Hebron, South Hebron Hills
The invisible prisoners. When the system does not use its intelligence and its heart.
Road 60
At the entrance to Samoah an army vehicle blocks the entrance but we did not see soldiers.
Hebron
The house where the building on the Road of the worshippers which has been delayed is empty. In the end all the building materials have been taken inside.
At the Shuhada street near the army base is a substantial building program. As reported in the papers the area is being cleared and built for a neighbourhood.
all
All the obstructions and checkpoints are empty of all except the soldiers on guard. A bored soldier behind the cement blocks at Tel Rumeida plays with his telephone
At the Cave of the Patriarchs the border police bother to remind our driver, M. that he must stay close to the entrance of the Moslems. They are polite but the remark is completely unnecessary. Mitzpeh Avichai at the entrance to Kiryat Arba has again been demolished. On the drums lying around the Israeli flag flies. We went to the junction of Shuyukh and Beit Anon which there the two entrances and exits to Hebron have been blocked.
We returned to road 317 where all was quiet.
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Addendum
Sylvie asked that I open the shift by going to the Beer Sheva prison to free the belongings of a prisoner. It seems that he had received his belongings but not his clothes. And those were not listed in his list of belongings so that there was no point in asking for them. But again one cannot help to wonder, to feel anger and to ask (though I don’t know to whom) why it is not possible to take the people to the courtroom with their belongings and to give them the same once they are released. Why do the belongings remain at the prison and the people are sent home without their documents, telephone and money, which had been taken from them. Even so they are invisible and doomed to arrest, questioning and harassment. So how they can move around when they do not have those with them. Why do we have to bring them their belongings, why do they not have the right to humane treatment without our help?
If anyone with authority reads our reports, please it is not so difficult or complicated to fill a box with the papers and scanty belongings of those who are due to be released. On release the prisoner can be given his belongings and if sent back to jail likewise. A touch of humanity and sensibility can avoid suffering and bother to all.
So then we went on our usual shift and also helped with the accompaniment of children to school at Tuwani. But today our help was not needed as three volunteers of Tayush arrived.
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
Muhammad D.May-13-2026Hebron - Request for compensation for land expropriation
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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.Jul-13-2026Michal with O.
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