ANCIENT HISTORY
Hebron through the ages
2200-2000 BCE— Early Bronze Age 3
First evidence of a city in Hebron.
1800–1500 BCE — Middle Bronze Age
Establishment of a system of fortifications (known as the Cyclopean Wall) that were in use until the end of the Iron Age (586 BCE).
1000-538 BCE — Iron Age
Evidence of renovations of the fortification system, demonstrating the site was continuously inhabited.
332-167 BCE — Hellenistic Period
Edomites settle in the area of Mount Hebron.
125 BCE
Yohanan Horkanus I conquers Edom, including Hebron.
37–4 BCE — The Herodian Period
Archaeologists assume that Herod built a magnificent structure in the style of a basilica over the Cave of the Patriarchs.
132–332 CE — The Late Roman Period
The area of the ancient mound is abandoned and becomes agricultural land. The ancient settlement shifts to the area of the Cave of the Patriarchs in the area currently known as the Old City of Hebron.
332-638 CE — The Byzantine Period
A Christian church and a monastery are built in Hebron and in its environs. Tel Rumeida is at the fringes of the populated area of the city.
638-1099 CE — The Islamic Period
Many of the religious structures in Hebron are converted into mosques. The city continues to develop with the Tomb of the Patriarchs as its center. Tel Rumeida remains unpopulated.
1099-1291 CE — The Crusader Period
The religious structures are reverted back to churches. The Dir-el-Arba’in monastery is built in the area of Tel Rumeida.
1291-1516 — The Mamluk Period
Massive resources are invested in developing the Old City of Hebron into the city as we know it today.
The 16th Century
Spanish Jews settle in the city.
Modern History
1880's
Start of Zionist immigration for the purpose of the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
1920's
The Ottoman Empire falls and Hebron comes under the authority of the British mandate. Tensions rise between the local Palestinian population and the Zionist immigrants in the whole of Palestine.
1929
Tensions and violence around the authority at the Jerusalem Western Wall. Massacre of Hebron's Jewish residents by Palestinians: 67 Jews and 21 Muslims die. Around 400 Jews were protected by their Palestinian Muslim neighbors. Consequence: The British Mandate evacuates all Jews from hebron.
1947
UN partition plan.
1947-1949
Nakba (catastrophe): the forced expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands by Jewish militia.
1948
End of the British Mandate, declaration of the State of Israel, first Arab-Israeli War, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Hebron, comes under Jordanian rule.
1964-1966
The first archaeological excavation is carried out in Tel Rumeida, headed by Phillip Hammond of Princeton University.
1967
During the Six-Day War, Israel occupies the Syrian Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Hebron.
1968
Israeli citizens rent the Park hotel in Hebron 48 hours for Passover before declaring that they do not intend to leave. A month later they relocated to live in an abandoned administration building.
1970
The Israeli Knesset approves the establishment of the settlement Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of Hebron city. This is the first internationally illegal settlement in the Hebron area.
1979
Israeli settlers from Kiryat Arba take over the Daboya building in Hebron's Shuhada Street and rename it Beit Hadassah settlement.
1983-84
Establishment of the first settlement point inside Hebron city on the ancient neighborhood Tel Rumeida.
1987-1993
First Intifada.
1993
PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin sign the Oslo I Accords.
1984-1986
The first excavation of Tel Rumeida following the occupation of Hebron by Israel. The excavation is carried out under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, the Staff Officer for Archaeology of the Civil Administration and the Israel Exploration Society, headed by Avi Ofer.
February 25, 1994
American-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein massacre 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers in the Ibrahimi Mosque, injuring more than 100. The Israeli army closes Shuhada street, Hebron's most important market street, to Palestinian vehicles while forbidding Palestinian stores from opening.
1997
The Hebron Protocol divides the city into H1 (under control of the Palestinian authority) and H2 (under control of the Israeli military). Shuhada street is reopened.
1998
Shuhada street is again closed to Palestinian vehicles.
2000
Second Intifada erupts.
2001
Part of Shuhada street is closed completely to Palestinian vehicles and pedestrians.
2002
The Israeli army invades and takes full control of the city, establishing positions in H1.
2003
The Israeli army shuts down Hebron Polytechnic University until a group of students successfully campaigns to have it reopened.
2006
The Israeli army's legal advisor states that Shuhada street should not have been closed to Palestinian pedestrian traffic. However, pedestrian traffic remains restricted.
2015
The Israeli military declares large parts of H2 a closed military area: only registered Palestinian inhabitants are allowed to enter the area. Israeli settlers and soldiers continue to move freely.
2016
The Israeli military partly reopens the closed area in H2. Israeli settlers changes the names of streets from Palestinian Arabic names to Israeli Hebrew names.
2019
Israel expels official observer group TIPH from Hebron after the organization's confidential twentieth anniversary report cites more than 40,000 in the city and finds that Israel commits routine violations of international law.
2021-22
Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and Amnesty International publish reports finding that Israel commits the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people.
2022-23
Israel's new government steps into power, appointing extremist Israeli settlers from Hebron in key ministerial positions.
2023
Hamas attacks Israel on October 7; Israel launches its most recent war on Gaza, accompanied by a sharp escalation in Israeli settler violence across the West Bank, including in Hebron. The Israeli army imposes cruel and inhumane curfew on residents of Hebron, preventing families from leaving their homes to get basic food and supplies.
2024
Settler violence and displacement of Palestinian communities near Hebron intensify; the US, UK, EU, and other governments begin imposing sanctions on individual settlers and settler groups in response.
2025
Settler violence in the Hebron area continues to rise sharply, with rights groups and Israeli military data both reporting year-over-year increases; a Gaza ceasefire is reached in January.
2026
Israel formally annuls the 1997 Hebron Accords/Protocol, transferring planning, construction, and municipal authority over Hebron's H2 area from arrangements tied to the agreement to full Israeli civil and military control.
Timeline of Nonviolent Resistance in Hebron
History of Friends of Hebron, Youth Against Settlements and Founder, Human Rights Defender Issa Amro
2003
The Israeli army shuts down Hebron Polytechnic University until a group of students led by Issa Amro successfully campaigns to have it reopened.
2006
Palestinian activists led by Issa Amro successfully campaigns to return a house into Palestinian possession, located directly next to an Israeli army base. The house becomes an community center for nonviolent resistance.
2007-2008
Youth Against Settlements is established.
2009
Issa Amro wins the One World Media award for coordinating B'Tselem's camera distribution project in Hebron.
2010
The United Nations declare Issa Amro Human Rights Defender of the Year in Palestine.
2013
UN Special Rapporteurs express concern over Issa Amro's wellbeing and safety.
2015
Youth Against Settlements documents beatings and killings of Palestinians, and Israeli military forces close the group's activity center by including it in the closed military area in H2.
2016
Youth Against Settlements campaigns to reopen the center and closed military zone, succeeding in lifting certain restrictions. Issa Amro is indicted on 18 military charges related to his nonviolence activities.
2017
Working for Peace and Justice is established. The trial of Issa Amro officially begins, U.S. senators and congress members urge Israel to reconsider the charges against him.
2019
Palestinian activists establish observer group to counteract the expulsion of TIPH from the city.
2021
Issa Amro is convicted on six military charges related to his peaceful community work.
2023
Issa Amro is kidnapped and tortured at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers wearing army fatigues.
2024
Issa Amro and Youth Against Settlements win the Right Livelihood Award.