Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya, Tue 30.6.09, Morning

Trans.: Revital S.
Sansana: The sand lorries are at work. There are no family visits while we're there. The stall keepers tell us that yesterday was very busy here and that the last worker crossed only at half past nine, which is very unusual. We asked them again to ring us in real time. Two people cross the CP while we're there and they look and sound as if everything is ok.
Road 60
Barely any traffic.
Hebron
No detainees at any of the city's CPs – the House of Dispute, the Pharmacy, Curve 160, Tarpat, Tel-Rumeida, Abraham Avinu Neighborhood, under the Cordoba School stairway or the Patriarchs' Tombs' Cave. Apart from the children milling about doing nothing, the city seems entirely deserted and it is very hot. In the parking lot of the Patriarchs' Tombs' Cave, Jewish music is blasting away and the store keeper is complaining. They've given up the idea of retaliating with loud music of their own. They're afraid and for good reason.
Hebron Tales
We stopped to say hello to a family we know close by the Pharmacy CP. Some mothers told us that the soldiers stationed there are showing youngsters from the neighbourhood pornographic sites on their mobile phones. This is not a cultural gap, but inadmissible behaviour in any culture.
At Qufaisha quarter, on the road leading to Give'at ha-Harsina, we go into the office at the factory to talk to James, a London-based reporter, who plans to shoot a movie on MachsomWatch. The factory owner tells us that a Border Police soldier, driving Jeep (licence plates: 61116) forbade them to use the pitchfork outside the factory, thus making it impossible for them to transfer raw material past the CP, because Palestinian traffic is not allowed there. The officer to whom our interlocutor complained told him that it is illegal to forbid the use of such machinery for work purposes, but the he keeps being harrassed by the Border Police. We asked him, too, to let us when things actually happen, so that we may be able to do something in real time.
Highway 35
There are distinctly more Palestinian vehicles than the usual.
At the Idna-Tarqumiya grocery we're told that the "life arrest" procedure is no longer implemented and only sporadic inspections are carried out.
At the old Tarqumiya CP many lorries are queuing to cross and there's still no shade, toilets or drinking water anywhere. We know that authorization processes are in progress.
Highway 317
Across from Hirbat Tiwani we see a lot of military vehicles, soldiers and two civilian buses. We stop to inquire and are told it's a hike for the Yehuda Brigade and a settlers' college. They are walking pleasantly along, their rifles dangling, in the usual symbiosis of the settlers and the army, to see (the settlment) Carmel's water pool. Children sit on the Hirbat Tiwani hills but no Carmel people are to be seen anywhere around. The Lords of the Land enjoy themselves, never stopping to ask for permission. One officer was telling us what they were about to do, when a colleague silenced him, saying we're traitors.
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
Leah ShakdielApr-8-2025Hebron: A sign advertising a tempting real estate
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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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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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Tarqumiya CP
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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases. MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’. updated November 2019
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