Eyal Crossing, Habla, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 13.6.10, Morning
Irtach – when we arrived we saw people sleeping on the traffic island.
04:50 A long line, as far as the eye can see (to the shed). People are let in quickly, about 50 per minute (which says nothing about the rate of inspection; see below). After ten minutes of this they stopped for 7 minutes and then let in 120 people at once.
People leaving complain about the long line for the rooms. Only four stations are operating. It’s particularly crowded on Sunday, because those who’ll stay out all week are added to the daily traffic, but the number of inspection rooms hasn’t been increased. Men under 45 go through the rooms. Sometimes a group of ten who’ve gone through wait another half hour for a laborer who was called to one of the rooms.
When we returned to the line it was still long, all the way to the shed.
Eyal
06:00 We went over to the line – long and orderly. A security guard showed up immediately. He demanded we leave, because it’s dangerous, we could be shot at. In response to our question he said that the Palestinian police have kalashnikovs. We asked him to give us two minutes, and guard us. He reported than more than 4000 people showed up today, and more than 2000 have already gone through. Eight stations are operating. According to him, the latest statistics show that the laborers prefer crossing at Eyal rather than at Irtach.
Habla.
06:45 They opened a little earlier this morning and people are already coming out. One of them told us that today the officer is good and they’re working quickly. But the laborers still said that it should open earlier.
Note: Whoever read the article in Ha’aretz’s Friday magazine (June 11) wondered why they mentioned the reports by Breaking the Silence, but not ours.
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.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-31-2026Habla. The gate is open
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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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