Jericho, November 11, 2026
Photo: jpost.com
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has restored vehicle access to the lookout above the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. George the Chozebite in the Judean Desert, ending nearly three years of restrictions.
The restrictions began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. According to the National Herald, security barriers and electronic gates along the approach road made travel to the lookout difficult. For many pilgrims, that cut off the best-known view of a monastery whose story reaches back some sixteen centuries.
Monastic life in Wadi Qelt began around 420, when a few monks settled around the cave where the Prophet Elijah had been fed by ravens. Between 480 and 520, St. John of Thebes, also called St. John the Chozebite, reorganized the community as a monastery, and it later took the name of St. George the Chozebite, who guided it in the 6th and 7th centuries. The Persians destroyed it in 614 and killed the monks living there. It was rebuilt during the Crusader period, then abandoned again after the Crusaders were driven out. Greek monks re-established it in 1878, and the Jerusalem Patriarchate helped complete the restoration in 1901.
That long record of destruction and renewal is part of what makes the lookout so significant to visitors. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Tourism Ministry has since introduced a new procedure. Licensed tour guides were informed that the ministry and the neighboring community of Mitzpe Yeriho have prepared a new paved driving route to the lookout, following the community’s perimeter security road.
From the lookout, pilgrims can descend a steep path toward the monastery, which remained active throughout and continues to be inhabited by Greek Orthodox monks.
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