Hebron’s Israeli rooftop settlers threaten the city’s Palestinian identity

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports from Hebron in the occupied West Bank that Israeli settlers have expanded their presence in the city’s Old City, including by placing mobile structures on rooftops above Palestinian-owned commercial properties. The new units, installed on October 29, are described by local activists as part of an effort that could add about 20 settler homes and deepen fears that the area’s Palestinian character will be eroded.

The article focuses on long-time Palestinian shopkeepers and residents who say the expansion threatens their livelihoods and their attachment to family businesses. One tailor, Yusef al-Khatib, says his family has worked in the same shop for decades and worries that the rooftop outpost above his store could jeopardize his future there. Other merchants describe similar concerns about access, movement and the possibility that they may not be able to open their shops normally.

Hebron’s Old City has had a settler presence since 1978, but the report says the issue has intensified over time. It notes that Shuhada Street has been closed to Palestinians since 1994, after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, and that the 1997 Hebron Protocol split the city into H1 and H2, leaving the Old City under Israeli security control. Activists argue that the rooftop expansion, along with military positions and changes to street names, is part of a broader effort to widen settlement control and pressure Palestinians to leave.