Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Tue 14.7.09, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
Sansana: The checkpoint was empty when we passed through.
Road 60
There is no traffic and practically no one to be seen.
Bnei Naim: The gate to the settler’s vineyard is open and an army jeep goes in to guard the workers. From the other side people from the Public Works Department are paving the road (or getting ready to) and there is a security vehicle and guard with a weapon at a 90-degree angle.
Har Mano'ach: The bulldozer is parked.
Dura Alfawwar and The Sheep Junction: pillboxes are manned and traffic is moving.
Hebron
From the entry road to Kiryat Arba we see the outpost that was evacuated to our right: it is now re-inhabited and a car is parked there, along with a new caravan.
The story of Hebron's water shortage
Historical background: According to the 1998 Wye Plantation agreement (under Netanyahu and Arafat), Hebron was divided into two areas known as H1 and H2. The security control of Area H2 was placed in the hands of the State of Israel while municipal responsibility for the entire city was placed with the Hebron municipality. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, when the checkpoints and roadblocks were built, the Hebron Municipality has not been able of fulfilling its municipal obligations because of the checkpoints, and cannot provide sufficient water for the residents of the Palestinian neighborhoods in the area of H2. At present, the Hebron Municipality pumps water to the Kafisha neighborhood once a month, over half a day allowing the neighborhood's residents to fill their water tanks. Trucks cannot reach the neighborhood because of the checkpoints. There is no running water. When the IDF began work to open the road the bulldozer broke the water pipe. The Hebron Municipality can repair the broken part of the pipe only up to the checkpoint, which is what they currently do — we see Hebron Municipality workers working on it while we are there. The grocer shows me how dirty it is because of the water shortage and laughs. Their patience and generosity are endless – the water shortage does not prevent them from offering us coffee. One of the Palestinians tells me that they would have starved if they did not grow their own fruits and vegetables. I wonder if President Obama knows about this and what he plans to do about it.
In general Hebron of area H2 looks like an abandoned ghost town. Palestinian children on summer vacation roam the streets and there are almost no people going through the checkpoints.
The Patriarchs' Tombs' Cave CP:
Four detainees are released after exactly 20 minutes. The soldiers checking bags belonging to 9-year-old children.
Hebron
See all reports for this place-
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
-
South Hebron Hills
See all reports for this place-
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
Michal TsadikJul-25-2025The interior of the burnt house
-
