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‘Anabta, ‘Azzun, Ar-Ras, Eliyahu Crossing, Eyal, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Te’enim Crossing, Thu 2.4.09, Afternoon

Observers: Hagar L., Milett S., Irine T., Orna B. (reporter)
Apr-02-2009
| Afternoon
Translator: Orna B.

2:30 Elijah Passage
Concrete road block. One has to go through a serpentine path. No inspections. A queue of cars in the opposite direction. The main entrance to Azzun is blocked.

3:45 Anabta

A long queue of vehicles in the direction of Tulkarm, all the way to the junction of Route 57 with Route 557. The traffic flows in the opposite direction. Randomal stopping of drivers. A short conversation with the soldier and only rarely do they check any documents. All Israeli cars are stopped and only a few Palestinian cars are stopped. On average it takes a vehicle about 10-15 minutes to go through the checkpoint.  Hagar talks to the commander. According to him the delays are caused by Israeli cars trying to go through this checkpoint. In the direction of the exit from Tulkarm the passage is slow but uniterrupted.

4:05 A-ras
On our way on Route 557 we do not see a checkpoint on Route 547 from Tulkrm bearing south.

4:10 Figs Checkpoint
Slow passage.

4:17 The soldiers say they will open the gate to Jubara for us when "the mess is over". We wait in front of the locked gate for a few moments.

4:21 A silent soldier arrives with the key and opens the gate. But when we reach Gate 753 despite pleading with the soldiers, they do not let us through. So our plan to go to Azzun on Route 547 is scrapped. A detained person whose permit had expired was sitting on one side of the road. As soon as we arrive they let him through. But not us. We go back to the locked gate and after hooting and waiting several moments the same silent soldier arrives with the key.

5:20 Eyal Passage
Two posts are open at the exit towards Qalqiliya. A queue of about 25 people. They go through fairly quickly.
At the entrance area Hagar is trying to explain to the rest of us what happens here in the mornings. We are standing on the line of the concrete wall. A soldier shouts at us to go away from there because it is a military zone. Hagar argues with him and continues to eplain to us with great difficulty while the soldier is shouting. Once the explanations are over we "remove" ourselves from the area.
Hagar finds a resident of Nablus and exchanges telephone numbers with him, and asks him to report to her if the Barrels Checkpoint opens at 04:00 am. (On Sunday he reported that indeed the checkpoint opened at 04:00 am). we go back to the territories via Tzoofim Gate.

5:43 Qalqiliya checkpoint
Traffic is flowing – no queues.

5:55 Havla Gate
A 14 years old boy without a permit nor a birth certificate is refused passage at the gate. Hagar tries to convince the soldiers to let him through, without success. The boy has had enough, announces that he is leaving and disappears. The soldiers hurry to close the gate ( it's 3 minutes past 6:00 pm). At the las second a bike rider manages to go through the gate. The commander's jeep passes on the security road, the soldiers run to him and complain that they "are late and it is impossible to close the gate on time". (We know that they have  to be at 6:00 pm at the nearest agricultural gate which opens between 6:00 -6:30 pm). On the way from the gate to Route 55, workers returning from work are waiting for their friends from Qalqiliya or for from the villages near Alphei Menashe with permits to take their vehicles through this area, to drive them to Elijah passage, where they can go through.

We are on our way home.
  • 'Anabta CP

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    • 'Anabta CP

      The checkpoint is located south of the village of 'Anabta, at the intersection of Road 60 (leading to Nablus at the entrance to Area A), with Road (57, 557, 5576) facing west towards the Einav settlement and the checkpoint at the exit from the West Bank - Figs checkpoint. Until 2010 we used to watch the intersection and report the long columns created due to a slow inspection of the vehicles in both directions.  
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
      Oct-28-2011
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
  • '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.

       

  • A-Ras (The Children Checkpoint)

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    • A-Ras (The Children Checkpoint)
      On Tulkarm-Qalqiliya road (574), east of Hirbet Jubara. tia checkpoint is dedicated to residents traveling to and from Tulkarm, so they should not cross apartheid road 557 (only permissible for settlers).

  • 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.  
  • Eyal Checkpoint / Crossing

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    •   Eyal Checkpoint is intended for pedestrians and Palestinians only. This is the main barrier for workers to cross from the center of the West Bank. Workers with a work permit to enter Israel can pass through it for trade, medicine, and visiting prisoners. The checkpoint was built on the Green Line north of Qalqilya in the separation barrier that surrounds the city. The checkpoint began operating in 2004 by the military. Opening hours on weekdays from 04:00 to 19:00. We started holding shifts there in 2007. We arrived at the checkpoint before it opened at 4 in the morning. We reported on the difficult conditions and the long and cramped queues of workers who must continue their journey by commuting to work throughout Israel. At the end of June 2009, the checkpoint was operated by a civil security company, The transit time has been gradually shortened, today it is faster, but the Palestinians still have to arrive very early to make it to the transportation. Usually, about 15,000 people pass through.
  • Jubara (Kafriat)

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    •   The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel. The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area, blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village. The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.  
  • 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.
      Etz Ephraim settlement. Nurit overlooks Siniriya
      Karin Lindner
      Oct-28-2011
      Etz Ephraim settlement. Nurit overlooks Siniriya
  • Te'enim Crossing

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    • Te'enim Crossing The Figs checkpoint, located on Road 557, east of the Green Line and the Ephraim Checkpoint  (Road 444), is a vehicle crossing, open 24/7 all year round. It serves the Israeli population, including those authorized to enter the Palestinian Authority. The passage of foreigners holding international passports recognized by the State of Israel is approved. In exceptional cases will the passage of a Palestinian be allowed here.  
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