Beit Iba, Jit, Qalqiliya, Thu 31.1.08, Afternoon
15:56 Beit Iba. Above Nablus, at the top of the hills, snow can be seen. We are told today is an official 'snow day', so people remained at home. Also a strike is held today by the Palestinian authority. This explains the sparse number of people seen today at the checkpoint. Those who do pass, are required to do so under tall metal detectors, which beep constantly, indirectly causing people to take off overcoats, shirts, belts, shoes… the horrible sound just seems to add to the usual gloom. The soldiers are checking: bags, permits, IDs, luggage compartments, faces, reliability.A ten year old child approaches the soldiers holding up a document. He wishes to pass through to Nablus. The soldiers do not speak his language and do not look not at the document. One of them leans against another and smiles a cruel smile- 'mamnua' he says. (Access denied). The child turns and leaves.The soldiers check the cars slowly. Two of them are joking with one of the drivers and another joins them, glancing at me occasionally. Is he thinking that I read through the lie? I wonder.
17:39 Jit. No checkpoints at the moment..18:00. Qalqiliya. Many people are waiting in their cars at the only entrance to Qalqiliya (the town is surrounded by a wall). The drivers at the beginning of the queue say they've been waiting for 40 minutes.' It's like this every day', one of them says. (Other MW observations confirm this). There are about 40 cars waiting at one end, and 13 at the other. It is dark. These are people waiting to return to their homes at the end of a working day. The soldiers are definitely checking faster since our arrival. (We spied on them before they could see us). Dafna called the Qalqiliya DCO to complain about the long wait, and was told they will try to speed things up.
We left at 18:22.
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.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-31-2026Nabi Elias. The gate is closed
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