Where hikers walk the edges

Palestinians going hiking on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, in this file pic from April 18, 2025. With Israelis rapidly building in the West Bank, Palestinian hikers are increasingly unable to safely walk across the land. — Samar Hazboun/The New York Times

IT was just after dawn, and the hills outside Ramallah glowed in soft morning light.

A small group of Palestinian hikers, boots crunching gravel and jackets zipped tight against the chill, prepared to head down a dirt track towards a spring used for centuries by farmers.