Military Zone

In a closed military zone, or military exclusion zone, the responsibility falls on the army to control the visitors to the area, but residents should be able to move in and out of the zone without the military's interference. Residents are not deprived of their ownership of the land but receive no compensation for the loss of control over it. The purpose of closing an area off to outsiders is to protect the people inside of it or to prevent an enemy from acquiring material that would aid their cause. The current reality of the closed military zone in Hebron appears to satisfy neither purpose.

In the ten-year period between 2005 and 2015, the Israeli army responded to incidents and clashes in Hebron by declaring an area a temporary closed military zone that lasted from a few hours to a couple of days. Then on November 1st, 2015, in response to the violence of October same year, a closed military zone was declared in the area of Tel Rumeida that has not been lifted at present date. No visitors, family members or workmen were allowed. The army required Palestinian residents to register and each household to receive a number. The order was renewed on December 12 and the zone expanded to include the Youth Against Settlement center, which is a meeting point for journalists and peace activists-Palestinian as well as international and Israeli. The zone was renewed twice more and the current expiration date set to the 1st of March with the possibility of renewal. As a response, Youth Against Settlement organized an ongoing sit-in protest in front of the checkpoint to Shuhada street to demonstrate against the closed military zone and the numbering of the residents.