Hebron, South Hebron Hills
As Yom Kippur approaches the days are really awful. It doesn’t seem the army and the settlers consider Palestinians to be people from whom they must ask forgiveness or seek atonement.
Increased military presence along Highway 60. Flying checkpoints and cars detained at Dura, at the entrance to Hebron below Beit Haggai and at the Kvasim junction.
Hebron
Jammed with visitors. So much so that the vehicle entranceto the Cave of the Patriarchs compound is blocked and the parking lot is also closed. Cars are being sent to park farther away. Jewish children who’ve come from somewhere march down Shuhadeh street and disappear into the Shavei Hebron yeshiva or the Tarpat Museum. Squads of Nahal soldiers come toward them. A manned position on the roof of the abandoned market. Soldiers on the roof of the building overlooking the worshippers route. Groups of people of all ages arrive in buses. All along the road from the worshippers route to Zion route soldiers are practicing various firing positions, without shooting (what luck). A large sign invites everyone to a mass prayer at 16:30 to save Giv’at Assaf. So I asked a policeman where Giv’at Assaf is. He told me he’s from Arad, he doesn’t know where it is; all he knows is that he’s providing security for people attending prayer services during the ten days of repentance. So I telephoned a friend from Hebron who didn’t know exactly where it was but he did know that yesterday and also today soldiers broke into a school located right on the worshippers route. It used to be called “Mutanabi;” now, after renovation, the name has been changed to the Ziad Jaber School. The soldiers were looking for pupils because, they said, stones had been thrown from the school building. The principal and teachers decided to close the school for two days in protest.
That’s the holy city of Hebron – always terrible, and today worse than ever.
Hebron
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According to Wye Plantation Accords (1997), Hebron is divided in two: H1 is under Palestinian Authority control, H2 is under Israeli control. In Hebron there are 170,000 Palestinian citizens, 60,000 of them in H2. Between the two areas are permanent checkpoints, manned at all hours, preventing Palestinian movement between them and controlling passage of permit holders such as teachers and schoolchildren. Some 800 Jews live in Avraham Avinu Quarter and Tel Rumeida, on Givat HaAvot and in the wholesale market.
Checkpoints observed in H2:
- Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
- Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
- The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
- Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station
Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs
Raya YeorDec-18-2025Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
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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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