Israel re-opens access to northern Jordan Valley checkpoint

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have re-opened access to a military checkpoint in the northern West Bank, allowing Palestinians to travel along a road that had been all but inaccessible for a decade, a local official said Friday.

Al-Hamra checkpoint links Jericho and the Jordan Valley with cities in the northern West Bank, and the military installation limited travel along the thoroughfare.

Israeli liaison officials notified their Palestinian counterparts that the checkpoint is now open for traffic in both directions, a spokesman for the Nablus governorate said in a press statement.

The spokesman noted a number of fatal shootings by Israeli forces at the checkpoint in the past year.

In January 2011, Israeli troops stationed at Hamra checkpoint shot and killed 25-year-old Khaldoun Sammoudi, of al-Yamun village near Jenin, and 21-year-old Ahmad Maslamani, in separate incidents within the space of a week. Israel's military said the two had not heeded orders to stop when approaching the checkpoint.

Last month, Israeli forces removed another barrier to movement in the Jordan Valley when a roadblock erected at the northern entrance to Jericho 12 years ago was bulldozed.

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513180

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