Hebron, city in the West Bank, lying in a mountainous region near Jerusalem. It has a population of 200,000 (1999 estimate). Hebron is a sacred city of both Islam and Judaism. The tomb of the patriarch Abraham and his family is located at the site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs; both a mosque and a synagogue have been built on top of the cave. Founded probably in the 17th century BC, Hebron was identified with Abraham. According to the Bible, David ruled from Hebron as king of Judah before becoming king of Israel in 993 BC.By the provisions of the 1947 partition of Palestine by the United Nations (UN), Hebron was incorporated into Jordan in 1948. In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel seized Hebron along with the rest of the West Bank. Following the war, several hundred Jewish Israelis settled in central Hebron and the city became a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian hostility over settlements. In 1995 Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a peace agreement. Israel was to withdraw its armed forces from all Palestinian towns in the West Bank, except Hebron, where Israel would keep a small number of troops. Under the agreement, Hebron would generally be administered by the Palestinian Authority, which administered other Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Go BAck