As much the rest of Israel and surrounding areas, the city of Hebron in what today is the West Bank is claimed as holy by three different religion, two of which are nigh diametrically opposed. Site of the cave of the Patriarchs where the biblical figure of Abraham, as well as his progeny, are buried, Hebron is central to devout Christians, Muslims and Jews. The latter two have been fighting over control of the city for years.

On this day, Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in since Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 war. He was the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the group that through various terrorist actions persuaded Israel to enter the Oslo Peace Accords that eventually opened up the holy city.

Hebron still maintains a sizable Israeli army contingent, and is divided into two areas – the larger, Palestinian H1 region, where Israeli soldiers may not enter without Palestinian security escorts (though they still extend some control via checkpoints at key roadways) and the smaller H2 zone, home to 500 Israeli settlers among 30,000 Palestinians. Movement of Palestinians is highly restricted in H2 for fear of terrorism.