Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Yasuf
Yasuf,
A visit to Yasuf where settlers cut down ancient olive trees.
We entered the West Bank through the Shomron checkpoint and left through the Eliyahu checkpoint. We saw nothing unusual.
11:00 Tapuah junction. Five Palestinian cars are being inspected for defects by a vehicle from the Israel Ministry of Transportation. Two armed soldiers on guard, interrogate us – who are we, what are we doing here, etc.
We’re on our way to Yasuf.
Immediately after the turn to Kfar Tapuach there’s a red sign warning of danger to Israelis.
We continued to Yasuf despite the “danger.”
An affable woman joins us at the village and gets in the car to show us the way to the municipal building.
It’s an attractive new building, but the employees have gone to Ramallah. We meet S., who’s in charge of collecting taxes for electricity consumption. We have trouble understanding his explanations in Hebrew and telephone Petahya who helps us translate.
The village has 2000 residents. The occupation stole 3000 dunams of their land.
The trees were cut down last Wednesday, when snow fell. 36 ancient trees (more than 100 years old) were cut down. Last October about 80 trees were cut down.
We can’t reach the olive grove because the gate in the fence opens only twice a year – once for maintenance work in the groves and again during the harvest. The owners of the trees notified the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture but say they came, looked, counted, photographed but no one did anything. IDF soldiers also came.
The settlers harass them at every opportunity. They burned the mosque two years ago and sprayed “price tag” on the steps.
Our host takes us on a tour of the village. He points to the hilltop where there’s an IDF post, behind which are olive groves belonging to the villagers.
We drive through Emanuel and Qedumim to Highway 55 which we take to ‘Azzun. Three armed soldiers at the entrance sit on the concrete barriers which block the road. We drop off packages at A.’s store.
13:30 Habla. The gate is open; everyone who arrives goes through. Three vehicles exit the village.
The plant nursery: A. tells us that yesterday morning (Monday, Jan. 12) the checkpoint opened very late and only briefly in the afternoon and in the evening. People waited for hours to go through. In response to our question the soldiers said there had been a problem with the vehicle. Did you know? The IDF has a shortage of working vehicles. An additional way to harass the Palestinians.
Eliyahu checkpoint. We hadn’t removed the banner which is why they asked us whence and whither, and to open the trunk for inspection. And that’s not all – the security guard requests over the walkie-talkie permission to let us cross… Unbelievable.
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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Yasuf
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Yasuf The village numbers 2,500 residents, and in the neighboring village of Iskaka about 1,500. Yasuf suffers from low water supply and intermittent flow - although the population has more than doubled since the Oslo Accords, the 12 cubic meters set in 1996, sometimes even less, are alternated between the two villages, summer and winter .Permits to complete the harvest are only given for a few days, and there are often roadblocks on the way to the groves and the settlers, mostly fr/om Tapuah, try to drive the harvesters away. Since 2006, the settlements have been expanded threefold from their original location, and the harassments are numerous - including vandalism of cars and spraying of hate-inscriptions on the mosque. The settlers from Kfar Tapuach took control of land belonging to the residents and planted their own trees, and the army does not allow the villagers to approach these plots.
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