Dozens of Talmidim from Shavei Hebron Yeshiva on Wednesday moved into a residential building in Chevron’s Old City market district, known as the Casbah, marking the first permanent Jewish residential presence there since the 1929 Chevron massacre.

Jews lived in Chevron for centuries until Arab rioters murdered 67 Jews during the 1929 massacre and the British evacuated the surviving Jewish community from the city. After Israel took control of Chevron in 1967, Jews returned to several limited, heavily secured parts of the city, but not to the Casbah, the dense Palestinian market and residential area in Chevron’s Old City.

The students moved into Beit Valero, a building inside one of the most sensitive parts of the city. Chevron is one of Judaism’s holiest cities and is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Jewish tradition says Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov are buried. Today, the city is home to both a large Palestinian population and a small Jewish community living under heavy Israeli military protection.

The yeshiva said the move became possible only after it completed a complex legal purchase of the property, followed by months of renovations, security upgrades and coordination with Israeli authorities. Jewish groups cannot simply move into the Casbah. Property purchases in the area require willing sellers, extensive legal documentation, military security planning and government coordination, and they are often politically explosive and can take years to complete or approve.

Rabbis, public officials and residents gathered at the site for a mezuzah ceremony as students officially entered the building. Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Chananel Etrog said: “We are entering Beit Valero, and it is impossible not to see King David returning to his city, Chevron.”

The IDF said forces would secure the building and surrounding area on an ongoing basis because of the site’s high security sensitivity.