Aftermath of stabbing attack at Gush Etzion Junction
Aftermath of stabbing attack at Gush Etzion JunctionGershon Elinson/Flash 90

(AFP) Abu Malak has spent 17 years working at a petrol station at a major junction near Jerusalem where Israelis and Palestinians cross paths, but lately there's been a change.

"Some (Israeli) customers still talk to us normally, but others look at us strangely and think that we're all terrorists," said the 38-year-old Palestinian.

"They tell us: 'Surely it's your brother or your cousin who is attacking us.'"

Gush Etzion Junction, located near a large block of Israeli and Palestinian towns and villages in Judea, has been the site of around 10 Arab terrorist attacks over the past several weeks.  

Situated along a major highway between Jerusalem and Hevron, cities sacred to both Jews and Muslims, Jews and Arabs have long stopped there to fill up their cars or buy groceries.

Workers at the junction's businesses are also both Israelis and Palestinians, and residents of nearby Jewish communities often gather there to hitch rides.

But a series of recent knife, car-ramming and gun attacks by Palestinians has turned it into a heavily guarded location where fear now reigns.

The anti-Israeli attacks have killed 22 people since the start of October, and wounded hundreds more.

At the junction itself, two Israelis, a Jewish American and a Palestinian have been murdered in Arab terror attacks. Seven Palestinian assailants have also been shot dead by Israeli forces at the site. Other Israelis have been killed or wounded not far from there as well.

Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers now stand guard among concrete blocks, and Palestinians, whether they be in cars or on foot, are searched.  

Illustrating how the junction has become a flashpoint, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu toured the area on November 23, the day after a 21-year old Israeli woman was stabbed to death at the site, and pledged increased security measures.

Everyone pays the price

The Gush Etzion bloc as well as the nearby settlement towns of Efrat and Beitar Ilit are home to some 92,000 Israelis. An estimated 2,000 Palestinians work in those areas.

The Rami Levy discount supermarket at the junction says 40 percent of its employees are Palestinian and counts many Palestinians among its customers.

But on a recent day it was nearly empty, like other businesses in the area.

Fear and checkpoints seem to have kept many away.

Rivka Pavie, an Israeli woman who lives in a nearby town, said as she waited at a bus stop: "We cannot imagine avoiding this junction. We are not going to allow ourselves to be terrorized."

However, she also acknowledged that she no longer brings her children along.

A Palestinian supermarket worker said he puts aside his fear to show up for his job and "feed his family."

"Customers see that we are employees and respect us," said the Palestinian man, who declined to be identified.  

"The real problem is going to and from work. Someone can single us out (as an attacker). One shot and we can disappear in a snap."

At the bus stop where Pavie waited, Israeli soldiers stood by with guns and wearing black hoods. One of them said the hoods were aimed at "scaring" potential attackers.

Daniel Wolf, who lives in a nearby Jewish community, said the junction had become a "war zone" compared to two months ago, when only two or three soldiers could be seen.

He believes the junction has been deliberately targeted since it is a rare area where Jews and Arabs can be found together, even if only by circumstance.

Nahum Baruh, a Jewish man born in Syria, has welcomed Jews and Arabs into his shop for the past five years, with 15 to 20 people typically inside at any given time to buy cigarettes, alcohol or snacks.

"In two months, I lost 90 percent of my sales," he said. "Everyone is paying the price for the situation today, Jews and Arabs."

Arutz Sheva Staff contributed to this report.