Har Gilo

Har Gilo (Hebrew: הַר גִּלֹה‎, lit. Mount Gilo, Arabic: هار جيلو‎) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement located about five kilometers south of Jerusalem, and two kilometers west of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills of the West Bank.

Har Gilo

הר גילה, הַר גִּלֹה‎
هار جيلو
Har Gilo
Coordinates: 31°43′19″N 35°10′17″E
DistrictJudea and Samaria Area
CouncilGush Etzion
RegionWest Bank
Founded1968
Population
 (2019)
1,635[1]
Name meaningMount Gilo

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]

History

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from two Palestinian villages/towns in order to construct Har Gilo:

Due to Har Gilo's strategic location, the Turkish, British and Jordanian armies all had bases there. An Israel Defense Forces base was established after the Six-Day War in June 1967.[5] The civilian settlement of Har Gilo was established on Hanukkah 1968.[6] It is named after the biblical Gilo (Joshua 15:51) in the mountains of the Tribe of Juda. It is considered part of Gush Etzion. In 2007, Har Gilo had a population of 462.[7] According to Peace Now, Har Gilo breaks the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state and its close proximity to Al Walaja and Beit Jala will make it difficult to include within Israel's final boundaries. The settlement lies within the Israeli West Bank barrier, constructed in the early 2000s, which passes just outside the settlement, separating it from the neighbouring villages.[5]

Status under international law

Like all Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories, Har Gilo is considered illegal under international law, though Israeli disputes this. The international community considers Israeli settlements to violate the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them.[2] This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross.[8]

Geography
Map of the Har Gilo region

Har Gilo is located between the Palestinian villages of al-Walaja and Beit Jala, south of the Jerusalem boundary and adjacent to the peak of Mount Gilo.[9]

Archaeology

Archaeological excavations in 1998 revealed the remains of two buildings and a rock-cut winepress, both dating back to the Iron Age III (586–539 BCE). Additional pottery shards were indicative of activity at the site from the early Islamic period.[10]

References
  1. "Population in the Localities 2019" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  3. Al Walaja Village Profile, p. 16
  4. Beit Jala City Profile ARIJ pp. 23-24
  5. Tovah Lazaroff (September 10, 2009). "Settlements: Har Gilo's surprised settlers". The Jerusalem Post.
  6. "Gush Etzion news". Archived from the original on 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
  7. "Settlements List:Har Gilo". Peace Now. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  8. "Conséquences juridiques de l'édification d'un mur dans le territoire Palestinien occupé" [Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory] (PDF) (in French). International Court of Justice. 9 July 2004. pp. 44–45. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-06.
  9. Christian Peace Maker Team Har Gilo - Getting in the Way by Reinhard Kober
  10. Hadashot Arkheologyot Journal 116 Har Gillo (West) by Yuval Peleg and Yaron Feller A salvage excavation was conducted in May 1998 west of Har Gillo (L-802*; map ref. NIG 21575/62575; OIG 16575/12575), prior to the settlement’s expansion. The excavation, on behalf of the Archaeological Staff Officer of Judea and Samaria, was directed by Y. Peleg, assisted by Y. Feller and A. Al-‘Aza, M. Kahan and P. Portnov (surveying and drafting) and S. Ammami (photography).
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