Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa

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Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa is a Palestinian village council located about 16 kilometers west of Hebron, in the Hebron Governorate of the Southern West Bank. In 2017, the population was 1,859 people.

The name means "the monastery of honey," and archaeologists have found ceramics from the Byzantine era in the area.

History and archaeology:
- In 1838, it was noted as a place in ruins or deserted, in the area between the mountains and Gaza, under the government of el-Khulil.
- In 1863, the traveler Victor Guérin described considerable ruins at Khirbet Deir el-A'sal, with ruined houses, cisterns, silos, and underground stores carved into rock, probably dating from ancient times.
- In 1883, the Survey of Palestine found foundations, heaps of stones, caves, cisterns, and a ruined chapel, apparently Byzantine.

Administrative changes:
- In the 1931 census, the village was counted under Dura and was referred to as Kh. Der el Asal el Gharbiya.
- After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa came under Jordanian rule.
- In 1961 the village’s population was 282.
- Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the area has been under Israeli occupation.

Notable incident:
In March 2013, a 14-year-old from the village, Yusef a-Shawamreh, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the barrier while he and two others were picking Akub on their family's land beyond the barrier. An IDF investigation said they cut a hole in the fence and, after attempting to flee, were shot, with Yusef hit in the waist. No soldiers were prosecuted, a decision criticized by human rights groups.