‘Azzun ‘Atma, Eliyahu Crossing, Falamiya, Habla, Kufr Jammal, Mon 4.2.13, Morning
A regular occupation day; buses full of children arrived at the Habla crossing, inspection included the contents of the buses.
06:10 Azun Atme
A lot of people already standing outside the checkpoint, waiting for transport. Only about 30 in line, and they are going through quickly; all the time new people are arriving. A little after our arrival, the checkpoint commander appeared and sent us to stand in the back – we moved a bit, so that we could still see what was happening, but then he returned and started arguing with us, announcing that this was a closed military zone and we had to get farther away. We tried to insist that he show us the order stating that this had been declared a closed military zone, but he didn't have one; nevertheless, he was quite violent in his manner and we didn't have the stamina to oppose him. Clearly, he had received direction from above or from his friends, not to allow us to stand there. So we moved little bit once again. Anyway, beyond just "showing him" that we were allowed, there wasn't any particular importance in insisting, as things were moving along correctly at the checkpoint, it was a well-organized checkpoint and there were no particular problems.
06:55 Habla
The soldiers opened the gates (the checkpoint was due to open at 07:00), and the first people went through a few minutes earlier than 07:00. A lot of people in line and, next to the checkpoint, there was a civilian car on the patrol road with a license plate on which was written "Ta'oz company, tour of Gates". Strange. Has that also been privatized? Are there civilian "companies"? The crossing itself was very fast in comparison to previous times: 50 people went through in 20 minutes. There were also donkeys and carts and mules and cars. One of them belonging to a man from the Ramadeen clan, was full of things which had to be taken out for a thorough inspection. The gate for vehicles/carts was not opened all the way by the soldiers, creating a traffic jam of cars coming in and out of the West Bank.
07:25
The girls' bus arrived and went through inspection on its way to Habla; a few minutes after, the boys' bus arrived and also went through inspection before they were allowed to continue to school, while the buses had to make a slalom run through the gates.
07:45 Eliyahu Gate
4 vehicles being inspected; no one in the pedestrian line.
08:00 Falamiya
Tractors going through to their fields. Quiet, pastoral atmosphere. One man sitting at the entrance to the checkpoint. They had taken his permit and he doesn't understand why or what is happening. We decided to wait a few minutes before troubling the DCO; after those minutes, a man returned with his permit and he left for the fields. More tractors arrived, as well as trucks, and they went to the orchards.
We called the village head from Ras a-Tirah in order to find out if Gate 1360, which the soldiers had claimed that they opened before they open at Habla, was really the gate from Ras a-Tirah in the direction of the orchards, next to Alfei Menashe, and indeed it was this gate. He also said that they had opened it for 2 weeks but, during the first week, it had rained and it was impossible to work. This week, they are waiting for the ground to dry a little and by then the time will have gone by and, once again, they will not be able to plow. They simply must lengthen the period during which plowing is allowed.
We went up to Kufr Jammal, to the grocery, to find out if they were allowed to go out to the orchards where the gates had been closed during the whole year, except for during the olive harvest. It turned out that they were not allowed to get to the orchards to plow, the matter is still being taken care of. Also in this case, we complained that, last year, it had rained during the whole 2 weeks and they were not able to get to the orchards to do their work.
'Azzun 'Atma
See all reports for this place-
'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
Apr-11-2019Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
-
Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing
See all reports for this place-
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.
-
Falamiya
See all reports for this placeHabla
See all reports for this place-
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.Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-25-2025Habla Checkpoint: system of gates
-
Kufr Jammal
See all reports for this place-
Kufr Jammal This village, rising about 200 meters over sea level, is located about 14 kilometers south of Tul Karm town and about 17 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. The families living there since the mid-18th century number about 3,000 persons at present. The village has lost thousands of dunams of its northern and western lands due to the construction of the Separation Barrier, leaving the lands themselves behind the barrier. After the Israeli Supreme Court ruling in 2011, the barrier was moved to the west and many farmlands were returned to their owners. It is a quiet village, its relations with the nearby settler-colony of Sal’it are favorable, and many of the villagers work in the colony’s industrial plants. Farmers cross the agricultural checkpoint close to this settler-colony in order to tend their fields unhampered. However, there are numerous acts of harassment and disorder taking place when the village farmers cross the other agricultural checkpoints: gates do not open at hours suitable to the farmers’ needs, and for a short period of time only; the Civil Administration usually prevents all kinds of crops except olives; tractors and other farm equipment are forbidden entry; only a single permit is issued per family, and occasionally such permits are confiscated and their re-issue is delayed – the common excuse is usually “security reasons”. How do the villagers make their living? Holders of work permits inside Israel travel at 3 a.m. to Eyal Checkpoint near Qalqiliya town in order to make it on time to their workplace at Sal’it (close to their village) and elsewhere. Owners of vegetable patches who hold permits are allowed to reach their fields beyond the Separation Barrier through the distant Falamiya Checkpoint. Importantly, fields returned to the village show amazing improvement intending, irrigation and farming variety – and instead of the neglected olive tree groves that were accessible only to holders of transit permits through agricultural checkpoints usually closed, farming has now flourished. (updated Jan 2021)
-
