South Hebron Hills, at-Tuwani, Sun 2.6.13, Morning
Southern Hebron Hills, at-Tuwani
I went alone because Leah volunteered to go to the checkpoints other times, to make sure that the transportations to the sea camp were leaving as scheduled. I wanted to find out at the school in Tuwani whether the bus for the children of Um Tuba School was arranged, as claimed in the letter we received from the public complaints officer of the civil administration. Nowadays children are walking to school, an hour each way, always accompanied by IDF force, and often also by activists from various organizations, to protect them from violent settlers. We met with the school principal and we realized that it is not settled. The proposal is to take the children through a long detour, about an hour long on unpaved roads, which requires 4X4 vehicles – making the proposal irrelevant.
From the school we went to Saber, the head of Tuwani’s Council. He told us that there is enough money to build four more classrooms as a second floor at the existing school. The money for the construction comes from UNICEF – the Education Fund of the United Nations – but in order to begin construction they need a written permission from the Civil Administration. Despite many requests there is no response from the administration, despite the fact that Tuwani has a master plan in which the school is included.
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
Raya YeorMay-15-2025No-traffic signs around Dahariya
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