Hebron, South Hebron Hills
10:45 – 13:00
We started late, intending to reach Hebron when school gets out to see whether the Jewish pupils on vacation are bothering Palestinian pupils on their way home.
Highway 60
The southern gate to Hebron at the Beit Haggai junction is open. An Israeli police car is parked there, the officers checking documents of people travelling to Hebron in Palestinian vehicles. We saw no delays.
At the entrance to Hebron from Kiryat Arba we saw children coming home from school – do they get out early because it’s exam time? The school gates were locked by the time we arrived.
TIPH police keep order at Curve 116; the checkpoint is closed and deserted.
Beit HaMeriva is still shut; we drove around it, slightly confusing the soldier in the observation post on the roof.
The Cave of the Patriarchs is surrounded by buses carrying Israelis who’d come to pray. The area is quiet. The western crossing, for Palestinians and non-Jewish tourists, recently opened. No more metal barriers but a broad, open road, but we didn’t see any tourists there.
The Pharmacy and Tarpa”t checkpoints are empty; the streets are also pretty empty at this hour.
The Shayuch Sa’ir junction – the school there is also closed and the junction is deserted. We see signs that roadworks will begin. Maybe they’ll finally construct a plaza that will allow pedestrians to cross the road more easily?
Highway 35 to Tarqumiyya – empty and deserted.
We passed through the Tarqumiyya checkpoint smoothly, without delays.
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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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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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