Umm Kusa - the settler Yoav in one of the British police stations, does not stop showing who is the boss in the area
Umm Qusa
This time our trip was to visit the sick, Shaheen, Najah’s wife, after surgery she had in Yatta about two weeks ago.
We started the trip on Route 60 and found that most of the checkpoints are closed as always, making it difficult for Palestinians to live their daily lives.
Samu’ – 2 entrances from Highway 60 are blocked. There is no entry and no exit.
Dahariya – closed
Abda – closed both in the south and in the north.
Dura and opposite Fawwar – closed
Qilqis – 2 checkpoints on both sides of the road are closed.
At most checkpoints, private vehicles and taxis are waiting to pick up residents and transport them within the villages to their desired district.
Yatta – Zif Junction – open.
Khalet al-Mei – closed.
We stop at Nabil’s grocery store to purchase basic food products and sweets for the children. One of the shoppers turn to Mohammad and ask who we are and what we do at the grocery store. Muhammad explains that we are from MachsomWatch, an Israeli organization for human rights, and against the occupation. He knows a little English. He is surprised and did not know that there are Jewish organizations that work against the occupation and preserve human rights. He is from a small village near Dirat, the village not far from the Zif junction. You always learn something.
At the junction between Route 317 and Route 358, near Carmel settlement, we notice for the first time the inscription on the blockade: Mitzpe Midrag
Further on in Zwidin, the same inscription again: Umm Daraj and in Hebrew: Mitzpe Midrag.
At an altitude of 523 m. above sea level, a hill rises in the Judean Desert plateau. At the top of the hill is an abandoned and ruined building of the Jordanian police. From there, there is a beautiful view of the Judean Desert plateau and the mouths of the large streams of Arugot, Hever and Tze’elim.
Najah welcomes us happily as usual. His family’s home is always neat, clean and inviting. Shaheen and her mother, in a separate room, are also happy and grateful for the visit.
Reminder that near Umm Qusa, the settler Yoav is in the area of one of the British police stations, on a hill and never stops showing who is the boss around. He and other settlers go around with an ATV and ride around the houses of Umm Qusa, shooting at night and sending drones.
The children were happy with the toys, and seeing them smile is worth it all.
On the way back, the children of the kindergarten and school of Umm Qusa are on their way home.
#ThisIsTheOccupation
4 Attachments
• Scanned by Gmail
Location Description
Dura Al-Fawwar Junction
See all reports for this place-
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.
-
South Hebron Hills
See all reports for this place-
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
-
Zif Junction
See all reports for this place-
Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
-
