Hebron is a city located in the southern region of Judea, in the West Bank, 30 km south of Jerusalem. It is home to some 120,000 Palestinians and 600 to 800 Israeli settlers, as well as 7,000 Israelis living in the suburb of Qiryat Arba (or Kiryat Arba). Hebron is renowned for its grape workshops, limestone, ceramics and blown glass factories. The old city of Hebron is characterized by its narrow and winding streets, stone houses with flat roofs and old bazaars.
It is also home to the University of Hebron and the Polytechnic University of Palestine. In the narrative of the Hebrew conquest, Hebron was one of two centers under Canaanite control. According to the King James Bible, which includes 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha and 27 books of the New Testament, Hebron was captured by Joshua in his battle against a confederation of Amorite chiefs that included the “king of Hebron”. The city was later fortified with huge walls, and excavations revealed traces of these walls from two different periods. The American expedition to Hebron, led by Philip Hammond of Princeton Theological Seminary, excavated the site over three summer seasons in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Towards the end of the period of cross rule, in 1166 Maimonides was able to visit Hebron and wrote: “Overall, the evidence is strong that Hebron was a prosperous city in the late Bronze Age”. For more information on the Roman roads near Hebron, see the 19th-century PEF report (volume II, sheet XXI, pp.
316-31).The destruction of Judea led the Southern Idumites to occupy the region of Hebron after the Nabateans expelled them from their country in Transjordan. After more than a year and a half of turmoil and a bloody Arab attack on the settlers of Hebron, the government agreed to allow Levinger's group to establish a city on the outskirts of the city. This marked a new era for modern Hebron as it became a center for agricultural marketing and trade where glass and leather goods are produced. Today, trails lead from the bottom of the valley where the old town of Hebron is located to the Jewish quarter of Tell Rumeide. Beit Hadassah is a famous monument in Hebron since it was here that the re-establishment of Jewish presence began in May 1979. In modern times, Hebron was administered as part of the British Mandate of Palestine (1920-4); after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948-49 it was annexed by Jordan (1950).
Later on, after more than a year and a half of turmoil and a bloody Arab attack on settlers in Hebron, an agreement was reached to allow Levinger's group to establish a city on its outskirts. And when Saul's son found out that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands were weak and all Israelites shuddered. This event marked an important moment in history for both Palestinians and Israelis alike. To this day, Jewish presence is restricted to a single 1-kilometer street under the Hebron agreements of 1997.
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