‘Azzun ‘Atma, Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Shomron Crossing
Translation: Suzanne O.
Azzun Atma South
9:30 a.m.
3 Palestinians are leaving now holding their documents, they put them in their pockets. They join their friends who are sitting under a tree on the other side of the road. 2 children (aged 12?) also leave. They show their documents and cross the road. A youth with a donkey comes – the gate opens and he crosses without showing his papers. All in all traffic is very light.
Shomron crossing
9:55 a.m.
Empty
Za'atra roadblock
10:20 a.m.
There is a military jeep in the car park, there are no detained cars. There are soldiers in the look out posts and at the roadblock, there are no detainees.
10:30 a.m.
We went to get to know the neighbours of Tapuach village – Yasuf and Iskaka villages. The new tarmac road comes to an end exactly at the entrance to Tapuach – from there on the road to the two villages is uneven. Yasuf looks sleepy and indeed a hitchhiker (an English teacher) told us that everyone had gone to sleep late last night because of the festival. According to him the residents of the village have been unable to get to their olive groves on the slopes of Tapuach since 2000. He thanks us for our interest and our concern (he called us a human rights organisation). The olive harvest is in another month and the yield is not very good.
10:50 a.m. We returned to Za'atra roadblock
There is heavy traffic of cars. There are no hold ups.
Huwwara roadblock
11:05 a.m.
The position of the soldiers at the entrance to Nablus has changed. They are now stationed in a parallel line to the soldiers at the exit roadblock. There are 2 entrance lanes – one for Palestinians, free, the second one is for Israeli vehicles and here there is an inspection of ID cards. At the exit from Nablus there is one lane, there are no hold ups, documents are quickly inspected approximately every 10 vehicles.
Lakif village
11:35 a.m.
We entered the village, the barrier was open. There is a Border Police jeep with 3 soldiers who inspect documents and hold up all those entering and leaving. A small lorry (loaded up with empty cartons) is at the exit from the village, a taxi and a private car want to enter.
11:45 a.m.
The taxi and the lorry are released.
A pedestrian is inspected, both her handbag and her shopping bag are inspected (it is really off putting to see it! In the sun, beside the main road, the behaviour towards her is so unreasonable). They wait for permission over the radio and, five minutes later, she crosses.
So it continues – every vehicle entering or leaving the village is inspected and when there aren't any the Border Policeman goes on to the main road and stops any Palestinian vehicle driving on Road 55.
12:10 p.m.
Another jeep arrives, the inspections continue.
12:15 p.m.
We waited until the car, which had been held up for a long time, is released and this happened after 40 minutes.
Azun Atma
12:20 p.m.
We went to see if the northern roadblock is staffed, but the village is so busy and full of life – children skipping, everyone eating out (we had forgotten that it is possible) that we simply drove round the village and resumed our journey – without asking directions for the northern roadblock.
Eliahu crossing
12:45 p.m.
Apart from ours, there are no vehicles.
Chabala
12:55 p.m.
Closed: as expected.
In a nearby field people are working: picking olives, spraying.
'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
Apr-11-2019Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
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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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Shomron Crossing
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Shomron Crossing The Shomron checkpoint for vehicles. is located east of Rosh HaAyin and Kafr Qassem, on Road 5 (Trans-Samaria) leading to Ariel and the Za'atara junction. It is intended for blue ID cardholders, foreign guests or diplomats, and international organizations only. In 2009 the management was entrusted to a civil security company.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-21-2025Highway 505: Salute to the Hilltop Youth
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