Hebron, South Hebron Hills
Pictures from the Theatre of the Absurd
Along road 60 the entrance to Abda and Deir Razak are still blocked.
Eveything otherwise is as usual.
Hebron
Palestinians harvesting olives at the top of the steps leading to the remnants of the “synagogue” of Hazon David. Because of the precarious area soldiers are guarding them.
100 metres from there on the other side of the checkpoint enclosing Kiryat Arba young settlers are harvesting their olives. Only the dove of peace is missing there.
At the shop of Abed, the souvenir seller, it is business as usual and men and women soldiers stand opposite the Moslem entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs checking and detaining but everything looks as always…
I went with Abed to the police station to see if the refusal to allow him into Jerusalem can be cancelled. This is because of the rampage of the settlers in his shop on the eve of the elections! The policemen of the station of the Cave of the Patriarchs know him and the story well and promised to go with him to the central police station of the city and to check the situation. Tomorrow I will be there and hope that something will have developed. They destroyed and filed a complaint and he is being punished. You understand this!
At the side of the parking lot next to the Ibrahimiyya school the entire area has been enclosed with barbed wire and a large crane hangs over it….I do not know if it belongs to the army. A soldier guards the area with a cocked rifle. All the other checkpoints are well fortified all the way from there to Tel Rumeida. Now the paratroopers are there.
About two hours after our shift we hear on the radio that an attempted knifing by a young woman had been foiled. The story of this area.
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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