Efrat (Israeli settlement)

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.

The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (Hebrew: הרי יהודה, romanized: Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains (Arabic: تلال الخليل, romanized: Tilal al-Khalīl, lit. 'Al-Khalil Mountains'), is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem, Hebron and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres (3,366 ft). The Judean Mountains can be divided into a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. The Judaean Mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah (930-586 BCE), where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, and from which Jews are generally descended.

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.

Migdal Oz (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל עֹז, lit. Tower of Strength) is an Israeli settlement and income-sharing community kibbutz in the West Bank. Located in the historic Etzion bloc 7.4 km from the Green Line and west of the Israeli West Bank barrier, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. It neighbors the communities of Kfar Etzion, Alon Shevut, Elazar and Efrat. In 2021 it had a population of 567. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

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.

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.

Gush Etzion Junction ("Tzomet HaGush") also known as Gush Junction is a 120-dunam (0.12 km2; 0.046 sq mi) business, commercial and tourism center in the southern West Bank, which serves as the entry point to the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council. Long known as a "congenial meeting spot for Israelis and Palestinians," in the fall of 2015 the junction was the site of about ten Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

Alon Shvut (Hebrew: אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in June 1970 over lands confiscated from the nearby Palestinian town of Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah. It is part of the Etzion bloc of the West Bank, administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and neighbors the Jewish settlements of Kfar Etzion, Rosh Tzurim, Neve Daniel, Elazar, Bat Ayin, Migdal Oz, and Efrat. In 2021, its population was 3,061. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

The Battle of 3 Shevat was a battle in the 1947–1949 Palestine war, fought on January 14, 1948 (Hebrew date: 3 Shevat). The battle began with a large attack on Gush Etzion by Arab groups in the area, reinforced by Arabs and Bedouins who came from as far as Jerusalem and Beer Sheva, under the command of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni. They attempted to capture the center of Gush Etzion, and to divide the four settlements of Gush Etzion into two separate enclaves. Their attack was repulsed, at the cost of heavy losses to the attackers.

Rosh Tzurim (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ צוּרִים, eng. Top of the Rocks) is an Israeli settlement and religious kibbutz in the West Bank established in 1969. It is located about 20 kilometers (12 mi) south of Jerusalem, 3.9 km east of the Green Line, inside barrier wall. A member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 948. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Yeshivat Makor Chaim was established in 1985 under the visionary leadership of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (Even Israel). Today, the Makor Chaim Educational Institution operates a high school located in the Gush Etzion area, south of Jerusalem. It has been recognized by the Ministry of Education as an Experimental School and a Teacher Training Institution as well. The senior Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Dov Singer is ably assisted by Rabbi David Rabinowitz. In addition to the high school which serves close to 300 students annually, Makor Chaim also operates the "Beit Midrash L'Hitchadshut" (the Renewal Outreach Center), a nationwide outreach study andprayer program for personal spiritual development as well as several training and development programs for educators, administrators and others committed to focusing on the student rather than on subject material.