Tekoa () is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank, located 20 km northeast of Hebron, 16 km south of Jerusalem and in the immediate vicinity of the Palestinian village of Tuqu'. It falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. History Founding Tekoa was established in 1975 as a Nahal outpost in the vicinity of the Palestinian village of Tuqu'. In 1977 it was handed over to civilian residents. It is named after the hometown of the Biblical prophet Amos, whereupon the neighbouring settlement of Nokdim indicates his profession (shepherd) - see . Tekoa is built on 1071 dunam of land which, according to ARIJ, Israel confiscated from the Palestinian citizens of Tuqu'. The town is located 5 miles south of Bethlehem at the foot of Herodion ("Herod's Palace"). Archaeology and landmarks The archaeological site of El Khiam is located in this area. Letters of Shimon Ben Kosiba, leader of the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt against Roman occupation (132-135 CE), were found in a valley near Tekoa. Ancient caves and caves that were dug in the karst chalk stone of the Nachal Tekoa or Wadi Khureitun, named after Chariton the Confessor, by monks from the Lavras of Saint Chariton and his successor Euthymius the Great, are right behind Tekoa. Outside Tekoa, at Khirbet Tuqu', various ruins were seen in the mid-19th century. These included the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building stones, some of which had “bevelled edges” which supposedly indicated Hebrew origin. Byzantine ceramics have been found, and in the ancient site of nearby Tekoa ruins (Arab.: Khirbet Tuqu' ), there are the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery. Geography Tekoa is located above sea level on a ridge surrounded on three sides by a deep canyon, Nahal Tekoa, that runs east to the Dead Sea. It has a mean annual rainfall of 410mm, an average annual temperature of 17 degree Celsius, and an average annual humidity of c. 60 percent. Demographics Tekoa is populated by a mix of religious Zionists and secular Israelis. Many new immigrants from the former Soviet Union also live in Tekoa. In 2015, the population numbered 3,671. The former chief rabbi of Tekoa, Menachem Froman,