disconnection from Hebron is the least advanced aspect of Israeli isolationist
policies towards Bethlehem, the intention to ultimately sever and control
this connection is evident in several actions, particularly as they relate
to transportation, and have been reinforced in the so-called ‘Deal of the
Century’ more recently.206
As with all other arterial connections, the Jerusalem-Hebron Road now
renamed Route 60 is the primary and most direct route from Bethlehem
to Hebron and is therefore the focus of Israel’s isolation and domination
policies. The first major indication of the long-term intent to requisition this
route came from the placement of Efrat colony to the east of this road. This
was a deliberate and strategic move planned from the mid-1970s to secure
the southern access road to Jerusalem.207 The significant investment in Efrat
since then, which is now the sixth largest Israeli-Jewish colony in the West
Bank, has entrenched Israeli control of Route 60 in the case of any formalized
annexation moves in the near future.208
This intent has been reinforced over the past 20 years, with Israel asserting
its control over this road regularly. Throughout the Second Intifada, Israel
enforced a number of closures along Route 60, making it regularly impassable
to Palestinians and inflicting an alternative route almost twice as long and
which could sometimes take more than four hours to drive.209 In 2010, Israeli
plans were released showing an intent to re-route Palestinian traffic to poor,
winding roads running through Bethlehem’s southern village of Tuqu’ and
Hebron’s northern village of Sa’ir.210 Accordingly, some upgrade works were
undertaken, but long stretches remain very narrow and poorly paved, taking
considerably longer than the more direct main road. In 2019, Israel began
long-planned work to bypass Route 60 away from major Palestinian towns of
Halhul, Beit Ummar and Al Arroub refugee camp, with no plans for alternative
road access for Palestinian traffic to these areas. 211
Although Palestinians continue to have access to the southern stretch of
Route 60 in 2020, it remains a dangerous and psychologically stressful route
for Palestinians to use, with more than 15 people killed by the Israeli military
206 Trump Administration, supra 147.
207 BADIL, supra 156, 84.
208 Id., 40.
209 POICA - Monitoring Israeli Colonization Activities, “The Alternative Road from Bethlehem to Hebron: A
Lingering Bereavement,” prepared by ARIJ, 6 October 2001, available at: http://poica.org/2001/10/thealternative-road-from-bethlehem-to-hebron-a-lingering-bereavement/ [accessed 28 February 2020].
210 OCHA, “West Bank Movement and Access Update” (June 2010), available at: https://www.un.org/
unispal/document/auto-insert-195840/ [accessed 28 February 2020].
211 BADIL, supra 156, 55.
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