Eyal Crossing, Habla, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)
Tense routine.
Irtach
4:45 The area is already full of people who have passed through the checkpoint. On our way to the separation barrier we notice a new guard post, placed where it can limit access to the fence. So far it isn't manned, but we suspect the plan is to prevent us from seeing the Palestinians entering the checkpoint.
By the fence, the usual commotion with people crammed into the several lines. As usual, the women's line is full of men. (Later a woman who had passed through complained to us that they weren't letting women go to the head of the line. She wanted us to do something about it, but added, it isn't the fault of the Jews, our own people are responsible….) A roar of discontent, this time from within the checkpoint building. The turnstiles are closed. After a few minutes a man and a woman walk back into Palestinian territory. We don't manage to catch their attention to ask why. The turnstiles open at 4:50.
5:00 On the Israeli side there is still only one turnstile in operation, though a second one was erected next to it. Even when the pressure of people trying to get out increases, the side gate is not opened. We can't get close enough to the door to see how many stations are active or how the checkpoint employees behave. Comments from the people coming out are "Is this living?" "This life is garbage." One man trilled "Rrrrrr…" the sound shepherds use to call their flocks.
Eyal Crossing
5:45 The area is full of people and vehicles. Orderly rows of buses fill up and leave.
When we walk around the building to see the Palestinians entering the checkpoint, a guard in a tower tries to stop us. He says we aren't allowed to use the access road that runs along the separation barrier. We explain that we just want to see what's happening, and walk a few meters further. The entrance to the checkpoint, at least for the short time we observed it, was easy. Everyone who arrived passed through unimpeded.
Hable
6:25 When we arrived, the checkpoint was already open, people were passing through. A donkey cart was just going down the road. Everything looked calm and routine.
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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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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