Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
We arrived a little late, at 4:05 the first people had already gotten through the checkpoint.
People we watched for got through in ten to fifteen minutes.
At the start our impression was that everything was peaceful. Around five we noticed more crowding and tension, people started climbing over the roof to skip the line. A checkpoint official shouted threats not to do this, ineffectively.
One man came to us with complaints. He said that when it rains water blows into the area where they wait for transportation, and a large puddle forms. He also complained about getting back to Irtach; he said that there was no organized transport, and people often have to walk several kilometers, from Netanya to Bet Lid, after a full day’s work.
We noticed several men at the exit gate from the checkpoint, trying to get back in just a few minutes after they got out. They said that they had the choice of working for five shekels an hour, or not working, and decided not to put in the effort.
As usual, people waited around near the parking lot after getting through the checkpoint. Evidently they still worry about getting through in a timely fashion.
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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