Abu-Dis

Only people with blue ID are let
through - no exceptions for the elderly, who wanted to go to pray.
Bags are being checked as well.

Sawahre: Closure rules strictly enforced: people could only pass to
their home, someone from Abu Dis or Sawahre could not pass to
Bethlehem. The Border policemen were civil about checking the IDs
for the person's address, and most were also checked to see if they
are not "wanted". The metal gate across the road was
closed. No vehicles could go through: two transits were allowed to
act as the as "ferry" between this checkpoint and the
next one, down below in the wadi, where people would have to take
another taxi to go on to Ubeidiya - where there is another
checkpoint. The border policemen said they have phone contact with
the border police checkpoint down below, and once a person has been
checked once, he, or she, does not need to be checked again. What
we saw confirmed this. However, this does not apply to the
checkpoints further down the line, operated by the IDF. So there
the people have to be checked all over again. They probably have
another three checkpoints before they reach Bethlehem, and even
more to Hebron. Bags were also being checked, which is not usually
the case. Food trucks were not allowed through, and apparently are
supposed to know this, and do not even show up. Only ambulances and
humanitarian cases would be allowed through, the border policeman
said - but none showed up during our shift.