Hebron

Hebron (Arabic Al Khalīl, “the friend”), city in the West Bank, lying in a mountainous region near Jerusalem. Situated at an altitude of 930 m (3,050 ft), Hebron contains narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, and bazaars. Manufactured products include cotton and leather goods, water containers, and glassware. Grains, grapes, and olives are grown in the surrounding area.

Hebron is a holy city of Judaism as well as a sacred city for Muslims. The tomb of the patriarch Abraham and his family is located at the site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs; both a mosque and a synagogue have been built on top of the cave.

Founded probably in the 17th century bc, Hebron was identified with Abraham, a prominent figure in both Judaism and Islam. According to the Bible, David ruled from Hebron for seven years as king of Judah before becoming king of Israel in 993 bc; it was here that David’s son Absalom began his revolt against him. Hebron was destroyed in the 1st century ad by the Romans, was restored by Muslims, and was captured in 1099 by Christian soldiers of the First Crusade (see Crusades). Retaken by Muslim forces in 1187, it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. British troops occupied Hebron in December 1917. It was part of the British mandate of Palestine from 1922 until 1948 when, by the provisions of the 1947 partition of Palestine by the United Nations (UN), it was incorporated into Jordan.

In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel seized Hebron along with the rest of the West Bank. Following the war, several hundred Jewish Israelis settled amid tens of thousands of Palestinians in central Hebron, where Jews had lived in the past. Tensions grew between the two groups, and Hebron became a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian hostility over settlements. By the 1990s about 400 Jews lived in Hebron.

In February 1994 a Jewish settler killed at least 29 Palestinians inside the Muslim mosque built on top of the Cave of the Patriarchs. The massacre set back implementation of the September 1993 peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Under the agreement, Israel eventually withdrew its troops from most of the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank town of Jericho in May 1994.

In September 1995 Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement. Israel was to withdraw its armed forces from all Palestinian towns in the West Bank, except Hebron. Under the agreement, Hebron would generally be administered by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which administered other Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, Israel would keep a small number of troops in Hebron to guard Jewish settlers and religious sites important to Jews. In some parts of the city Israeli troops would also patrol jointly with Palestinian police. These troops were to leave by April 1996; after a delay, they withdrew in January 1997. Population (1997 estimate) 119,401.