South Hebron Hills - all entrances to the Palestinian villages are closed
We went on road 60 and drove towards Zanuta. The road is empty, only Israeli flags are waving on both sides of the road which were hung by the settlers to remind us all who is the landlord.
Even later, vehicle traffic is very sparse, all entrances to the Palestinian villages are closed and closed with a gate or an earthen embankment.
The entrance to Samu’ is blocked, soldiers on the side of the road. The entrance to Dahariya is closed.
Further down the road we reached Al Fawwar and met Yusuf who informs us that the situation is complicated and very difficult. The Palestinians have to walk three kilometres from Dura to Al Fawwar. there are no taxis that enter there, the gas station is closed and sometimes when they walk, the soldiers stop and check them.
An ambulance can’t go in and out, everything is closed.
We returned from Route 317 and here too all the entrances to the villages are closed with an earth embankment or with locked gates.
Many soldiers travel in ordinary vehicles with a flashing light on the vehicle. There are two or three soldiers in each vehicle, these are mainly the only vehicles traveling on the roads.
Sad, complicated and depressing.
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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.
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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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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