For years, access to the Tel Rumeidah neighborhood in Hebron has been under strict control of the Israeli military. Checkpoints are installed at the three entrances to the neighborhood and passage is allowed only upon presentation of an identity card listing the neighborhood as the home address. In recent months, the military began imposing an additional restriction on access to the neighborhood, allowing people to cross the checkpoint only if their name appears on a list of neighborhood residents compiled by the military.
From February 5, 2018, for about a month, the military prevented a 22-year-old Palestinian from entering the neighborhood, where he lives with his family. This on the grounds of a security disqualification – although the man has never been arrested or interrogated. The young man had no choice but to stay at his uncle’s home in another Hebron neighborhood, and later contacted HaMoked for assistance.
On February 22, 2018, HaMoked sent an
urgent letter to the Civil Administration, demanding the man be allowed to cross the military checkpoint into the neighborhood and return to his home. To date, no pertinent answer has arrived thus far. However, on March 5, 2018, HaMoked succeeded to coordinate the man’s passage vis-à-vis a military officer at the checkpoint, and finally the man returned to his home.
