South Hebron
South Hebron Hills, Wednesday 1.12.04, AMWatchers: Haya H, Elena L (reporting)6:30 -9:15We left Shoket at 6:30 and went through Sansana CP without being asked to stop. We drove along route 516 toeards Ma’on and the Zif junction.7:00 an army jeep was parked at the side of the road near Ma’on-We guessed it was the jeep allocated to escort the children of Umm Tubba to Tawwani.Yakinton CP: has completely disappeared. There were a lot of children walking along the road near Yakinton- apparently there is a school nearby. A liitle before the Zif junction there was a flying CP- without detainees.While we were there two Palestinian cars (one of them a taxi) passed through. A settler also drove through and tarried long enough to comment sarcastically on “the useful work” we were doing. The soldiers at the CP were friendly. We left at 7;30.Zif Junction: A hummer stood there and the road towards Yatta was closed.Shiyuh Hebron crossing : No soldiers present and the crossing was open to pedestrians. A large number of pupils were crossing to the girls’ school. Some of them tried to engage us in conversation. There were language difficulties but the atmosphere was very friendly.7:50 Sa’ir- East Halhul crossing: Open in both directions. No soldiers present.The Humanitarian CP (Ras al Jura): Closed, but there was no army presence and no traffic. The situation had not changed when we passed the CP again at 8:15.Halhul –Hebron bridge: open to traffic. The ascent to it from route 35 is closed.The road running under route 35 from Beit Kahil is open.Idhna CP: Open; but there was no traffic.We saw 5-6 Palestinnian vehicles (private cars and lorries) driving on route 35 in both directions.8:30 Sheeps’ Crossing: open , no soldiers and almost no pedestrians.Dura al-Fawwar Crossing: Open to pedestrians and to cars and there was a fair of amount of traffic. We met Musa from BeTselem there.A little before Shim’a a hummer stopped a Palestinian taxi traveling north in order to Check it. We didn’t see what happened next because we had to get back to Sholket.
Sa'ir
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A relatively affluent suburb of Palestinian Hebron. West of Highway 60 leading from Bethlehem to Hebron. The entrance to Highway 60 and to Shuyukh and Beit Einun to the east is open, but is subject to changes - concrete blocks denying passage are stationed according to the needs of the army.
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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.Jan-4-2026At the Nassar family in Wadi Ras al-Jerfan
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Zif Junction
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Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
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