Khirbet Susya

Susya (Arabic: سوسية, Hebrew: סוּסְיָא; Susiyeh, Susiya, Susia) is a location in the southern Hebron Governorate in the West Bank. It houses an archaeological site with extensive remains from the Second Temple and Byzantine periods, including the ruins of an archeologically notable synagogue, repurposed as a mosque after the Muslim conquest of Palestine in the 7th century. A Palestinian village named Susya was established near the site in the 1830s. The village lands extended over 300 hectares under multiple private Palestinian ownership, and the Palestinians on the site are said to exemplify a southern Hebron cave-dwelling culture present in the area since the early 19th century whose transhumant practices involved seasonal dwellings in the area's caves and ruins of Susya. In 1982, an Israeli land authority, Plia Albeck, working in the Civil division of the State Attorney's Office, determined that the 300 hectares where Palestinians had been living, and which included an area with remains both of a 5th–8th century CE synagogue and of a mosque that had replaced it, were privately owned by the Palestinian Susya's villagers. In 1983, an Israeli settlement also named Susya was established next to the Palestinian village. In 1986, the Israeli Defense Ministry's Civil Administration declared the entire area owned by Palestinians an archeological site, and the Israeli Defense Forces expelled the Palestinian owners from their dwellings and appointed Israeli settlers from the recently-built settlement to manage the site. Some of the expropriated Palestinian land was incorporated into the jurisdictional area of the Israeli settlement, and an illegal Israeli outpost was established on the area of the previous Palestinian village. The expelled Palestinians moved a few hundred meters southeast of their original village. The Israeli government, which has issued injunctions against the Israeli Supreme Court's decisions to demolish illegal Israeli outposts, made a petition to the High Court to permit the demolition of the new Palestinian village. The state expressed a willingness to allocate what it called "Israeli government-owned lands" near Yatta for an alternative residence, and to assist rebuilding, considering it ideal for the displaced villagers grazing. Though the existence of the Palestinian village is attested on maps as early as 1917, confirmed by aerial photographs in 1980 that show cultivated farmland and livestock pens maintained by Palestinians on the site, the official view of Israel is that no historic Palestinian village ever existed there, just a few families residing seasonally, and that the area was required for archaeological work. It is notable that Jews also reside in illegal structures on the same archaeological site. The attorney for the Palestinians replied that the army was stopping Palestinians building on their own privately owned land, while permitting settlers to seize their agricultural fields. The population of the Palestinian community has fluctuated. It reportedly numbered 350 villagers in 2012 and 250 residents the following year, constituted by 50 nuclear families (2015), up from 25 in 1986 and 13 in 2008. By 2018 17 families were reported to still be clinging on, working the few fields that remain to them of their former lands. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law; the Israeli government disputes this.

Susya (Hebrew: סוּסְיָא) is a religious communal Israeli settlement in Area C of the West Bank. Located near but not atop the ancient Jewish village and synagogue in the archaeological site of Susya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hevron Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 1,602 The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Horvat Maʿon (Hebrew) or Tell Maʿin / Khirbet el-Maʿin (Arabic) is an archaeological site located 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Gaza, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southwest of Kibbutz Nirim in the Negev, the arid southern portion of Israel; in the Roman period, the site is thought to have formed the western boundary of the Limes Palaestinae.

Ma'in (Arabic: معين) is a small Palestinian village in the south Hebron Hills of the Hebron Governorate, located 14 kilometers south of Hebron. It is bordered by the villages of at-Tuwani to the east, al-Karmil village to the north, Khallet Salih to the west, and Qawawis to the south. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 459 in 2007. The village is situated immediately to the north of Khirbet Ma'in (Horvat Maon), an archaeological site containing the remains of the ancient town of Ma'on. It is home to members of several clans, including Makhamra, Dababsah, Hamamdah, Muhammad, and Abu Taha.

Mitzpe Yair (Hebrew: מצפה יאיר, lit. 'Yair Lookout') is an unauthorized Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located two kilometres south-east of Susya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hebron Regional Council. It consists of 15 prefabricated structures, and is home for several families.

Avigayil (Hebrew: אֲבִיגַיִל) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It lies between the settlements of Ma'on and Susya in the Southern Hebron Hills. The settlement is situated east of the Israeli West Bank barrier, 4.7 km kilometers from the Green line on what is officially known as Hilltop 850. Established in October 2001 as a outpost, Avigayil has a population of roughly 50, consisting of 30 families as of 2014, up from 17 registered in 2010, and is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, which the Israeli government disputes. However unauthorized outposts are also illegal under Israeli law. According to the 2003 road map agreement, settlements and outposts erected after March 2001 are to be dismantled.

al-Karmil (Arabic: خربة الكرمل) is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank, within Area A under total Palestinian control. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 9,740 in 2017. The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.

Carmel was an ancient Israelite town in Judea, lying about 11.2 kilometres (7.0 mi) from Hebron, on the southeastern frontier of Mount Hebron. According to the Bible, Saul erected a victory monument in Carmel to memorialize his triumph over Amalek. The site is generally identified with the Arab village of al-Karmil.

Kfar Aziz (Hebrew: כפר עזיז) was a Jewish village from the period of the Mishnah. It is identified with Hurbat al Aziz, in the southern part of Yatta in the southern West Bank, lying at an elevation of 765 metres (2,510 ft) above sea level.

The Eshtemoa Synagogue is a former ancient Jewish synagogue and archeological site, located 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Hebron in as-Samu, West Bank, in the State of Palestine. The remains of the ancient Palestinian synagogue date from around the 4th–5th century CE.

The Samu incident or Battle of Samu was a large cross-border assault on 13 November 1966 by Israeli military on the Jordanian-controlled West Bank village of Samu in response to an al-Fatah land mine attack two days earlier near the West Bank border, which killed three Israeli soldiers on a border patrol. It purportedly originated from Jordanian territory. It was the largest Israeli military operation since the 1956 Suez Crisis and is considered to have been a contributing factor to the outbreak of the Six-Day War in 1967. Since 1965 Jordan had an active campaign to curb Fatah sabotage activities. The handling of the incident was widely criticised in Israeli political and military circles, and the United Nations responded with United Nations Security Council Resolution 228, censuring Israel for "violating the United Nations Charter and the General Armistice Agreement."

As Samu' or es-Samu' (Arabic: السموع) () is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, Palestine, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron and 60 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. The town had a population of 26,011 in 2017. As-Samu' is located on a tell identified with the ancient Jewish town of Eshtemoa, from which it derives its name. The town is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the Onomasticon, and the Jerusalem Talmud. Archaeological discoveries include a silver hoard with Hebrew inscriptions, a Jewish burial cave, and the 4th-century Eshtemoa synagogue, later converted into a mosque. Initially a small village in the early Ottoman era, as-Samu' gradually grew into a larger settlement over the years. In 1966, it was the site of the Samu incident. Since the 1990s, as-Samu' has been governed by the Palestinian Authority as part of Area A of the West Bank. It is known for its handwoven kilims.