Rachel Crossing, El-Nashash, Nebi-Yunes, Etzion DCO,

Rachel Crossing – we had gotten a report of difficult conditions at the checkpoint even before we arrived. And indeed, I can’t remember ever seeing so many people cramped together in lines, people shouting and pushing each other; the noise and the anger ripped the air apart. The soldiers stand helpless and there is no one who is organizing the line and trying to speed up the process.

This is apparently a new platoon. The soldiers manning the computers are extremely slow. There are only 4 open checking booths. We are told that there are “no extra soldiers” – two are sick and two are attending different courses. The checkpoint was opened at 05:30 and it has been packed since.

Two of the four checking booths require hand scans in addition to the regular permits. This is a random check in which a person is required to insert their hand in the scanner. Since this is a random check and the line was very long, it was possible to cancel it, but as we said, there is very little organization.

Apart for the anger and tension of standing in line it becomes apparent that many people who work far a way lose a day of work when ever the passage through the checkpoint becomes too slow.

We filed a complaint with the humanitarian center, but I’m afraid that this situation will repeat in our next shift and of course in between.  

El-Nashash – no one approaches us. 

Nebi-Yunes – a few people approached us about transportation issues and regarding a supreme court appeal for acquiring a magnetic card. 

Etzion DCO – there are very few people at the place. Apparently many of the activities that have taken place in the DCO have been moved to other places and so there are fewer people here.