Hebron’s Israeli rooftop settlers threaten the city’s Palestinian identity

In Hebron, 65-year-old Yusef al-Khatib fears for the future of his family’s tailoring shop, which has operated in the Old City for about 80 years. Israeli settlers have placed prefabricated units on the rooftops of Palestinian commercial properties above his shop. About 500 settlers live in the Old City, where settlement outposts have expanded since 1978, as Palestinian residents fear they will be pushed out. Shuhada Street has been closed to Palestinians since 1994, when a settler killed 29 worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.