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Life in the Hebron area is conducted under the permanent presence of soldiers

Observers: Hagit Back (reporting and photographing); Natanya Ginsburg (translating)
Mar-19-2018
| Morning

There are shifts when one  gets a stomach ache which has a name: “Disgusting Hebron”.

Today was such a day.

The outpost Eshtamo’a is expanding. (I do not speak of lawful  because every settlement is illegal)

In the photo below, soldiers stand at the exit from Dahariya. They have prepared at all the exits from all the Palestinian towns concrete barriers. Soldiers also stood at the Dura-al Fawwar Junction and the Sheep Junction. In all places they only stood and did not set up a checkpoint.

Ther are new caravans or even permanent constructions of three such buildings in the Gal neighborhood of the Kiryat Arba industrial zone. The settlers are in a tremendous building momentum.

And since it is forbidden to drive cars or trucks heavy loads have to be carried by hand.

Soldiers standing at the exit from DhahariyaPhoto: Hagit Back

Then, three Palestinians got confused on their way to the Sharia court, which was near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and began walking on Shuhada Street where Palestinians are forbidden to walk. (Near the entrance to the Our Father Abraham neighborhood). The soldiers stopped them there and we went down to watch. They were released almost immediately.

I have already written that the construction in Kiryat Arba is in full swing. On the northern hill, another 25 housing units are being built and the caravans at the entrance are being replaced by permanent buildings. The hill is a kilometer from the last buildings of Kiryat Arba. What will they do in the area between? The creeping occupation method octopus method works.

In the pictures below are the gates built next to the pillbox in Hursa. Remember the pillbox is in Area A.

It is intended to protect the road for the residents of the settlement of Negohot. For the sake of 30 settler families, the  life of a civilian population is being embittered. There are nearly 100,000 residents there.

The soldiers descend of the pillbox almost every day and put up roadblocks.

Even when I write the report, my  stomachache which I call the  “The revulsion of Hebron” remains.

Three Palestinians got confused on their way to the Sharia court and were stopped by soldiersPhoto: Hagit Back
  • Dura Al-Fawwar Junction

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    • Junction on Route 60: west - the town of El Dura, east - the Al Fawwar refugee camp. There is a manned pillbox  at the junction. From time to time the army sets up flying checkpoints at the entrance to El Fawwar and Al Dura. Al-Fawwar is a large refugee camp (7,000 inhabitants in 2007) established in 1949 to accommodate Palestinian refugees from Be'er Sheva and Beit Jubrin and environs. There are many incidents of stone-throwing. In the vicinity of the pillbox there are excellent agricultural areas, Farmers set up stalls adjacent to the plots close to the road. In recent months the civil administration  has set up dirt embankments thereby blocking access to the stalls, and making it impossible for the farmers to sell their vegetables. Updated April 2021, Michal T.
  • Hakvasim (sheep) Junction

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    • One of the roadblocks (earthworks, rocks, concrete blocks or iron gates) that prevent transit of vehicles to Route 60 in the southern West Bank and block the southern entrance to Hebron. A manned pillbox supervises the place.
  • 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:

       

      1. Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
      2. Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      3. The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      4. Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
      5. The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      6. Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      7. Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
      8. Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station

      Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs

      חברון - יוסרי ג'אבר וחלק ממשפחתו
      Raya Yeor
      Dec-18-2025
      Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
  • 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

       

       

      הכניסה למערה המשמשת מקלט במלחמה למשפחת נעימן
      Muhammad D.
      Apr-16-2026
      The entrance to the cave that served as a refuge during the war for the Na'iman family
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