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‘Azzun, ‘Azzun ‘Atma, Eliyahu Crossing, Qalqiliya, Mon 14.11.11, Morning

Observers: Daphne S., Nina S. (reporting, Ttranslator: Judith Green
Nov-14-2011
| Morning

 

 

 

 

 

06:40    Tani Gate at Elkana/Maschah

Even though the Gate was supposed to close at 06:30, we decided to pop over and see what was going on there – there wasn't anybody there and the gate was locked.  So, we don't actually know if it had ever been open.

 

06:45   'Azzun 'Atma

A lot of workers are waiting for transport and getting warm next to little fires.  There were about 70 people in line at the gate.  The process went very smoothly.  The gate for vehicles was open for all the women and anyone who had a permit to stay, living in the seam area.  Children and youth cross over from the seam area into 'Azzun 'Atma.  They opened the backpacks of two of them at the entrance.  One man who tried to pass was not permitted as his document was no longer valid – he was sent back to renew it.  At first, the line did not decrease because there were always additional people coming.  We checked the time it took one man to go through (we started a bit after he arrived) – 30 minutes to pass through, 35 minutes all together.  A man from the border line asked permission to bring a tractor which he had ordered without its driver having to stand in the long line, because it would soon be raining and he wouldn't be able to finish his job.  After some discussion, he was allowed to pass by the pedestrian line.

 

At around 07:30, the line started to thin out – clearly most of the workers arrive very early, and then wait outside so they can be sure that they will get through and arrive at work on time, as one can never know how much time it will take them to get through the gate.  Today there were 2 inspection booths and the efficiency of one of them was increased when a military policeman began to call out to the inspector within the booth (from outside) the number of the person, while meanwhile checking his documents.

 

 07:45  Tamar Gate (Supposed to open at 08:00).

  No one waiting – it seems that the olive harvest, or the passage to the olive harvest, is over by then.

 

We continued according to route 3 to Sinariyah, Kfar Tolti', 'Azzun and back by way of Qalqilya and the Eliyahu Gate.

 

9:00  Eliyahu Gate

There were no Palestinians waiting to go through nor any vehicles for inspection

  • 'Azzun

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    • Azoun (updated February 2019)

      A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control), 

      on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.

      Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.

       

  • 'Azzun 'Atma

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    • 'Azzun 'Atma
      A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only  opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.

      From a report from March 24, 2021: "The farmers from Beit Amin and Azon Atma are happy that since February 21 the Oranit checkpoint .is going to be open 3 times a day, The farmers are really developing the place."

      Report from July 14, 2024: "Ornit checkpoint is closed . The Beit Amin/Abu Salman agricultural checkpoint is closed (there is no contact with the military to check if it opens rarely), the Ezbat Jaloud checkpoint was opened once a day before the war.

      Updated for July 2024

       

      עזון: הכניסה הראשית לכפר עזון: חסומה כבר מספר שבועות
      Apr-11-2019
      Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
  • Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing

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    • Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Zufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone. This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone." It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.  
  • Qalqiliya checkpoint

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    • Qalqilya is surrounded on all sides by the separation barrier. The only exit from the city is in the east of the city on the road that leaves the city in an easterly direction. This is where the checkpoint was located. When the checkpoint was active until 2009 our shifts watched long queues of cars being inspected at the only exit from the city to the West Bank. The checkpoint was canceled, but there is a military presence at the entrance to the city.
      נבי אליאס. הכניסה המערבית סגורה
      Ronit Dahan-Ramati
      Jun-18-2026
      Nabi Elyas. The western entrance is closed
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