Khursa checkpoint - Palestinians are being checked and the settlers pass freely
Raya Y. Translator: Natanya
9.5.2024
We crossed the Tarkumiya checkpoint in the morning, trucks from both sides of the checkpoint enter through the Tarkumiya crossing and leave the Tarkomiya checkpoint for Israel.
The parking lot on the Palestinian side is deserted these days. Before October 7, there was not a single free space in the parking lot on the Palestinian side, the convoy of parked vehicles continued along the sides of the road. Today there are no Palestinian workers in Israel, there are no vehicles in the parking lot and the area is deserted.
On Route 35 we see roadblocks along the sides of the road, soldiers watching the Idna-Tarkumiya square.
We turned right towards Hebron and got on Route 60. The roadblocks continue here as well.
At the Qilqis junction we saw people crossing the road on foot and we met Abed who informed us that they are under siege, everyone is suffering, there is no end in sight and life has become difficult again.
We continued towards Khursa and passed the checkpoint that was not manned until today. The checkpoint was closed. We reached Tawfiq and Yusuf’s house and here too we heard from Yusuf’s son that the situation is not good. The soldiers constantly check and trouble them at the crossings and only the settlers pass there in buses with security.
We tried to pass the checkpoint and enter Fuqeiqis, but the soldiers at the checkpoint told us that only settlers have permission to pass.
The buses are allowed to pass, but the Palestinian vehicles cannot and they are stopped and confiscated by the army.
We returned.
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.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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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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