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‘Azzun, Habla, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)

Observers: Esti T. (photographs), Karin L. (reporting), Maya B.H. (translation)
Jan-12-2016
| Morning

11:00Ephraim Gate for back-to-back merchandice transfers.
Even before reaching the first gate the security guard rushed towards us, yelling. When we approached him, he signaled us to stop, as if we posed a danger (he himself was armed, of course), and demanded that we not move till his supervisor arrives.  We’ve had endless arguments with the supervisor over where we could stand and what we could photograph.

11:30  Irtach CP

Nearly desolate.  We approached the fence next to the entrance.  The occasional Palestinian passed through the turnstiles towards the checking area. On the exit side, 2 small signs pointed to Israel and to Tulkarm.  We stopped to photograph the new Center for Development of Israeli-Palestinian Commerce, and were given a tour of the interior. The guy in charge expressed hope that the place would soon serve for business meetings, and save the Palestinians the need to travel to Israeli towns.  There will be a separate entrance to the Center operated by a magnetic card, which will be distributed to the Palestinian merchants. One such merchant we have met liked the idea and hoped it would work out.

 

Every now and then several Palestinians pass, solo or in groups, in this direction or that.  They complained about the morning crowding, mainly between 6 and 7am, when the passers include laborers, families visiting prisoners, and merchants.  One guy asked for our help in overcoming a police passage block, and we referred him to the right MW person.  How did he pass without it?  He has an agricultural pass to his fields near the village, on the Israeli side.

13:30  We returned through Tzofim CP on the way to Azzun.  Since the road was being widened (for whom??), one lane was closed, and traffic was controlled by a traffic light.

13:45  No army at the entrance to Azzun.

14:00  Habla CP

People passing to Israel, some from Arab A-Ramdin.  So does a truck loaded with tall trees, and some cars.  The gates close on the minute.  One soldier gets pissed off by our camera, and approaches threateningly.  He was calmed by his mates.

  • '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.

       

  • 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.

       

      חבלה: השער בשלבי סגירה
      Nina Seba
      Aug-18-2025
      Habla: The gate is in the process of closing
  • Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

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    • The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.  
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