'Azzun, Habla, Ras 'Atiya, Thu 27.5.10, Afternoon

On the road, between Azzun and Nabi Elias, by the gas station, a "flying barrier" had been put in place. There was a jeep, a sign and two soldiers. A car had been stopped for checking. For what and for whom we had no idea.

At the sign to Alfe Menashe we turned toward the settlement. Of course there were no signs that this road led to Ras A-Tira or Ras Atiya. At the end of the road we found a normal-sized metal gate locked, but it was standing all alone; there was nothing on either side of the gate to stop someone from going around it. But beyond the gate was the security road and on the other side of the road was a huge yellow electronic gate in the separation barrier, also locked. There was no one around, not soldiers and not Palestinians.

17:05  Habla
The gates are both open and two soldiers are allowing the workers to go through in groups of five.
The gates are open and manned between the hours of 16:45 and 18:00. One Palestinian worker holds the stack of ID cards which had been collected from the workers at the Eliyahu checkpoint and hands them out to the others as they go through the gate to Habla, 5 at a time.

Going back to Kfar Saba on the main road we see the long, solid line of cars of the settlers going home.