‘Azzun, Eyal Crossing, Habla
Eyal, Habla, ‘Azzun,
05:30 Eyal
Most of the laborers already wait for transportation, and many vehicles leave the pick-up area.
The few laborers arriving at the entrance enter one after another.
One tells us the situation today is very good because an additional checkpoint lane was opened.
Following a meeting with the organization “Who Benefits from the Occupation?” a few days ago we began photographing the logos of the companies working at the checkpoint. Fences, electricity, landscaping, concrete, etc. It’s hard to find text…
06:45 Habla
The checkpoint is closed. A military vehicle arrives with a female officer (the commander) who says the opening time was changed to 06:55 until 07:55, and in the afternoon from 16:00 to 17:00. The change was made after the ‘Azzun ‘Atma checkpoint was closed and two agricultural gates opened in the fence between ‘Azzun ‘Atma and Habla. So she must move among the different gates.
She also told us that the Palestinians who’d exited to Israel through ‘Azzun ‘Atma don’t come to Eyal but to the agricultural gates opened for them. Which doesn’t make sense. She says laborers may enter through any gate that’s near them. I misunderstood. Apparently those exiting to Israel do come to Eyal.
I read the correspondence regarding the opening hours and I see that what we were told doesn’t match what’s written. A group of Palestinians waits for the entrance to open. The checkpoint opens right on time and it turns out the computer isn’t working and everything is done by hand, as it used to be. Quick inspections, etc. It’s not possible to see the notes and the stars on the magnetic card on the computer. She says the DCL’s were informed of the change in hours and everyone knows. At the beginning they also gave more time because not all those using the crossing knew of the change. Three teachers from Qalqilya on their way to a school in Ramadin tell us the checkpoint hours are a problem for them.
08:00 ‘Azzun
A military jeep stands at the entrance. The village is quiet.
'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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Eyal Checkpoint / Crossing
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Eyal Checkpoint is intended for pedestrians and Palestinians only. This is the main barrier for workers to cross from the center of the West Bank. Workers with a work permit to enter Israel can pass through it for trade, medicine, and visiting prisoners. The checkpoint was built on the Green Line north of Qalqilya in the separation barrier that surrounds the city. The checkpoint began operating in 2004 by the military. Opening hours on weekdays from 04:00 to 19:00. We started holding shifts there in 2007. We arrived at the checkpoint before it opened at 4 in the morning. We reported on the difficult conditions and the long and cramped queues of workers who must continue their journey by commuting to work throughout Israel. At the end of June 2009, the checkpoint was operated by a civil security company, The transit time has been gradually shortened, today it is faster, but the Palestinians still have to arrive very early to make it to the transportation. Usually, about 15,000 people pass through.
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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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