Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya, Tue 28.7.09, Morning
Tarquomiya:
10am. The CP routine seems normal and relaxed at this time of day. Many tracks, loaded with merchandise, come and go. We went to the Palestinian side to check people's passage. It was empty, quiet and derelict. Food vendors sat idle and said all was ok.
Road 35
Idnah-Tarquomiya: the pillbox is manned, traffic flows. We entered through the Olive pathway to the Halhul-Hebron bridge. The opening of this pathway really shortened travel time from Hebron to Jerusalem. The glassware story next to the Halhul bridge is big and impressive – worth buying presents there. The soldiers positioned at the pillbox did not come down to see what we were doing there and there was no rolling checkpoint either.
Driving on the roads, we tried to see signs of new settlement. We noticed minor changes to the entrance to Kiryat Arba; in the stronghold the settlers call "Avihai viewpoint" there were more cars and more people.
Hebron
Half-fainting from the heat, there are many more soldiers now where previously there were only blockages. In the alleys going downhill towards Curve 160, approaching from the direction of the prayers' route, soldiers stand next to the concrete blocks. We haven't seen so many soldiers there for a long time.
Tarpat; Tel Rumeida; Pharmacy CPs: soldiers stand idle, no detainees anywhere. We pity the few passers-by, women, the elderly and children, all walking down those steep alleys in midday heat, prohibited to use vehicles.
At the CP next to the entrance to Avraham Avinu Neighbourgood, the soldiers moved to the other side of the road, standing there with their guns pulled out, threatening.
Patriarchs' Tombs' Cave CPs: no detainees. In the parking lot, opposite the stores and the yellow gate separating the Muslims' entrance from the Jews', we notice a large group of youngsters behind the yellow gate, on the Muslim side – this is a group of students from all over the world who've come to Bir Zeit University for summer courses and are now walking around Hebron on a tour. The happily greet us, asking "MachsomWatch?! We've heard of you!", "Your Jewish? Cheers!" "Can we take a joint photo? What exactly do you do?", they take photos with us and excitedly photo also our tags, asking for details about the organization. I answer all their questions, and think to myself how important it is that they meet this face of Israel, too! Turns out they were delayed there while it was determined how they could cross the road to the souvenir shops. A Border Police soldier, civilized enough, we ought to add, approaches and allows them to walk only through the Palestinian side, where the passage through the concrete blocks is narrower, vehemently refusing their passage through the Jews' side entry. It is odd that the yellow gate was not opened for a group of more than 30 people. Responding to my question, he says: "its only today, because works are being done there"… Is this trustworth?
Basem's grocery: Basem tells of a planned march of settlers from the Harsina hill through Kiryat Arba and the Heroes of Hebron Neighborhood, located on Palestinian land proper, down in the valley, then on to the prayers' route, to the Patriarchs' tombs' cave. He says there's no progress with regard to the opening of the Zion route and that all is stuck.
Below Beit Hagai: the bulldozer works the ground, secured by a military Jeep.
All the way back home, nothing seems changed relative to last week.
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
A Palestinian residentMay-12-2025A sheep carcass dumped by settler Shimon Atiya from the Shorashim farm near the school in Umm Qusa.
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Tarqumiya CP
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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases. MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’. updated November 2019
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