Karmei Tzur, or Carmei Tzur () is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank located north of Hebron in the Judean hills between the Palestinian towns of Beit Ummar and Halhul. The National Religious community falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. Under the terms of the Oslo Accords of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Karmei Tzur was designated Area "C" under full Israeli civil and security control. 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. According to a Peace Now-report of 2006, 27% of the land on which Karmei Tzur is built is privately owned, all or most of it, by Palestinians. According to Israeli law, settlements on privately owned Palestinian land are illegal. History Karmei Tzur, meaning “Vineyards (or Olive Groves) of Rock” or “Stalwart Vineyards”, was established in 1984 by a group of students from the Har Etzion Yeshiva in Alon Shvut, and was named after the nearby Hasmonean and Biblical place of Beth-Zur Geography Karmei Tzur is situated east of the Israeli West Bank barrier, 8.3 kilometers from the Green line in the Judean hills north of Hebron, 22 kilometers from Jerusalem. The settlement has a total area of about 420.000 square meters. Population There are about 200 families living in the settlement with more than 1,000 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, and doctors. Most of the residents work in Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba, or Jerusalem. Education Local children are educated within the settlement until they reach school age. School children are transported to schools in the centre of Gush Etzion. There is a wide variety of after school activities provided in the settlement. Outposts Karmei Tzur has an outpost, Tzur Shalem, which is also considered illegal under Israeli law. It was established in 2001 in memory of Dr. Shmuel Gillis, a senior physician at the Hadassah Medical Center and resident of Karmei Tzur of English origins who was killed when Palestinians shot him while driving home on 1 February 2001 during the Second Intifada.