Hebron, South Hebron Hills
08:30-12:00
The building of the new checkpoint at the Zion axis beneath Giv’at Ha’avot is advancing at a rapid pace
The H2 area will increase. The merchants and business owners are afraid of the expected drop in their income. They did good business with the settlers. Even Ofer Ohana, whom we met there today, is repairing the car. The Ashmoret Yitzhak Border Police base will enter when the checkpoint is built through Kiryat Arba.
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The fence has a gate that is opened and closed at the whim of the soldiers and border police at the nearby checkpoint. After the last stabbing attempt two weeks ago the apartheid fence in the direction of the Cave of the Patriarchs has been completed. The Border police are at the nearby checkpoint,
We talked for a long time with the neighborhood residents who told us that in order to get home when the gate is closed, they have to walk for more than half an hour. There is no possibility of the Palestinians using their cars in this part of Hebron. Only three residents of the area have permission to enter with taxis to bring people who cannot walk and each trip requires special permission.
This is the gate which is opened by the soldiers in the morning so that the pupils can get to school. The rest of the time here too it is opened according to the arbitrary decisions of the soldiers. At night it is always closed. When we came we saw it open.
The Border police accompanied by paratroopers detained everyone who passed through. The process of release was quick.
A Palestinian is detained.
Thus the Tomb of the Patriarchs is seen on the Palestinian side of the fence, decorated with Israeli flags.
The soldiers are always worried about my safety and that I will not enter the Palestinian side. Jews are forbidden, Arabs are forbidden … everyone and his side.
In short, apartheid.
The checkpoint at Tel Rumeida is open. There is no permanent checkpoint here because the road leads to the cemeteries. Jewish vehicles are permitted to cross. We mark 50 years of occupation while the settlers celebrate 50 years of liberation. Amir Benayoun and Rami Kleinstein encourage the singers. It is cheap to celebrate at 15 NIS card.
A new inspection post was added opposite the Al Fahiya school and the parking lot of the Cave of the Patriarchs. The paratroopers and the Border Police man it together. As we arrived, the detainee was released. He claimed to have waited an hour in the sun.
Next to Abda on Route 60, a new pillbox is being built. The bulldozers are working and soldiers are guarding them. On our way to Hebron soldiers were guarding Otniel. They were no longer there on our way back.
The part of route 60 from Otniel to Hebron is decorated with Israel’s flags and works are being done to widen the road.
According to this, no one seems to have any intention of ending the occupation.
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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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
Yael ZoranMay-22-2025The bumpy road to Ata's house
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