Hebron - all entrances have been closed, except for Beit Anun, since October 7
We had not been in the Hebron area near the city for a long time, so following a conversation with Ata Jaber we went to visit. The day before, Muhammad went to Samu’ to bring food to Abu Safi’s widow, who was living in poverty there. He, as reported before, died after being expelled from their home in Wadi Radim. And we, traveling on the road, we saw how the settlement of the settler Israel Kaplan, the one who drove him from his land, expands and develops.
There are many military vehicles on the way returning, not clear from where. We called our acquaintances at A-Tuwani to find out why there are so many of these military vehicles. There had been no connection to them says N.A. But those who had received a permit the day before to harvest their olives under the supervision of the IDF, unexpectedly had it cancelled the next day and were banned from access to their lands and olive groves. Why?
To the god of conquest, the solutions. We drove to Hebron via Route 317.
At the Zif junction, the Yatta gate is closed. 3 buses arrived with children returning home from school, from the school located in Zif. The gate was not opened for them either and the children got off the buses and ran on foot to the other side of the checkpoint, where the buses that would take them home to Yatta were waiting for them.
We arrived at Ata Jaber’s who lives on the hill across the road, in front of the entrance to Kiryat Arba. We bought him and his family some sweets for the grandchildren. He and his family still grow grapes and vegetables on their land there, in the valley spread out at the foot of Kiryat Arba and Hebron.
Reminder: Kiryat Arba, built in 1968, is also on the family’s land, which was nationalized from it for the purpose of building the city. He says that settlers and security personnel are constantly walking around them, measuring and checking whether the Palestinians have taken over more land.
To my question if he is afraid that they will try to deport him, he answers: “I have,” he says, “a permit to build this house where I live that has been mine since 2000, so they cannot evict. And yet since 1982, they have tried unsuccessfully to declare all our lands as state lands.”
From 7.10 the situation got worse and all the entrances around Hebron were closed, from Beit Anun, Sa’ir and Halhul. He travels to Hebron only from Beit Anun and also there in the back-to-back method.
We also picked him up from there after he had made this long detour with his four-year-old grandson, and we drove to his house. We sat in his house and looked out over the beautiful view of the vineyards, Kiryat Arba and Hebron.
And he continued: “The whole world doesn’t want us. Where will we go? What have we committed? We want true peace with the Israelis, and to be given equal rights and live with you. We have everything we need to live well. We and you can live together and manage alone. We don’t need the Americans. 99% of the people want a new government. There are many good people who can do it instead of the one that exists now.”
While talking, someone from “Doctors Without Borders” calls him and asks him to tell how they are doing, and he describes the difficult situation of his family and neighbours, as we see and know: no income, no job, no possibility to lead a normal life. He also tells him about us and hands me the phone and I was also asked about the situation, about our actions and abilities.
We returned via Route 60, indeed all the southern entrances to Hebron are also closed, except for the one in front of the Sheep Crossing. The Dura al-Fawwar junction is also closed. We turned to the road to Khursa to see what the situation was there. The road is closed, but something is being built there. Where there was the Adorayim base, buildings have sprung up and construction is accelerating. It is not clear what will be built there but many different army cars arrive and enter.
The road to Abda is closed, to Karma open, to Dahariya closed. Only a side dirt road to Daharyia is open and can be accessed.
In Mitzpe Eshtamoah outpost the bulldozer is working vigorously. Development and expansion of the settlements continue.
The routine of occupation.
Location Description
A-Tuwani
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A-Tuwani
The locals came to a-Tuwani during the 20th century from the village of Yatta. They settled in abandoned ruins, utilizing the arable land, pastures for grazing sheep and the abundance of natural caves for habitation. The residents who settled in the caves came from families who could not purchase land for houses in the mother villages, as well as shepherds who did not have enough land to graze. They were joined by clan members who quarreled with other families in the mother locality.
Some of the residents today live in concrete buildings built above the caves. In the area of the village are several water cisterns and an ancient water well called 'Ein a-Tuwani. Local residents are forced to buy water in containers and transport them through many road blocks to the village. With the help of international organizations, an electrical system was installed in the village. In the late 90s of the 20tTh century, an elementary school was established in the serving several small villages in the area.
In 2004, MachsomWatch began visiting and reporting from the Khirbet Tuwani cave village, which suffers badly from the settlers of nearby outposts, and especially from the extremist Ma'on outpost. . The settlers contaminate cisterns, poison the flocks and uproot trees.Particularly notable is the harassment of children from the surrounding villages on their way to school in a-Tuwani, so much so that military escort of children is required to separate them from the attackers (this was arranged following an initiative of the organization's members). In the past year, the escort has been without the vital presence of overseas volunteers.
Near a-Tuwani there are several families who have returned to the caves due to the incessant demolitions of the civil administration (as there is a total construction ban in all of area C). Destroyed are not only residential and agricultural buildings, but also water pipes, machinery. Even water cisterns are clogged up. a-Tuwani residents have created an association for non-violent demolition protests, but in the past year the army’s harsh harassment and settler violence have intensified and escalated. The incident of the small generator confiscation, which left a young man paralyzed, is one of many examples - any legitimate protection of property rights leads to violence and even shootings by the army and the civil administration.
Updated April 2022
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
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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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Hakvasim (sheep) Junction
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One of the roadblocks (earthworks, rocks, concrete blocks or iron gates) that prevent transit of vehicles to Route 60 in the southern West Bank and block the southern entrance to Hebron. A manned pillbox supervises the place.
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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
Michal TsadikMar-16-2025Hebron - Ata's grandchildren are enjoying the umbrellas we brought
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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
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
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Zif Junction
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Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
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