‘Awarta, ‘Azzun, Deir Sharaf, Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Jit, Qalqiliya, Ras ‘Atiya, Shave Shomron, Mon 11.4.11, Morning
There is a conspicuous contrast between our report and those coming from Awarta. We didn't go with the idea that it is important to continue and show our presence in other places as well. And also since we don't have any Arabic speakers and we thought that it would not be useful to go there not knowing to whom to turn, or whether or not it would be possible to enter the village. It seems to me that the ordinary occupation situation is shocking and upsetting even if nothing special happens, like what is happening in Awarta.
06:48 Habla. The first group is coming out only now. They complain that the gate was opened quite late. The inspections are fast and, within 3 minutes, the next group is already coming out and the one after this, after 2 minutes. The vehicles gate is closed and the Palestinians exit through the small gate. The guard from the nursery arrives and waits until they see him, and then goes through quickly. He says that one week ago there were "bad" soldiers who detained people, halted the inspection and took a lot of time. According to him, there were no women from MachsomWatch there that morning.
07:10 The buses arrive, the drivers' documents are checked, they have to open the luggage compartments for inspection and a soldier enters each bus for inspection. The buses go out after 6 minutes. They open and close the gate each time, though everything is done very efficiently and quickly this morning. Nevertheless, one of the youths says that they are asking a lot of questions and that delays things.
0 7:30 We leave, even though there are at least another 25 people in line and also a large truck with pottery that has come from Qalqilya to the nursery. At the exit a shepherd stops us and requests that we try to get the gate to open at 06:00 (which is what was written on the document which Tadesa gave us) and not at 06:30. Since a new member is traveling with us, we enter the road that leads to Ras Atira and show her the locked gate and explain the history of the area. At the exit, we see a large sign announcing "Here Alphei Menashe is being built".
07:45 Eliyahu Gate. We didn't stop, but we saw that there were about 20 people waiting. We traveled via 'Azzun to Jayyus. The opening time remains 05:45-06:45, so we didn't go to that gate but rather continued to the Falamya gate. On the improved road to Tulkarm there is a detour, through some olive groves and the village of Falamya and then back to the Tulkarm road.
08:00 Agricultural gate, Falamya. 2 tractors, a horse and wagon wait in front of the gate; after checking of documents, they pass through. A Palestinian arrives in a car and, in the luggage compartment there is a bicycle. He tries to go through in the car but it turns out that the permit is for the bicycle and not for the car, so he has to leave the car and ride the bike.
08:20 We leave. Travel by way of Nofim and the flowers are amazing. We pass through the villages, stop to buy vegetables and talk with the grocer about the situation and then continue through Fundak toward the J'at junction. On the way, we didn't see any military vehicle at the entrance to the villages or the settlements, also at J'at there was no roadblock or police. We turned off toward Dir Sharaf, stopping at a grocery/bakery. The store owner said that there was serious unemployment and the PA can't deal with the problem as there is no industry and it isn't even possible to make a living from agriculture today. He has a solution: if Israel were to stop importing foreign labor for agriculture and building, and allow Palestinians to work in Israel, there would be quiet in the territories because "someone who is working and making a living doesn't want to lose his living". He asked us to write about this in the papers and make known the unemployment problem which is causing agitation. We went up to road #60 to show the wall of Shavei Shomron and, to our surprise, there was a flying checkpoint. A truck was stopped for inspection, but the others were allowed through and they also didn't stop us, but just waved us through. We were tempted to move on, but we stopped there… On the way back, we saw the new hill next to Kedumim; an altogether new building.
10:15 Shvut Ami is abandoned.
10:30 By way of Eliyahu, in spite of the flags, they didn't check us and we continued toward home.
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'Awarta
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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-23-2026Awarta Checkpoint is empty
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'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.
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.
Nina SebaFeb-28-2024Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
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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.
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Habla
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Habla CP (1393)
The Habla checkpoint (1393) was established on the lands of the residents of Qalqilya, on the short road that
connected it for centuries to the nearby town of Habla. The separation barrier intersects this road twice and cut off the residents of Qalqilya from their lands in the seam zone.(between the fence and the green line).
There is a passage under Road 55 that connects Qalqilya to the sabotage This agricultural barrier is used by the farmers and nursery owners established along Road 55 from the Green Line and on both sides of the kurkar road leading to the checkpoint.
This agricultural checkpoint serves the residents of Arab a-Ramadin al-Janoubi (detached from the West Bank), who pass through it to the West Bank and back to their homes. The opening hours (3 times a day) of this agricultural checkpoint are longer than usual, about an hour (recently shortened to 45 minutes), and are coordinated with the transportation hours of a-Ramadin children studying in the occupied in the West Bank.
Nina SebaAug-18-2025Habla: The gate is in the process of closing
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Jit Junction
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The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.
Anat PolakJul-17-2025Yitzhar Road, Jit Junction: traffic jam
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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.
Nina SebaAug-18-2025Azzun: Enclosed by a high fence and the gate to the village is closed
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Ras 'Atiya
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The checkpoint is presently on the Separation Barrier roadway, manned and open 12 hours a day, from 6:30 to 18:30. West of it is the large Seam Line village whose school is attended by children from the nearby villages east of the Barrier and many of whose inhabitants have permits to work in Israel. How long this checkpoint will remain in place is unknown, since construction of the Separation Wall, just by the settlement of Alfe Menashe, east of the present Separation Barrier, is endless, as is the creation of a new road and, obviously, a new checkpoint.
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Shave Shomron Checkpoint
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The checkpoint is on Route 60 (the main road to the northern West Bank), opposite settlement. Has been blocked to Palestinians since disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria.
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