Worshippers Way

Worshippers Way or Prayers Road in Hebron, West Bank is a road linking the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba with the Cave of the Patriarchs and with the Jewish settlements in Hebron. The road is used by Israelis and tourists who visit the Cave and the Old City of Hebron. Palestinians are denied vehicular use of the road. The road was expanded after an ambush near Kiryat Arba that took place in November 2002. The expansion required that adjacent Palestinian land be expropriated, which resulted in a legal battle. A number of buildings of architectural and historical value, dating back to the Mamluk-Ottoman period, were also expropriated and destroyed.

The Worshippers route has been given numerous names and variants of names, such as "Worshipper's Way", "Worshipers' Way", "Worshippers' Path", etcetera. Before the Israeli High Court the route was called "prayers' path" and "Worshippers' Way".

An alley which parallels the western part of the route, and used by settlers on foot, is called by them Simtat Erez.

Kiryat Arba is an Israeli settlement at the outskirts of Hebron, just outside the eastern municipality border. It is located close to the Cave of the Patriarchs, and six Jewish settlements south of the Old City of Hebron. Kiryat Arba has more than 7,500 residents, while the settlements in Hebron as of 2005 house some 600 settlers, secured by about 1,500 soldiers. Kiryat Arba was built at the edge of the area which the 1967 Allon Plan envisioned as being annexed to Israel, while Hebron itself would be part of an enclave with Palestinian self-rule.

Originally, the settlers used a route running from the northern entrance via Al-Shuhada Street (which was closed to Palestinians) to the Cave of the Patriarchs. This road, connecting all the Jewish locations in Hebron, is known by Israelis as "Tzir Zion Road", or "Route of Zion", and was closed to Palestinian traffic in 2001, after two Israeli settlers were killed. In August 2009, the route was reopened to 80 local Palestinian families.

Following an ambush near Kiryat Arba in 2002, in which 12 Israeli soldiers and security guards were killed, Israel wanted to build a road directly connecting the southern gate of Kiryat Arba with the Cave.

...
Wikipedia