South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya, Mon 7.7.08, Morning
Translating – Aviva W.
Tarqumiya
The CP looks calm; there are a lot of trucks waiting (for the license department?). They checked our ID cards.
Road 35
Before the western entrance to Hebron – in the field – a few armed soldiers set out on a patrol.
The Humanitarian CP – The gate to the entrance to Hebron is closed. No one is around, and we can’t tell if there are any soldiers in the pillbox.
Road 60
Shuyuch Sa’ir – As usual there are boulders and no soldiers.
They have placed big boulders by the Girls School; a few people pass by foot. The family from the corner house invited us in and made us feel welcome. We even had a conversation despite the fact that they only speak Arabic, including the children and teens.
Bany Na’im – The entrance is open.
The Sheep Crossing – Open, and not a soul in sight.
Entrance opposite B’nei Na’im – Closed.
We didn’t enter Hebron.
The Entrance to Kiryat Arba – There are three signs, one in Hebrew, one in English, and between the two, a torn Arabic sign flapping in the wind…
Near the glass factory in the eastern outskirts of Hebron , two people from the TIPH are observing and photographing what is going on here: the army is conducting security checks in the middle of the road and there is a giant traffic jam with taxis, cars, people, honking, and stress. The soldiers explain that for the last three days there has been an alert regarding three terrorists who are planning to leave Hebron to commit an attack. A reservist tells us that it is hard to keep things in check, and that the orders given by the army are very confusing so the soldiers decide on their own and on the ground what to do…their commanding officers don’t even show up on the scene.
After a half an hour of complete chaos, it is over and the road is opened. The army is gone and the cars have gone on their way.
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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
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
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Tarqumiya CP
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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases. MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’. updated November 2019
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