Hebron

Hebron (/ˈhiːbrən, ˈhɛbrən/; Arabic: الخليل al-Khalīl, pronunciationⓘ or خَلِيل الرَّحْمَن Khalīl al-Raḥmān;[6] Hebrew: חֶבְרוֹן Ḥevrōn, pronunciationⓘ) is a Palestinian[7][8][9][10] city in the southern West Bank, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of West Bank's largest governorate, known as Hebron Governorate. With a population of 201,063 in the city limits, the adjacent metropolitan area within the governorate is home to over 700,000 people. Hebron spans across an area of 74.102 square kilometres (28.611 sq mi). It is third largest city in the country, followed by Gaza and Jerusalem. The city is often considered one of the four holy cities in Judaism as well as in Islam and Christianity. It is considered one of the oldest cities in the Levant. According to the Bible, Abraham settled in Hebron and bought the Cave of the Patriarchs as burial place for his wife Sarah. Biblical tradition holds that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with their wives Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, were buried in the cave. The city is also recognized in the Bible as the place where David was anointed king of Israel. Following the Babylonian captivity, the Edomites settled in Hebron. During the first century BCE, Herod the Great built the wall that still surrounds the Cave of the Patriarchs, which later became a church, and then a mosque. With the exception of a brief Crusader control, successive Muslim dynasties ruled Hebron from the 6th century CE until the Ottoman Empire's dissolution following World War I, when the city became part of British Mandatory Palestine.