Car confiscation in South Hebron Hills

Place:

South Hebron Hills

Tarqumiya

Observers:

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

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Nov-23-2023

Morning

Blockades at the intersection of Kiryat Arba and Hebron

Photo:

Raya Yeor

Confiscation of a vehicle that drove on the apartheid road

Photo:

Raya Yeor

Tarkumiya crossing is empty, few cars in the parking lot.

Traffic is sparse on road 35, only military vehicles pass on the road, we did not see a single Palestinian vehicle because all the entrances to the villages are closed.

The entrance in front of Halhul-Hebron is closed.

Shuyukh-Hebron is closed.

Palestinians tell us that they since October 7, and even a few days before, they have to walk about seven kilometers because everything is blocked.

Adjacent to Kiryat Arba at the intersection we met Ata Jaber whose area is locked and closed.

Rania who lives between Negohot A and Negohot B calls and tells us that they are closed and locked in their house unable to move, only when there is army coordination.

Her brother went out this morning to Beit Awa to buy medicine and milk for the children, was arrested by the army, together with his uncle. Their car was confiscated, and they were sent home without the car. Rania asks for help. The car is their only way of transport because everything is blocked. They are not mobile, and in addition they cannot and do not know whom to turn to.

Location Description

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

רהווה - ככה חיה משפחת אבו שארח' ברהווה בוואדי למרגלות ההתנחלות טנא עומרים

Apr-25-2024

Michal Tsadik

Rahwa - this is how the Abu Sharakh family lives in the Wadi at the foot of the Tene Omarim settlement

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