Eyal Crossing, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Qalqiliya, Thu 27.8.09, Afternoon

Irtah 

We arrived at the checkpoint at 16:40. 

The back side and the parking lot were quiet and there was only a trickle of cars dropping off passengers.

 At the front there was a huge crowd of between 200 and 300 people and the entrance was closed. We were told it has not opened for a while and a few minutes earlier two buses of families visiting prisons have arrived which increased the number of people waiting to cross. Inside, only three checking units were operating, one for workers and two for the families.  

When we approached the carousel, the entrance was resumed for about two minutes in which about 50 people managed to go through. The entrance continued on and off every two minutes, allowing between 50 to 70 people each time. 

After about 15 minutes everyone who was waiting has been through and afterwards there were few people arriving and entering without disruptions. There was another long pause later, we thought this was because a shift was changing. 

Some people complained that although their permits allow them to stay within the Green Line until midnight, the checkpoint closes at 18:30. 

Eyal 

We arrived at the checkpoint at 17:35. 

It was quiet and there were very few people going through. 

Qalqiliya (Tzofim) 

We arrived at the checkpoint at 17:50. 

There were hardly any cars going through and we could not see the soldiers.