Many soldiers and military jeeps along the road

Place:

Hakvasim (sheep) Junction

Hebron

South Hebron Hills

Tarqumiya

Observers:

Raya Y. (reporting) and Muhammad. Editor: Mira Balaban; Translator: Natanya

Sep-14-2023

Morning

הכניסה לחברון מצד חלחול, ליד מפעל הזכוכית

Near the glass factory at the entrance to Hebron from Halhul

Photo:

Raya Yeor

Highway 35, bypassing Hebron from the north:

At the main entrance, which connects Hebron (Palestine) with Halhul, near the glass factory, there are new barriers: orange gates info-icon on both sides of the road. The gates are occasionally closed by the army. We spoke with Sami Nacha from Hebron. He complains that there is no regular water supply to the houses. The residents are forced to buy water in containers that arrive at the residents' homes in trucks. A 10 cubic meter container costs NIS 200, and is enough on average for a family with four children for only ten days. Scale for comparison: the average monthly salary of a labourer is NIS 3000.

Along the road: many soldiers and military jeeps.

We turned south to road 60, which passes east of Hebron:

Here too: the occupation routine is accompanied by many soldiers and military jeeps. Not pleasant and not normal. Checkpoints are manned at all crossings from Hebron: Sheep crossing, Qilqis junction, southern entrance (near Beit Hagai). The soldiers always stand on the side of Hebron (afraid that From the North shall all evil be opened) strictly checking every vehicle that leaves Hebron.

A bright spot: the figs bought on the way home are fresh, delicious and extremely sweet.

Blessed year

Location Description

Hakvasim (sheep) Junction

See all reports for this place

One of the roadblocks (earthworks, rocks, concrete blocks or iron gates info-icon ) that prevent transit of vehicles to Route 60 in the southern West Bank and block the southern entrance to Hebron. A manned pillbox supervises the place.

Hebron

See all reports for this place

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 info-icon , 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

Mar-27-2024

Michal Tsadik

Hebron - Smadar and Yusei Ja'bari

View the full album

Tarqumiya

See all reports for this place

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

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

See all reports for this place

Yatta is a city located in the South Hebron Hills region. It is located in the border zone between the fertile area of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants. The surrounding villages are called Masafar 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, a number of 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 the withholding of 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. Road blocks 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

א-תוואני - מתנדבים מקבוצת הכפרים כשמשטרה וחיילים הגיעו

Apr-24-2024

Muhammad D.

At-Tuwani – volunteers from the Villages Group confronting the police and army

View the full album