Qalandiya
We reached Qalandiya a little before 4 PM. We noticed quite a few armed civilian security personnel scattered in different places around the southern CP entrance. We asked a pair of soldiers “how come” there were so many guards around and were told there was no particular reason, everything was normal (despite the apparent changes). There was a serious traffic jam in the vehicle lane of the southern CP entrance, so we parked on the Jerusalem side and entered the CP on foot. We found 3 passageways operating with short lines in each one
At the carousel in passageway 5 (DCO), we found a grandmother with her 4 year old grandson, both from Gaza. The boy had been hospitalized at Mukassad Hospital in East Jerusalem for diagnosis until March 29 and the woman had a permit for the two to return to Gaza on that date. But she was told by the hospital to go and consult with a doctor at a hospital in Shchem (Nablus), and so she and her grandson stayed an extra day. When she arrived at Qalandiya CP on March 30, the soldiers in the passageway confiscated her permit and told her that she would have to apply for a new one. The poor woman didn’t know what to do – she was really exhausted from running after her hyper-active grandson and had no idea where she could spend the night and if she had enough money for this sudden expense. We tried to help her, asking to speak with the DCO representative. After about 20 minutes, two soldiers came from the DCO to talk with her but did not solve the problem. They said there was no “coordination” with the Palestinians and so she would not be allowed to enter Gaza for which reason they would not issue her a permit for today. They said she must spend the night and return tomorrow morning. We called Hannah Barag and asked her to work on the problem, which she did. But suddenly a local fellow arrived and said that he had arranged a place for them to stay so the grandmother and grandson walked off with him. We hope they succeeded in getting home on Tuesday
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Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
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Click here to watch a video from Qalandiya checkpoint up to mid 2019 Three kilometers south of Ramallah, in the heart of Palestinian population. Integrates into "Jerusalem Envelope" as part of Wall that separates between northern suburbs that were annexed to Jerusalem in 1967: Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya, and the villages of Ar-Ram and Bir Nabala, also north of Jerusalem, and the city itself. Some residents of Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya have Jerusalem ID cards. A terminal operated by Israel Police has functioned since early 2006. As of August 2006, northbound pedestrians are not checked. Southbound Palestinians must carry Jerusalem IDs; holders of Palestinian Authority IDs cannot pass without special permits. Vehicular traffic from Ramallah to other West Bank areas runs to the north of Qalandiya. In February 2019, the new facility of the checkpoint was inaugurated aiming to make it like a "border crossing". The bars and barbed wire fences were replaced with walls of perforated metal panels. The check is now performed at multiple stations for face recognition and the transfer of an e-card. The rate of passage has improved and its density has generally decreased, but lack of manpower and malfunctions cause periods of stress. The development and paving of the roads has not yet been completed, the traffic of cars and pedestrians is dangerous, and t the entire vicinity of the checkpoint is filthy. In 2020 a huge pedestrian bridge was built over the vehicle crossing with severe mobility restrictions (steep stairs, long and winding route). The pedestrian access from public transport to the checkpoint from the north (Ramallah direction) is unclear, and there have been cases of people, especially people with disabilities, who accidentally reached the vehicle crossing and were shot by the soldiers at the checkpoint. In the summer of 2021, work began on a new, sunken entrance road from Qalandiya that will lead directly to Road 443 towards Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. At the same time, the runways of the old Atarot airport were demolished and infrastructure was prepared for a large bus terminal. (updated October 2021)
Tamar FleishmanJun-28-2026Qalandiya. The bridge leading from Jerusalem to the Qalandiya checkpoint
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