‘Azzun, Eliyahu Crossing, Falamiya, Habla, Kufr Jammal, Mon 5.12.11, Morning
06:58 – Habla
The soldiers arrived before 07:00 and opened the gates.
07:01 The first five people entered; they came out three minutes later. The next group crossed in four minutes; inspection is quick, no delays.
07:21 Thirty Palestinians have already crossed.
The children’s bus arrives late, when we’re already leaving; we don’t see the second bus anywhere along the way to checkpoint 109.
07:30 Checkpoint 109 (Eliyahu)
A long line of cars, but settlers go through quickly. Two cars being inspected in the pen. From where we’re standing we can’t see how many laborers are waiting to enter, but only a few are in front of the revolving gates.
07:37 A white car and two pickup trucks are sent to the pen for inspection. They emerge about eight minutes later. We also saw a pickup truck carrying laborers whom we saw entering; they came out after about seven minutes.
07:50 We left.
07:58 Soldiers in a jeep watch the road at the entrance to Izbet Tabib; soldiers with weapons drawn also watch the road on the way to Azzun.
08:10 Falamiya agricultural gate
As usual, few people cross at this hour. A man on a donkey, a tractor, people on a truck and a few people on foot. Later, at Kufr Jammal, we’ll understand why so few people cross here.
08:25 We leave.
08:40 Kufr Jammal
We went to our friend Z.’s grocery, where some farmers awaited us; we’d asked to meet them to hear exactly why they’re unable to get to their olive groves on the other side of the security fence. Almost everyone applying for a permit for the Falamiya agricultural gate, which most residents of Kufr Jammal use to reach their lands, receives it. But their lands are farther away; most of them are located between the Sal’it gate and the Falamiya gate, more or less opposite the area between the settlement of Sal’it and Moshav Tzur Natan on the Green Line, all the way to Tzur Yig’al, also on the Green Line. Until last summer the farmers could enter through the Falamiya gate and drive north on the security road to a spot more or less opposite their lands, where five small gates in the fence gave them access. Last summer the gates were locked and opened only in the morning during the olive harvest season so farmers could enter. The farmers were then locked in until the evening when the gates were reopened so they could get to the Falamiya gate before it closed, cross and return home.
About a month ago the soldiers “forgot” to return in the afternoon to open one of the gates. The Palestinians were, of course, under a great deal of pressure, and it took them a long time to get out by climbing over rocks, fences and boulders. One of them, the owner of a tractor, couldn’t remove it, of course and was forced to leave it there. When he returned the next morning the soldiers had again “forgotten” to come open the gate. He apparently tried to open the gate, soldiers who “by chance” were passing at that moment confiscated his permit to cross at Famalya, as well as similar permits of five other farmers, and now he can’t cultivate his za’atar fields either. As of today, despite repeated promises by T., the crossings officer, and by the head of the DCO, their permits haven’t been returned and they can’t work their lands.
Those farmers who have permits for the Falamiya gate, but whose lands are located beyond the locked gates, haven’t been able to reach and cultivate them since last summer. They say there are 500-600 people from Kufr Jammal in the same situation. The owner of the tractor drew a diagram showing the area and even gave me his ID number, and that of his wife; their permits had been taken. Three other farmers also gave me their details and asked us to help them take care of the problem. We obviously didn’t make any promises; they also know that our abilities are limited, but I gave all the information to Tami and we’ll follow up and see what develops.
We couldn’t part, of course, without tea/coffee.
We started for home.
'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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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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Falamiya
See all reports for this placeHabla
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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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Kufr Jammal
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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)
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