Mayor Karnei Shomron said: “The failure to enforce laws that prohibit Israelis from entering the area may lead to the next attack, and I want to prevent it.”
In Israel, traffic is everywhere, but in the West Bank, traffic can be deadly. The car trapped in traffic is actually a shooter, a Molotov cocktail thrower, or a “sitting duck” for rock hunting. To draw attention to the problem, Yonatan Kuznitz, Mayor of Kani Shemron, “moved his office to the entrance to Calcilia. He said the problem began with the big red sign.
Kalkilya is a sprawling Arab city designated as “area A” and crosses the Green Line with Kfar Saba and Jewish villages such as Alfei Menashe and Tzufim. A big red sign in front of every area that a village reads: “The entrance to Israeli citizens is prohibited, dangerous to your life and violates Israeli law.”
So why ask Kuznitz, hundreds of cars filled with Israeli Arab citizens blocked the entry into the checkpoint, blocked the re-exit to Calkiria and caused stagnant traffic in both directions, sometimes winding upwards all the way up the Maale Shomron Circle 55.
Especially on Friday, Saturday and holidays (such as Eid) (June 6-8), Arab-Israelis enter Kalkilya to visit with relatives and shop in a city in duty-free areas where prices are much lower than those on the Green Line. Kuzniz asked, if Israeli citizens are prohibited from entering Israeli citizens, why are Arab-Israeli citizens exempted from the law?
The sign is not there. Area A is dangerous for Israeli citizens. Last year, Amnon Muchtar, a 67-year-old Israeli man from Petah Tikva was shot dead in Kalkilya on June 22, 2024 while buying agricultural products for his vegetable stall. Two months later, an Israeli Jew was shot and injured near a car repair shop in the same Palestinian-controlled city.
The landscape from the Maaleh Adumim-Jerusalem Road 1 from the West Coast area, known as E1 from the West Coast area, Scopus in Jerusalem was seen on the horizon on December 10, 2019.
“After the war, another crossing point, Marwar Ayar (near Kochav Yair), was closed,” Kuznitz explained. “This is a standard intersection between cars and PA workers working within the Green Line. Visiting Israeli Arabs also frequently crossed that crossing. Traffic has been established as the intersection has been closed. Especially in Tulkarm and Jenin, they went through army operations and became Israeli Arabs avoided kalkyliya because kalkillia cross and cross of trect and sail.
“The next attack is around the corner”
When Kuznitz faced the army, they said it was inhumane to stop Arab Israelis from visiting their families. Kuznitz recommends putting the camera at the entrance to Calkillia and fined access to Israeli cars. This is opposed by the legal system, which does not allow this because such laws must apply to all automobiles, not just to the Israeli Arabs.
“The next attack is around the corner – it's time to stop and execute illegal entry of Israeli citizens into Palestinian villages in Area A,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“The failure to enforce laws prohibiting Israelis from entering the area could lead to the next attack, and I want to prevent it,” Kuzniz clarified.
“Every weekend, the massive entry of Israeli citizens into Palestinian villages leads to huge congestion at the intersection, which creates huge traffic jams on the road without any safe traffic jams. Vehicles continue in traffic jams for hours, threatening and intimidating environments. Within hours without hours, in a safe environment, the next attack is the next attack.”
“The person responsible for banning Israelis from entering Area A is the IDF. It is time to change the military directives on the subject, and this decision must be made at the highest level in the military. We must understand that this issue poses a direct danger to the residents of the entire Central Samaria region,” Kuzniz said. “I call on the highest officials in the IDF to change their attitudes and not allow Israelis to enter Area A, which is illegal.”
“I moved to Kalkilya’s Highway 55 on Highway 55, which is a central location where every weekend, Israeli citizens come to shop and family visits to end the end of the residents of the region and threaten all Israeli citizens. It’s time to stop that.”
Tzufim is the closest town to Kalkilya (separated from Route 6 except Kfar Saba), and there is a checkpoint, strictly monitored by the army. All non-residents who do not visit specific families are prohibited from entering. Tzufim's strict rules do not allow detours for those seeking to avoid Maavar's bottleneck.
Work on the road includes a project that doubles the road from the JIT junction of Route 55 to the confluence of Route 55 to Route 444, a bypass road outside Nabi Elias, a road outside the town of Nabi Elias, another bypass road in Huwara, a bypass road in a bypass on 55, an extension in 55, was attacked on January 202, suffered three people, and was attacked on January 202. Terrorist attacks. Bypass roads do not restrict Arab drivers, but relocate traffic to the main roads of busy pedestrians.
Traffic in the West Bank may cause safety issues
Kuzniz pointed out that traffic could cause safety issues in the west coast of shared roads. He blamed the army on the army, but the army transferred the blame to the civil government, despite the law, he looked at it in another way when Arab-Israeli civilians appeared in the area of the checkpoint.
An Army spokesman declined to comment on the situation, although he confirmed that the law against entry into A Arab villages in Area A applies unilaterally to all Israeli citizens, not just Jews. When asked why, an Army spokesperson recommended that Arab-Israeli citizens be allowed to enter the city when talking to a spokesperson for the Civil Government. After contacting a Civil Affairs spokesperson, they suggested contacting an Army spokesperson.
Kuznitz said that is exactly the problem. No one is responsible for unfair and potentially dangerous situations.
The mayor's letter of illegal entries
On June 4, Eliyahu Gafni, mayor of Emanuel City, Uziel Vatva of Kedumim, Yonatan Kuznits of Karnei Shomron, Ganz of Israel in Yehuda/Shomron and Yossi Dagan, head of Samaria samaria samaria samaria samaria samaria Regionalsional Regional Yossi Dagan, all of which are residents of the area.
“We demand immediate action to prevent illegal entry into Area A and include enormous measures to implement orders and security in the area, including increased patrols by the Army and police to prevent illegal access and reduce severe traffic congestion.”
Kuzniz called on the IDF and security authorities to strictly enforce the ban on entry into Area A.
He added: “Effective enforcement is not only a matter of law – it is a matter of life and death. We must now take action to protect our residents and prevent tragedies.”
