Barta'a checkpoint: dozens of buses leading to Ramadan prayers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

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Observers: 
North, March 4, 2023 Hanna Heller with Pierre the driver Translation: Naomi Halsted 15:00 Anin (agricultural) checkpoint Because it is Ramadan, non-agricultural workers who have a permit to cross here are also returning home early. By the barrier gate,
Apr-3-2023
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Afternoon

15:00 Anin (agricultural) checkpoint

Because it is Ramadan, non-agricultural workers who have a permit to cross here are also returning home early. By the barrier gate, some 50 people and four tractors are waiting for the military police officers who usually operate this checkpoint. Some of them tell us with feeling that before the checkpoint was opened at 7:00, four residents of the West Bank were caught beside the gate trying to get across (through a breach?). They are still being detained (blindfolded and handcuffed) and are sitting in a building in the checkpoint until someone comes to take them away. One of them was able to contact us by phone and told us that among them is a sick older person who needs to take medication towards the end of the fast. I spoke to the soldier responsible and she promised me that the matter would be taken care of and they would be taken immediately (destination unknown). Workers continue to arrive and the checkpoint is open only at 3:50 p.m. Everyone passes and the four tractors go through as well.

15:30 Barta’a-Reihan checkpoint

Hundreds of workers are coming down the sleeveinfo-icon towards the West Bank, but it seems that the great majority had already come back earlier. We are told that since they started opening the checkpoint earlier at 4:00 o’clock with all the positions operating, the situation has improved. Someone asks if this will continue after Ramadan. Let’s hope so.

A lot of women are sitting in the huts in the upper parking lot (in the Seamline Zone). They are joined by more women with baskets and men in festive clothing – all of them residents of Barta’a and the West Bank who have transit permits. They are waiting for three buses that will take them to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers.

One of the drivers tells us that this year, the buses leave Barta’a checkpoint on Monday, Thursday and Friday and travel through Israel.

Tura-Shaked checkpoint

Four young people from Tura are leaving for the second shift of work in the Seamline Zone. Other than that, there’s just a little vehicular traffic.