'Anabta, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Tue 19.1.10, Afternoon

Date: 19/01/2010 ,Afternoon

Observers: Dvora O., Bruria R. (reporting)

Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

On the Green Line north of Route 557 and south of Tulkarm, operated by a civilian manpower company. Serves as exit and entry gate for workers from Tulkarm in Israel, and for transit of commercial quantities of goods by back-to-back method.

Close description

Anabta CP
The cars pass without being checked.

Irtah
At 3:30, when we arrived at the CP, there were few people and the only post which was open, was sufficient. But ten minutes later the stream of people grew, the queue became longer and the congestion increased, and still only one post was active. Later two buses, in which there were women who returned from prisoners' visits, arrived. It is well known that the checking of women takes more time as they don't have the arrangement for finger print checkings. When the women arrived just one other porthole was opened, and the men's queue became longer and longer.

During all this time we called the humanitarian center and the Tul Karem DCO many times and tried also other DCO offices. Some ddin't reply, some promised to help, but there were no results.

We also appealed to the guard at the gate who promised that soon more posts would be added. According to him just when we were talking to him there was a changing of guards. When no posts were added we returned to him and he said that the number of posts was increased to four. We returned to the CP and there was nothing of the kind, there were only two posts open. When we came back to him for the third time he refused to contact the commander, he claimed that he had all the information by means of camers. In the end two other posts were opened, and the line of people began to move. The question remains, why does it take so much time, and why another post cannot be added immediately when there is a need for it, especially when women return from visiting prisoners.