South Hebron
South Hebron Hills, Thursday 23/12/04, AMWatchers: Hadas P. B, Elena L (reporting)Guest: Naomi L.We left Shoket at 6:55 and returned there at 9:10Summary: We saw no soldiers at the CPs- very likely they were manning the pillboxes but it was hard to see them. The surrealistic parade at Khirbet at –Tawani was only time we saw soldiers on the ground.We passed Sansana CP without any problems. An Israeli car traveling towards Beersheva was being checked there.Route 317: We saw high schoolgirls crossing the road on foot from Khirbet at-Tawani towards YattaWe stopped on the hillside above Khirbet at Tawani. We met the Mukhtar S’ and we waited for the arrival of the children of Umm-Tuba who had to come past the wood – where the thugs of the illegal outpost of Maon live – on their way to primary school in Tawani. . At 7:30 a surrealist vision appeared on the horizon. First there came an army jeep traveling very slowly and after a while one saw that behind it 6 small children carrying school satchels were walking together and with them were two tall figures of adults. When they got nearer the adults turned out to be two Israeli soldiers who were escorting the children on foot. The rear was brought up by a second military jeep also traveling very slowly. Anyone who hadn’t seen this curious parade with their own eyes would find it difficult to believe that anything so absurd was possible. We left at 7:45 when ther children had reached the school yard.Zif junction: open and no soldiers to be seen.Shiyukh-Hebron crossing: Open to pedestrians and no soldiers present.Sair – East Halhul junction: Open in both directions. A lot of cars and lorries. There was an army jeep stationed on either side of the junction, but there were no soldiers on the ground and the traffic flowed smoothly.Humanitarian CP (Ras al Jura): Closed. No soldiers and no traffic.Hebron-Halhul bridge: Open to traffic but the ascent to it from route 35 was blocked.Idhna CP: Closed and despite the murder of the security guard not far away yesterday there was no army presence on the ground.Sheep’s Crossing (Yatta- Hebron): open to pedestrians. No soldiers present.Dura –al Fawwar Crossing: Open to vehicles . No soldiers present.
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
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