the territories, at a time when IDF raided Palestinian villages which remained in the area from Beit Shemesh to the Green Line and expelled their residents across the border, such as Zachariah and Mata. All these years the residents were refugees in the areas but continued to come to work their lands. Apparently the Israel Defense Forces tacitly agreed to this arrangement. After 1967 Moshe Dayan allowed them to return to live in the village and they restored the their homes. This strange history means that they don’t really consider themselves Palestinians from the territories, and don’t identify with Palestinian politics. They want to keep a low profile and the activist from Zur Hadassah thinks that they have enough help from activists and do not need the help of MachsomWatch.
Etzion area / Gush Etzion
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Etzion Area / Gush Etzion is a group of Jewish settlements south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron. Attempts at Jewish settlement in the area began in 1927. 4 kibbutzim were established between 1943–1947 but were destroyed during the Battle of Gush Etzion during the War of Independence in 1948.
After the 1967 Six Day War, Jewish settlement in Gush Etzion was renewed, and since then another 14 settlements and 10 outposts have been established. According to the info-icon of the Civil Administration, Gush Etzion is now 7 times larger than its historic area, and the Jewish lands purchased before the evacuation in 1948 constitute less than 15% of the large settlement bloc of the Gush Etzion Council today, which Israel demands to annex in the permanent agreement with the Palestinians.
The Palestinian localities in the area are concentrated in enclaves, the largest of which is in the east - the Bethlehem area, which includes Beit Jala, al-Khader, Beit Sahur and more. To the west are settlements such as Husan, Nahalin, Al Jaba'a and Batir and small and ancient agricultural villages such as Shushahala, Khalat Sakaria and more. These are scattered on the last agricultural land left by the Palestinians in the area. In the 2000s, many illegal outposts sprang up, taking over private Palestinian land under the auspices of the administration and the army, trying in an extremely violent way to evict farmers from their land and homes and thus expand the settlements. Watch the video about the harsh reality in the Shushalah and Makam Nabi Daniel area.
During the 1990s, the new Road 60, most of which is forbidden to Palestinian traffic, was paved, and a separation wall was built next to it. Access to many of the Palestinian villages and agricultural lands in the area was blocked, and a buffer was created between the villages themselves as well as between them and the lands they owned. The layout of the settlements and the network of roads and checkpoints in the entire Etzion area indicate the intention to create a territorial and transportation continuum between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem.
Machsom Watch members have been active in the for many years. We talk to the Palestinians at intersections, DCOs, villages and Makamim (ancient Palestinian heritage sites) and try to publicize the looting, apartheid and violence they are experiencing. You can read about their activities in the attached reports.
in 2021, after many years of negotiations, the Civil Administration issued a new plan for the central village of Khirbet Bet Zakariya, including construction permits. The adjacent settlers protestated and asked the minister of defence to cancel the permits. Our members are in contact with the village and are trying to involve other organiztions and use public opinion and to stop this cancelation.
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Hebron
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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:
- Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
- Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
- The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
- Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station
Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs
Raya YeorDec-18-2025Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
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Shushahala
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The village Shushahala and Maqam Nabi Daniel: The village was destroyed and the Palestinians were expelled. Now they can hardly reach their lands, or visit the spot where was the Maqam Nabi Daniel. The lone oak symbolizes its location in the past.
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