Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Wed 1.6.11, Morning
trans: Bracha B.A.
Tarquomiya
We were already detained at the crossing when policemen took Mahmoud's driver's license – something that has not yet happened to us.
Route 35
Quiet. There is an army vehicle at the humanitarian checkpoint and five soldiers are stopping Palestinian cars and checking them. A line has begun to form, but we are waved on and continue. .
Hebron
The guard stops us at the entrance to Kiryat Arba and check's Mahmoud's driver's license again. The city is packed with cyclists in shirts reading: "In the Path of Yitzhak". Evidently this is an annual event to mark some respected person.
At Givat Avichai we counted five or six buildings and a car, and when we returned at noon we saw an army tractor and crane, perhaps they are evacuating it. A lot of children are walking back from school. M. says that it is exam time.
At Tel Romeida a soldier stops us and asks to check whether M is certified to pass. He refuses to answer Raya, who greets him politely and when she demands that he answer her and be civil he tells her to shut up. He makes a phone call to determine whether M. can go through.
Raya: "You represent us here."
Soldier: "I don't represent you."
He spits a few times and threatens to spit in her face for trying to make him talk to her.
When we asked him what his name was he said it was Ariel Yenudah.
We are held up and our driver's ID is being held by the soldiers, who continue to check Palestinians bags, ID's, call, and release them immediately. Michal T. called the police who came and said that the soldier was doing his job. They left after a short time and gave us a phone number to call if we needed it. Michal also called the Regional Brigade and the Commander of the Givati Brigade but we did not see them taking any action. The soldier continued to keep M.'s ID card and told us that he was ashamed to represent us. He also said that if we didn't like it in Hebron, we shouldn't come. He told us to go sit in the car because we had a long time to wait. We called the police again, and after 40 minutes or so M's ID was returned and we were on our way. He simply wanted to deliberately make us wait and returned the ID after we went to sit at the nearby grocery store.
At the metal shop we met Yaakov, a Hebron man who married a Jewish woman and seems to be friendly with everyone. We collected the tables that we had ordered a long time ago.
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
Muhammad D.May-13-2026Hebron - Request for compensation for land expropriation
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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
Muhammad D.Aug-30-2026Umm al-Khair, Smadar with Eid, Or and Timna, in the Situation Room
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