Azzun, Beit Iba, Jit, Qalqiliya, Wed 20.8.08, Afternoon
On the way to Beit Iba we stop at the Qalqilya checkpoint.
14:00 Qalqilya. No line at the checkpoint entering the town, but whoever goes through has to stand on a long line inside the town: the road on the other side of the checkpoint is being repaved. Traffic is delayed there, but it still moves.
14:15 A line forms because a soldier "forgot" to give the sign. After he is reminded, traffic moves again.
We continue on our way.
14:25 Azzun. No checkpoint
14:40 The lone house on the hill – opposite it, and a little to the north, settlers set up a sort of summer camp. Their presence threatens the abandoned house. Although they were thrown out of the house, they weren't removed from its vicinity. The camp has become permanent.
14:45 Jit. Free entry to the village. The checkpoint is completely empty. Traffic flows as if there had never been a checkpoint here.
14:55 Beit Iba. No line of cars entering, nor exiting.
A line of about 15 pedestrians waiting to enter, but only their documentst are checked quickly, . 10 people in the shed at the exit from Nablus. One turnstile is operating. The humanitarian lane is empty. Occasionally someone passes through, almost without being checked. No detainees.
We talked to a student. Officially, he said, classes already began on Sunday (17.8.08), but today they actually began (we wonder how crowded it will be tomorrow).
15:00 About 20 people waiting in the shed. For some reason, checking has been stopped.
A minibus with passengers stops to be checked, but a minute later passes through without having been examined at all.
15:05 Everything is empty; only a few people left in the shed, and the line moves quickly.
An ambulance stops to be checked, but continues without having been examined.
15:10 The shed fills up a little. Tami talks to Tomer, the DCO representative. The second turnstile is opened.
Two young men in the humanitarian line, each holding a baby under a pink cover. The mother follows behind them. I asked permission to photograph them, but the mother, smiling, refused.
A woman, dressed all in black, only her eyes showing, is passed through without being checked (maybe they know her).
Vehicle traffic flows freely in both directions.
We count the number of soldiers at the empty checkpoint: 13 military personnel (including MP's, DCO, etc.).
The commander jokes with us, asking (with a complicit wink): "Maybe you could bring cakes for us? Or at least ice cream bars!…"
We leave for 'Anabta.
'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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Beit Iba
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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.
Jun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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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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