Carmei Tzur

Carmei Tzur ( _he. כרמי צור) is a Communal Settlement established in 1984 by a group of students from the Har Etzion Yeshiva in Alon Shvut, named after the nearby Hasmonean fortress of Beth-zur. The settlement is a part of the Gush Etzion block of Israeli settlements and is a part of the Amana organisation. The settlement is located between Beit Ummar and Halhul, north of Hebron.

There are around 120 families living in the settlement with around 700 people in total. This includes 13 families living in the adjacent "Tzur Shalem" outpost and eight immigrant families of Inca Jews from Trujillo, Peru, who have been housed there as part of an absorption program. The settlement is home to Yeshiva students, educators, academics army officers, traders, doctors. Most of the residents work in Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba, or Jerusalem.

Local children are educated within the settlement until they reach school age. From Year 1 and up the children are transported to schools in the centre of Gush Etzion. The is a wide variety of after school activities provided in the settlement.

Recently a new neighbourhood has been established adjacent to the settlement called "Tzur Shalem" in memorial of Dr. Shmuel Gillis, a senior physician at the Hadassah Medical Center who was killed after Palestinians shot him while driving home on February 1 2001 in the midst of the Second Intifada. [http://www.hadassah.org.il/English/Eng_SubNavBar/TheDoctors/GillisShmuel.htm] The new neighbourhood is located to the west of the settlement and has views of Gush Dan.

In 2002 a terrorist infiltrated the settlement, broke into one of the homes and murdered Ayal Sorek and his 9-month pregnant wife Yael along with a reserve soldier Shalom Mordechai. [http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-1935173,00.html]