Dozens of Palestinian residents have been complaining in recent months that Israeli soldiers based at Tiaseer checkpoint in the Jordan valley are delaying their passage for several hours without concrete reasons.
The residents also said that soldiers are are denying the passage of trucks and residents, heading to other West Bank areas, and directing their traffic to another distant checkpoint.
Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that the residents are being delayed as long as two hours without any reason.
The deliberate and unexplained delays include forcing the farmers back for unnecessary documents and taking their identity cards for several hours.
Haaretz added that in late February Palestinian, farmers protested against these long delays.
One of the protesters said that only when Israeli women activists protest at the checkpoints, the traffic is cleared and soldiers start to allow the passage of the residents.
“When the women leave, we will have to wait for an extra two hours”, he added.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military source claimed that the soldiers “have no policy of delaying the entry of Palestinians with permits”, and that the soldiers who delay the residents and drivers are “breaching the military procedures”.
In late February, an Israeli military spokesperson said that the delays are a result of instructions to “conduct full security checks” at the Tiaseer checkpoint.
“These instructions are due to many security warnings that there will be attempts by Palestinian groups to carry out attacks”, he added.
He claimed that the incidents of delays are looked into and are “followed by disciplinary actions, if necessary”.
