Politics1 min read

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

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

On October 29, settlers installed prefabricated mobile units anticipated to provide 20 new homes directly atop Palestinian shops in the Old City. These outposts, deemed illegal under international law, intensify the difficulties facing merchants whose customer access is already restricted by neighborhood military gates. Business owners like tailor Yusef al-Khatib report severe risks to both their daily safety and economic survival. Longtime shopkeepers, including 67-year-old Adel Mustafa al-Shuyukhi, remain committed to keeping their stores open to safeguard the city's heritage.

Key points

  • Expanding settler homes directly above Palestinian shops threaten the physical safety and…: Expanding settler homes directly above Palestinian shops threaten the physical safety and livelihoods of local business owners.
  • Military gates and market closures continue to severely limit Palestinian customer access…: Military gates and market closures continue to severely limit Palestinian customer access to commercial establishments on Shalala Street.
  • Palestinian merchants maintain their daily operations as a critical strategy to preserve…: Palestinian merchants maintain their daily operations as a critical strategy to preserve the historical identity of Hebron.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Israeli settlers have expanded in Hebron’s Old City, with Palestinian residents and business owners’ presence under threat.

Hebron, occupied West Bank – Yusef al-Khatib, 65, never expected that the building that housed the tailoring shop he inherited from his father, and where he has spent most of his life, would be swallowed up by an illegal Israeli settlement in Hebron’s Old City.

He continues to practice the trade that has been part of his family’s history for decades. But the settlers in newly erected prefabricated structures on the rooftops over his shop have created uncertainty about the future of his tailoring business.

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Yusuf said his father began working at the business about 80 years ago, and when he was just five years old, he began helping in the shop. Nearly 60…

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