Tour of the agricultural checkpoints in the central area
Agricultural gate Mas'ha 1649 (Hani Gate). There were no laborers in the area this time but the work, apparently connected with the waterworks, is progressing. It’s necessary to walk a long way on the path alongside the fence in order to view the Etz Efrayim settlement in the valley below Sigiriya, the expansion of its built-up area and the excavation of the hill to the north.
We drove alongside the huge wall to the Oranit 4 gate, and on the security road to Beit Amin 1447, in order to become familiar with it. After going past greenhouses and the plant nursery near Kafr Qassem we returned via Highway 5 to Highway 444, to Habla 1493. We stopped in ‘Azzun for a brief meeting with Z., in the street.
We continued via Jayus and Kafr Jamal and reached Falamiya north 914 just after 13:30. The checkpoint was already closed but about five cars were parked on the roadside. A group of Palestinians in the garden of the pumping station said that they’d all crossed already. Two of them were blacklisted. They’d already contacted Sylvia but hadn’t yet received a reply. We took the details of one who the court in Salem had blacklisted in August 2020, at the request of the police, for a period of three years. As best we could understand from what he said, he was in Huwwara during the Covid closure
. (That reminds me: our friend H. from Burin was met in the fields near Huwwara by someone who tried to expel or fine her because of the coronavirus).
We found the gate open at Jayus North 935, and a white car with Israeli license plates. Four soldiers exited when they saw us and approached. One, not at all young, asked whether we’re from Machsom Watch, the route by which we’d arrived, and said we’re not allowed to be there. For our safety. He wanted to be sure we hadn’t been in Area A.
We ran into many traffic jams on our way back to Tel Aviv.