The Shu’afat checkpoint is located in the northern part of East Jerusalem at the exit from the village of Anata and the Shu’afat refugee camp, which are located in the area annexed to Jerusalem in 1967. The refugee camp borders the Shu’afat neighborhood to the west, Pisgat Ze’ev to the north, the French Hill neighborhood to the south and the planned expansion of Ma’aleh Adumim to E-1 in the east.  It was established in 1966 for 1948 refugees from the West Bank and was populated after the Six Day War by persons who had been expelled from the Jewish Quarter.  Today its population comprises some 25,000 people holding blue ID cards and some 15,000 people with Palestinian ID cards.  The camp lacks adequate infrastructure and services, and suffers from poverty, neglect and overcrowding.  All its buildings are connected to the public electricity and water infrastructure, but not all are connected to the sewer system.  The camp’s services are provided by UNRWA, except for those such as health clinics and transportation of pupils to schools in Jerusalem.  In 2005, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a suit by the residents requesting that the route of the separation fence be drawn such that the camp would remain on the Israeli side, but conditioned its approval of the route on the establishment of a convenient and rapid crossing facility for the inhabitants of the neighborhood, most of whom are residents of Jerusalem.

A temporary checkpoint operated there until December, 2011.  It was extremely congested during rush hours, and dangerous for pedestrians (especially children) because of inadequate safety provisions.  The new checkpoint was  inaugurated south of the old one, for public and private transportation and for pedestrians, intended solely for the residents of the camp – holders of blue ID cards, and those with Palestinian ID cards who possess appropriate permits.  There are five vehicle inspection stations at the checkpoint, and two for pedestrians (one of which is currently closed) where scanners have been installed but are not yet operating.  According to the army, representatives of government agencies will also be present to provide services to residents of the neighbourhood.  The pedestrian lanes are very long, located far from the small parking lots, and accessible through only a single revolving gate.

 Jabal Mukaber is located on the eastern and northern slopes of Mount Atz (or "Jabal Mukaber" in its Arabic name). It was founded by the Bedouin tribe of Arab a-Sawahra. Today, the village is considered one of East Jerusalem neighborhoods. It numbers about 30,000 residents living on 1,010 dunams. The village has five main clans, numbering several hundred families. During the British Mandate, the tribe moved to live in a huge complex of permanent housing that was named as-Sawahra, with the part east of the Kidron Valley called as-Sawahra a-Sharqiya (Eastern Sawahra) and the western part – Sawahra al-Gharbiyya. The separation fence currently separates Jabal Mukaber from Sawahra a-Sharqiya.

The houses of Jabal Mukaber wrap around the ridge from the north and east, along one of the tributaries of the Kidron River. In the eastern part, the village houses border the Jewish East Talpiot neighborhood. most of the residents of the village are considered residents of Jerusalem, have blue identity cards and enjoy full civil rights in Israel, except for the right to vote for the Knesset and receive an Israeli passport.

The residents of Jabel Mukaber suffer from lack of Outline Plan for the village, overcrowding and a lack of residential and public spaces.  Thus, there is a phenomenon of illegal construction in the neighborhood.  Demolitions of houses without building permits have been carried out over the years, but since the 7th October War, their rate has increased.

 In 2010, a wall was built  separating it from its sub-neighborhood A-Sheikh Sa'ed. The wall left many residents with Palestinian IDs without Jerusalem residency and they lost their freedom of movement in Jerusalem.

In the northern part of the neighborhood, construction began in 2005 of a luxury Jewish neighborhood called Nof Zion. The neighborhood was planned to have about 400 housing units, a commercial center and a hotel. However, in April 2025, it was announced that it would be expanded. The apartments were marketed mainly to the religious community in the United States. Alongside the Nof Zion neighborhood, a plan is being promoted to establish the Nof Zahav neighborhood on state land in the Jabal Mukaber neighborhood. This plan also includes residential areas and hotels for tourists, and a place has been allocated for a synagogue, but not for the construction of a mosque.

During and after the Second Intifada, several residents of the neighborhood were involved in terrorist attacks: On March 6, 2008, the attack on Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, in which eight of the yeshiva's students were murdered; On November 18, 2014, an attack on the "Kehilat Bnei Torah" synagogue during morning prayers in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem; A resident of Jabal Mukaber carried out a car bombing on the Armon Hanatziv promenade. The terrorist drove his truck into a group of cadets. Updated April 2025