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. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies 930 metres (3,050 ft) above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East Jerusalem),[11][12] and the third-largest in the Palestinian territories (after East Jerusalem and Gaza), it had a population of 201,063 Palestinians in 2017,[3] and seven hundred Jewish settlers concentrated on the outskirts of its Old City.[13] Since 1997, the city has been under the civil control of the Palestinian Authority, though the Israeli military maintains a presence in an area comprising 20% of the city known as H2.[14] Hebron includes the Cave of the Patriarchs, which Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions all designate as the burial site of three key patriarchal/matriarchal couples.[13] The city is often considered one of the four holy cities in Judaism[15][16][17] as well as in Islam.[18][19][20][21]