Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Wed 18.8.10, Afternoon
15:30 Haris
We went into Haris to talk to people and ask how things are going.
The stores were all closed, either due to Ramadan or due to the heavy heat.
We saw hardly anyone on the street, and didn't stop.
We went on from there to Biddya. There too, the city was mostly closed down and devoid of people. We met some (Sheroot) taxi drivers who had worked for years at Huwarrah CP., and whom Nadim knew well. They were waiting for passengers to come by; one driver explained that because of the holiday people had less money and the taxi drivers had very little work. In general the situation in Biddya was depressed; not the way it was in the good days when loads of Israelis came there to buy furniture. He noted that the present checkpoint by Nablus was no problem, he just wished that the soldiers at the checkpoint would let the cars through faster because of the heat.
But if the soldiers have no suspicions of the drivers then the traffic flows quickly.
The real problem is the settlers. Approximately twice a month, for the last few months, settlers have blocked the checkpoint with their bodies: they lie down on the road and don't allow the Palestinian vehicles to pass. In August this has happened already twice. The soldiers are completely apathetic, and don't disturb the actions of the settlers. They simply tell the Palestinian drivers that the road is "closed".
We passed through the Eliyahu Crossing and went on to Habla.
We arrived fifteen minutes before 17:00, the gate was open, but untill 17:00 they allowed no one to pass. We spoke to one of the men waiting there who had a problem of getting a permit and gave him the MachsomWatch card to call for help.
The workers stood in the heat and waited. The caravan, with one side open, was empty.
The people waited in the shade behind the caravan and not inside on the benches that were there for them. The benches are made of metal and were burning hot from the sun in the heat of August.
At 17:00 the workers began to go through the checkpoint 5 at a time; the passage went quite quickly.
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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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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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