Hebron, occupied West Bank – Badr al-Tamimi, 60, lives in Hebron’s Old City, where Israeli checkpoints, iron gates and road closures turn the simplest tasks into a dispiriting daily ordeal for Palestinian residents.
asserted
checkpoints → live → residents
The situation goes beyond mere restrictions on movement.
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situation → go → movement
Israel has created a ghost town in parts of Hebron, where residents feel they are being driven out.
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they → create → Hebron
This is most pronounced in an area known as H2, where Israel has complete control and Palestinians are subject to the dictates of the military.
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Palestinians → know → military
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A few days ago, Israeli authorities installed three iron gates across a 200-metre (656-foot) stretch of Hebron’s Old City – amounting to just 0.2 dunams (200 square metres) – as part of Israel’s apparent attempts to restrict Palestinians’ freedom to move around the city.
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authorities → include → city
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jabari told Al Jazeera that one gate was erected on al-Zahid Road, the only route accessible to vehicles reaching the Old City entrance.
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gate → tell → entrance
A second was placed at the start of al-Shalala Street, which leads to shops connecting to the Bab al-Zawiya area in the city centre.
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which → place → centre
A third towers over another section of al-Shalala Street, a thoroughfare used by pedestrians to access the shopping area.
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third → tower → area
They are part of a wider web of travel restrictions across the occupied West Bank, but Hebron, which has a strong settler presence, has suffered more than most Palestinian cities.
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which → have → cities
Approximately 40 percent of the 89 checkpoints in the West Bank and 11 percent of all 925 movement obstacles are located in the H2 area of Hebron, which is under tight Israeli control, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
uncertain
which → locate → Affairs
About 7,000 Palestinians in an area of Hebron where hundreds of settlers live are affected by the latest travel restrictions.
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hundreds → live → restrictions
Since October 2023, when the genocidal war on Gaza began, only Palestinians with specific identification numbers could enter this area.
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Palestinians → begin → area
Al-Tamimi, who lives in the al-Sheikh neighbourhood adjacent to the city’s famed Ibrahimi Mosque, owns a shop in the Old City.
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who → live → City
Palestinians can be kept waiting for hours at the checkpoints, and the mood of a soldier manning one can decide the commute time of a Palestinian.
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mood → keep → Palestinian
Worshippers attempting to enter the Ibrahimi Mosque can be held up for hours by soldiers.
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Worshippers → attempt → soldiers
“They might allow a limited number of people to enter while others are forced to wait, whereas resident movement comes to a halt during incursions, Jewish holidays, and the associated security measures,” he added.
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he → allow → incursions
Repeated closures have paralysed economic activity in Hebron, making it increasingly difficult for shops and companies to do business.
“Our presence in the Old City is a matter of steadfastness, not the availability of the elements needed for economic life,” al-Tamimi said.
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Tamimi → paralyse → life
Even after Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967, Hebron was once a bustling city with lively shops and markets.
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Hebron → bustle → shops
Residents could move more freely between neighbourhoods, which helped with economic life in the city.
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which → move → city
Things changed in 1994, the year of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when a US-born Israeli settler murdered 29 Palestinian worshippers.
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settler → change → worshippers
From that point, the Old City’s geography changed, becoming isolated from its surroundings, al-Tamimi said.
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Tamimi → change → surroundings
He points to Shuhada Street, once a vital artery for transport and commerce in the city before road closures and restrictions transformed the area’s reality.
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closures → point → reality
“They committed the crime, yet they continue to punish us for it,” he said.
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he → commit → it
In 1997, the Hebron Protocol was signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, dividing the city into two zones: H1, which was under relative Palestinian jurisdiction, and H2 – an area which includes the Old City, the Ibrahimi Mosque, and illegal settlements – remained under Israeli security control.
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which → sign → control
Issa Amro, coordinator of the Youth Against Settlements group, said Israeli prohibitions intensified with the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000 when Hebron became a centre of the uprising.
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Hebron → say → uprising
During this period, vast areas of the city were sealed off, shops were forced to close, and residents often remained confined to their homes or neighbourhoods.
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residents → seal → homes
Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, the number of checkpoints has risen to 32, while other obstacles impeding Palestinian movement now exceed 130.
The “closed zones”, designated by Israeli authorities as areas of military activity with restricted access to Palestinians, have expanded around the Ibrahimi Mosque and the illegal settlements that lie in the heart of the city.
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that → begin → city
“The movement restrictions are effectively holding residents as hostages,” Amro said.
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Amro → hold → hostages
Mayor al-Jabari said approximately 10,000 Palestinians in the Old City and the surrounding closed zones are affected by these measures.
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Palestinians → say → measures
He believes these restrictions are aimed at hindering Palestinians’ ability to return home and stifle life in parts of Hebron.
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restrictions → believe → Hebron
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have helped settlers expand in the area, imposing a new suffocating reality for Palestinians in the city.
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settlers → help → city
Al-Jabari said Israel’s current government could be doing this to curry favour with settlers ahead of this month’s election.
uncertain
government → say → election
Control of Hebron, its Old City, and the Ibrahimi Mosque is a key issue for settlers, and politicians in this group occupy key posts in the Israeli government.
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politicians → occupy → government
This has coincided with a concerted effort by Israeli authorities to cement the settler presence in and around the city.
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This → coincide → city
“The seizure of buildings and land, along with the installation of gates, is a continuation of Israeli policies that have been in place for decades,” al-Jabari said.
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Jabari → say → decades
“These include the closure of Shuhada Street and the shutting down of over 500 shops, as well as the establishment of settlement outposts and military positions within the Old City.”
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These → include → City
He has seen more restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement over the past month, measures that will undoubtedly appease settlers.
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that → see → settlers
Hebron municipality has responded to this by filing lawsuits in Israeli courts, despite its scepticism about the impartiality of the judiciary.
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municipality → respond → judiciary
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
