‘Azzun, ‘Azzun ‘Atma, Habla, Thu 24.6.10, Afternoon
Azzun
A local man explains how to reach Siniriya via Tulth and then through Bet Amin to Azzun Atma’s northern checkpoint. All the installations are still in place; no soldiers. No settlements along the way, nor any military vehicles. We drove through the village until we arrived at
16:45 to the Palestinian side of the southern Azzun Atma checkpoint, and wanted to go through. The male and female soldiers at the checkpoint, which is closed to vehicles (except for Palestinians with a permit for their vehicles), wonder how we got here. They say we passed through a closed military area. Moreover, says the female soldier, they drive there only in armored vehicles.
We’re interrogated regarding our activities. Did we speak to any residents of the places through which we drove. While we’re standing there, Palestinians on foot return through the revolving gates. After a series of phone calls, the gate is opened for us. Maybe they were afraid to send us on without protection.
From Route 5 we turned north onto Route 444.
17:15 Habla agricultural gate.
11 Palestinians standing at the gate. We ask them why; “Waiting our turn,” they reply. As if there was nothing more natural that to wait and be inspected. The wait lasts 13 minutes. A Palestinian shepherd comes from Habla in a wagon to milk his goats and bring the milk to his family; he’s in a very good spirits. “The weather’s good today. The soldiers are also in a good mood. A lucky day! I’ve the best job in the world. The oldest job in the world. The same job our father Abraham did. You’re alone in the fields. With no people. No problems. Thank God. Blessed be our father, Abraham.” His words are confirmed by another waiting Palestinian: “Yes, today the soldiers are ok.” A flock of sheep is being driven toward Habla. A few more people go through.
17:45 We left.
'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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'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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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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