Judaean Mountains

Efrat (Hebrew: אֶפְרָת), or previously officially Efrata (Hebrew: אֶפְרָתָה), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, 6.5 km (4 mi) east of the Green Line, at the Palestinian side of the West Bank wall. The settlement stands at an altitude of up to 960 metres (3,150 feet) above sea level and covers about 6,000 dunam (1,500 acres). The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.Considered the capital of Gush Etzion, it had a population of 11,804 in 2021. Although geographically located within Gush Etzion, it is independent from the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and Palestinians in negotiations do not consider it as part of that block, since it lies to the east of Route 60 — their side of the Geneva Initiative map. Since November 2008, Oded Revivi, an attorney and lieutenant colonel in the army and member of the Likud Central Committee, is the head of Efrat regional council.

Jurat ash-Sham'a is a Palestinian village located ten kilometers south of Bethlehem. The village is in the Bethlehem Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,491 in 2007. The primary healthcare is obtained in Beit Fajjar where the Ministry of Heath have classified the care facilities as level 3.Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the town has been held under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 263.

Solomon's Pools (Arabic: برك سليمان, romanized: Burak Sulaymān, or in short el-Burak, 'the pools'; Hebrew: בריכות שלמה, romanized: Breichot Shlomo) are three ancient reservoirs located in the south-central West Bank, immediately to the south of al-Khader, about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) southwest of Bethlehem, near the road to Hebron. The pools are located in Area A of the West Bank under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.Solomon's Pools provided the water for two aqueducts that delivered water to Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period. The first one, known as the "Low-level Aqueduct," is thought to have been built in the first century BCE, around the end of the Hasmonean period. It delivered water to cisterns located underground beneath the Temple Mount, which were primarily used by the Temple. A second aqueduct, the "High-Level Aqueduct," took a similar path, but it is uncertain where it ended up in Jerusalem. It might have provided water to Herod's Palace. The Herodium also received water from the Solomon's Pools.

Umm Salamuna (Arabic: خربة ام سلمونة) is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers South-west of Bethlehem. The village is in the Bethlehem Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 945 in 2007. The primary healthcare is obtained in Beit Fajjar where the Ministry of Heath have classified the care facilities as level 3.

Bethlehem Convention Palace or Convention Palace Company (CPC; Arabic: قصر المؤتمرات بيت لحم) is a convention center facility in Bethlehem, Palestine. The building includes a main meeting hall, exhibition gallery, theatre, meeting rooms, gardens, interfaith prayer room and cafeteria. There is also a large amphitheater that can host nearly 1,500 people.,Neighboring landmarks are Qal'at Murad (Murad's Castle) and Solomon's Pools.

Al-Masara (Arabic: المعصرة, pronounced al-Ma'sara; translation: "the press") is a Palestinian village in the central West Bank, 6.2 km southwest of Bethlehem, part of the Bethlehem Governorate. It is surrounded by a number of smaller Palestinian villages, including Khallet al-Haddad to the east. The population was 803 in the 2007 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

Neve Daniel (Hebrew: נְוֵה דָּנִיֵּאל) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in western Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area – close to 1,000 meters above sea level, and has a view of much of the Mediterranean coastal plain, as well as the mountains of Jordan. In 2021, it had a population of 2,360. It is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Khallet al-Haddad is a Palestinian village located 5.5 km (3.4 mi) south of Bethlehem. The village is in the Bethlehem Governorate in the southern West Bank. It is bordered to the east by the town of Teqoa, to the north by the town of Jannatah, to the west by the village of Al-Ma'sara, and to the south by the lands of the town of Teqoa. The area of the village is about 1,742 dunums, including 1,678 arable lands and 24 residential areas. There is one mosque in the village, which is the Mosque of the Pious. It contains a site called Sada Bishr, and the Al-Sawafeer Canal for collecting water, which existed from the time of the Romans. The village contains a basic school consisting of nine grades (1–9), and this school was named after the village.

Elazar (Hebrew: אֶלְעָזָר) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, 18 kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Gush Etzion cluster of settlements. A community settlement, it had a population of 2,561 in 2021. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, although the Israeli government disputes this.

On 21 March 2024, David Ben Avraham (Hebrew: דוד בן אברהם), a 63-year-old Palestinian Jewish convert, was shot and killed by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier near Elazar, an Israeli settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The soldier had approached Ben Avraham and asked whether he was Jewish, to which he responded affirmatively. In the ensuing encounter, the soldier pointed his rifle at Ben Avraham and threatened to kill him if he reached for his bag; Ben Avraham complied but was nevertheless shot dead. The IDF opened an investigation into what it termed a "grave" incident; the soldier, a reservist, was released a week later by an Israeli court. The Jerusalem Post stated that the killing joined a series of "wrongful mistaken killings" of Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis since the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel "in which, to date, the prosecution and courts have been extremely lenient on the killers." Originally Sameh Zaytoun (Arabic: سامح زيتون), Ben Avraham was a resident of Hebron and had changed his name upon converting from Islam to Judaism. Following his conversion, he was jailed by the Palestinian Authority for 58 days in 2019. The Israeli government repeatedly denied his applications for Israeli citizenship, which The Times of Israel stated was "ostensibly due to his Palestinian heritage." On 29 March, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel posthumously approved Ben Avraham's residency status.

Al-Khader (Arabic: الخضر) is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the south-central West Bank. It is located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) west of Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 11,856 in 2017. The area around al-Khader is marked by vineyards, and olive and fig trees.Solomon's Pools, Murad Fortress (a Turkish Ottoman castle built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1617 to defend Solomon’s Pools, that today houses a Museum for Palestinian Culture and Heritage), the Monastery and Church of St. George, and Al-Hamadiyya Mosque are al-Khader's main landmarks.

Artas (Arabic: أرطاس) is a Palestinian village located four kilometers southwest of Bethlehem in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,745 in 2017.