Umm Kusa – the settler Yoav appears and shows presence to remind who is in control.
Shift to Umm Kusa
We began the shift by checking checkpoints on Route 60.
South Samu – Open and without soldiers checking entry and exit.
Simya – The entrance to the village was blocked, but a bypass road nearby has been opened.
North Dahariya – This week, the checkpoint was closed again, after being partially open for the past two weeks.
Many vehicles are waiting on both sides of the checkpoint. We call it a lockdown. Passengers get out of the car on one side of the checkpoint, walk across it, and continue to their destination in a vehicle waiting on the other side.
Karma – Open.
Kilkis – Closed on both sides of the road. Palestinians are required to cross on foot from side to side.
Sheep Junction – Open.
Zif Junction, Route 356 – Open.
We stopped at Nabil’s grocery store at Zif Junction to purchase a food basket for Najah and Shahin Taimat in Umm Kusa. Najah has not been working since the war and their situation is difficult, as they do not have livestock or an olive grove that would allow for some income. Children in the Palestinian Authority are on vacation, starting today for two weeks. They are at home and spending the two weeks playing invented games, watching TV, and being bored.
We walk for a few minutes to see the outpost that Yoav established at the British police station. According to Najah, there are army drills and soldiers often pass by the village. Sometimes flares are seen, which greatly frighten the children.
Yoav the settler appears and shows presence several times a week to remind who is in control.
As in all the villages, here too the herd owners have no option to graze beyond 100 meters. Odai, Najah’s brother, who has a flock of about 70 sheep, is afraid to go out to pasture and is asking for accompaniment.
Location Description
Tarqumiya CP
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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases. MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’. updated November 2019
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Tayasir CP
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Located on road 5799, It is one of the checkpoints control the passage between the northern West Bank and the Jordan Valley. For a long time, it stood empty and open, with only a sign next to it warning against entering Area A. It was adjacent to an old military camp - now everything is neglected. How much money was invested here, and how much brainwashing was done to the soldiers of Netzah Yehuda and Kfir.
Today, it is very difficult to pass there. Many delays. Often, teachers from Tubas are not allowed to pass into the Valley to villages like Ein al-Bida where the local schools are located, and there are no classes. There are additional days when the checkpoint is closed. In general, there is a wait there of about two to four hours to go towards the Valley and also to return. Many times the Palestinians are forced to use the Hamra checkpoint, which also leads into Tubas and the West Bank, but there is also a huge queue there and a long wait.
Following a deadly attack on soldiers at the nearby base in February 2025, the checkpoint was completely closed for the time being. (Updated March 2025)
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Zufim CP
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Zufim CP
The checkpoint is operated by the IDF 24 hours a day, on Road 5504 near Qalqilya. It serves Israeli vehicles to cross into West Bank and as a "Texture of Life" checkpoint for the residents of the village of Arab a-Ramadin to Shmilia in the Seam Zone. Only Zufin residence are allowed to cross it from the West Bank towards Israel/
At this checkpoint, meetings were held between village heads and DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL representatives in which we participated at the request of the Palestinians.
Mar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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