Qalandiya - Relatively light traffic
All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. and, as prevailed during all of our shifts in the month of Ramadan, the lines were relatively short and did not stretch beyond the curb of the parking lot – even though one of the “cages” was closed evidently due to a problem with its turnstile. The situation remained this way throughout the shift.
At 6:10 a DCO officer arrived with security guards (whom we later understood he was briefing) but he did not open the Humanitarian Gate and soon left. At 6:25 two women tourists arrived at the gate with a medium-sized suitcase and fretted that they would not be able to get through the turnstiles with it. After we called the DCO, the officer returned but would not open the Humanitarian Gate for the tourists, pointing them instead to the “cages” – and, indeed, they managed to get the suitcase through the turnstile but we could not gauge their effort as we could not see the turnstile. At 6:40 the officer returned again and, when he found a number of people in front of the gate, began checking permits and opened the gate for the first and last time. The logic behind his decisions on when to open the gate and when not defied our understanding.
At 6:45, when the “cages” were emptied each time the turnstiles opened, we passed through to the checking-station area and were out of the checkpoint within 10 minutes.
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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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