Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Mon 8.4.13, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
A soldier mooned young Palestinian girls.
A long, winding approach road for trucks is being completed at the Meitar checkpoint.
The balloon floats in the sky above Highway 60.
Everything’s as usual on the way to Hebron.
A Walla journalist called Hagit after he heard a strange account of a soldier who’d dropped his pants and mooned onlookers. He asked us to look into it and get back to him with exact details.
Border Police soldiers at Curve 160 hadn’t heard anything about such an incident, not in their unit. Nor did passersby know of anything.
After investigating a little more it turned out that the incident occurred in the Tel Rumeida area where Shimshon battalion soldiers are now stationed. We went there. They told us that Palestinian news agencies reported on such an incident, which occurred near Beit Hadassah. We managed to locate the man who saw and documented the event with his camera. With his help, and our driver, M.’s, translation, we contacted him.
He agreed to leave his work in H1 and come meet us. He said the incident occurred the day before yesterday. Three soldiers (two in civilian clothes, one in uniform) incited the Palestinian girls living near Beit Hadassah. They cursed them (he’s embarrassed to repeat what they said), etc. He started photographing. The soldiers began cursing him: sharmouta [bitch], etc. He continued to photograph when one of the soldiers, wearing green pants, turned around and dropped them in front of the women.
The Palestinian filed a complaint about the soldiers at the Kiryat Arba police station. They called the unit commander and also brought the soldiers. The man who complained told us that apparently they took the matter seriously and the soldiers were punished. That’s cold comfort.
We put the journalist in contact with the man who’d taken the photographs. We’ve done our part.
Two detainees at the Pharmacy checkpoint. The Border Police soldiers answer us politely today as well. They say they have to check something, and that the detainees will probably be released very soon. The two detainees say that live nearby and are detained every day. We were pleased to see that everything ended well in a few minutes.
A towed vehicle near the checkpoint, with equipment to disperse demonstrations, ready for action.
As usual, Hebron never brings out the best in anyone.
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
Lea ShakdielMay-27-2025Hebron, settlers vandalized the sign of the girls' school
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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
Smadar BeckerDec-14-2025A World Food Program (WFP) sticker at the entrance to a grocery store in Tuwani
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