History of Israel|Post-1967 Period
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel regained control of Hebron, a city of deep religious significance to both Jews and Muslims. Jewish settlement was reestablished, leading to tensions with the Palestinian population. The city was eventually divided under the Hebron Protocol into Israeli and Palestinian zones, making it a flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After Israel captured Hebron during the 1967 Six-Day War, the city became one of the most sensitive flashpoints between Jews and Arabs in the West Bank. Jewish access to the Cave of the Patriarchs was restored for the first time in centuries, and a small group of Jewish settlers moved into the city, led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger. Tensions between settlers and the local Palestinian population escalated over the decades, particularly after the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. The 1997 Hebron Protocol divided the city into H1 (Palestinian control) and H2 (Israeli control), where several hundred Jewish settlers remained under heavy military protection amid a Palestinian majority. Hebron remains a symbol of both religious devotion and deep-rooted national conflict.
