Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Thu 2.7.09, Morning
Meytar CP: empty
Road 60
Dura Alfawwar: we stopped on the side, by a farmer who was working the fields with his children. He told us of someone from Alfawwar has purchased eighteen dunam (4.5 acres) in Dura, when it turned out that the land was a 'closed military zone' (apparently, because of its proximity to a local military base) and he was summoned to court and had his bulldozer taken away from him.
Hebron
Curve 160 CP: there is no one here, and the pillbox is shut, and locked (are the Border Police soldiers off for a fun-day away from it all??)
Pharmacy CP: deserted; so, too, Tel-Rumeida.
We visited Assam's steel enterprise (in fact, a small factory; trans.) He showed us the miserable piece of land – squeezed in-between the exterior and interior ends of his place, where a Border Police soldier prohibited the use of his tractor – the one with which things are transported to, from and within the place. We understood that since this entirely arbitrary order was given, they are left to their own. It is worth noting that they do not follow this senseless order anyway…
Hirbat Tawwani: On our way back, we went into Tawwani, impressed by the newly paved road. We met Kamal and observed the grove, nationalized by the settlers. Kamal told us that none of Tawwani's residents has ever received a permit to work in Israel, due to their proximity to Ma'on settlement. I fail to understand the logic behind this, but who am, I to question the purity of the Israel security services?!
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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