Israeli Occupation Forces closes the Northern Entrance of the Azzun Al Shamaliyya town

Type of Violation: Closing the main entrance of a Palestinian Village with roadblocks and sand.

Location of Violation: Azzun Al Shamaliya village's main entrance located parallel to the Israeli bypass Road number 55 which connects the colony of Kedumim with the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line).

Cause of Violation: Preventing Azzoun Town, Sanniriyia and Kafr Thuluth villages' residents from using Bypass Road 55 to allow the exclusive Israeli use of the road.     

Date of Violation: February 8th, 2008.

(Photo 1: The northern entrance of Azzoun town after its
closure by Israeli occupation authorities) 

The Violation: The Israeli Occupation Forces closed with road blocks and earth mounds the northern entrance of Azzun Al Shamaliya town and caused damages to the Infrastructure of the road. The impacts of the closure upon Palestinians include the following:

• The entrance is considered the linkage between the villages and towns of Kufr Thulth and Azzun Al Shamaliya in Qalqilyah Governorate with Sanniryia village in Nablus Governorate. Upon the closure of the entrance, the Palestinian access to the nearby Palestinian communities became more difficult and Palestinians are forced to go to the nearby village of 'Asla (located west of Azzoun Al Shamaliya), then to the village of Izbatt Al Tabib before accessing their desired destination. Such route adds financial and physical burdens on Palestinians as the new route is longer in distance, time consuming and costly.

• Due it's location close to the Israeli Bypass Road 55, the town of Azzun was the preferred destination for merchants and investors from inside the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line) who come to shop in the town, most especially on Saturdays. The closure is expected to obstruct the commercial exchange line which in turn will affect the economy of the town as such, poverty and unemployment levels in the town are expected to increase due to the closure.

The Israeli occupation forces claim that the closure of Azzun's town main entrance came for security reasons, mainly to protect Israeli settlers using Bypass Road 55 from to access their destinations. It should be noted here that it is not the first time that Israeli occupation forces have closed this entrance; such a closure took place many times during the period of 2004 and 2007. As for the period between 2000 and 2003, the entrance was completely closed with cement blocks and earth mounds which severely obstructed the daily lives of Palestinian residents of the eastern and western villages of Qalqilyah Governorate. In addition, death cases and baby delivery cases were reported as Palestinian were forced to use longer routes to reach the nearest medical centers.

(Photo 2: The northern entrance of Azzun town
is close to the colonial road no '55')

General Information about Azzoun:

Location: Azzun town is located on the road linking Nablus and Qalqilyah cities together, known as Bypass Road 55. It is located 23 kilometers west of Nablus city, 9 kilometers east of Qalqilyah city and 22 kilometers to the south of Tulkarem city. It is also connected to the city of Ramallah with a paved road leading southward to the villages of Kafr Thuluth, Mas-ha, Deir Ballut and Bir Zeit villages. As such, Azzun is at the center of a large number of villages and towns:

• Northwards: the villages of Jayyous, Seir, Kufr Jamal, Kufr Abboush, Kufr Zibad and Kufr Sur.

• Southward: Kufr Thilith, Sneiria, Masha, Bidya and Al Zawiya.

• Westward: Al Nabi Ilyas, Asla.

• Eastwards: Kufr Laqif, Jinsafout, Hijja, Baqat Al Hatab, Amatein, Farâ��ata, Jeit, Kufr Qaddoum and Al Sirra.

Area and Population: The total area of Azzun is about 24,000 dunums. It is bordered by the city of Qalqilyah and the village of Habla from the west while its lands reach the villages of Kafr Laqif and Deir Istiya in the east. The forest of Azzun (renamed the Ra�nana forest after the 1948 Nakba) is the western limit of the lands of Azzun. It is worth noting here that Azzun town lost a large portion of its lands during the 1948 war where the original area of the town totaled 24,000 dunums at the time, while the current total town area is 9,139 dunums, out of which 1209 dunums are designated for the built up area of the town.

The town is a home to 9,349 Palestinians (PCBS 2006), of which, 40% work in agriculture and herding which constitute the main source of income, 19% of the total population works in public services while the remaining population work in handicrafts and trade. The unemployment rate in the town stands at 19%.

Israeli Colonial Activity: Three Israeli colonies work on the lands of Azzun Town, they are:

• Maâ��ale Shomron: established in 1980 and occupies a total area of 1903 dunums. The urban area of the village is 26 dunums and is a home to 600 Israeli settlers â�� Pop 2006.

• Ginot Shomron: established in 1985 with a building surface area of 484 dunums.

• Karni Shomron: established in 1978 with a total area of 7,339 dunums. Building surface area is about 1,351 dunums with a total of 6,270 colonists living in it according to 2005 statistics.

Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC