South Hebron Hills, Wed 26.1.11, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Huda’s kindergarten: We were asked to bring a gas heater and gas balloon today to Hoda’s kindergarten in Hisha al Daraj — the one which our colleagues bought for the children to be warm in the winter, and so we did. We sat with Huda to hear what’s happening (the children are on vacation, though a cute one came to say hello).
She says she needs tables and a bookcase or cabinet, and she’s waiting, of course, for the holes in the roof to be repaired, and for the kindergarten to be expanded.
We didn’t have enough time left to drive to Hebron. There were no unusual sights on our way there or back, nothing out of the ordinary. A few armed soldiers stood near the entrance to Telem – which we don’t remember having seen before.
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.Jul-23-2026The new settlement, starting June 1, 2026, opposite Khallet al-Humus.
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