Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
4:07 At the separation barrier there's no line, everyone who arrives goes straight into the checkpoint. We pick two men and a woman to watch for.
At the entrance to Israel, only one turnstile is working, and it seems to have trouble. The side gate is padlocked shut. A crowd has collected of people waiting to get out, and the path they need to take involves a sharp jog to avoid a large puddle as soon as they pass the turnstile. I went to speak to the guard about opening the second turnstile or the side gate. He says that the turnstile is broken, and he'll ask about opening the side gate.
The woman we were watching for comes out after ten minutes, the men in 15-17 minutes.
4:30 At the separation barrier again. Still no line.
At the entrance to Israel, the side gate is open. The people we were watching for came through immediately, just a few minutes. The rain is pouring down, everyone waiting for their rides crowds together under whatever roof is available.
4:45 At the separation barrier, there's still no line. We see several people moving back into Palestinian territory; we guess that they decided to go home when the rain got so bad.
5:05 We leave.