From the north-east of the city of Bethlehem, through Hebron in the south of the West Bank, to the town of Sawahreh east of Jerusalem, a long road called "Valley of Fire", more than 3.5 kilometers, and is the only lifeline of one million residents of the two provinces, And the villages of the center and north of the West Bank, during their journey to the city of Jericho, or travel through the King Hussein Bridge or the Al Karama crossing to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

These distances, when crossed by the Palestinians, do not constitute a journey to where they are meant to be easy and smooth, but they are long hours of suffering. The cars pass very steep and very difficult. The road starts from the top of a high mountain. It descends from Kneiba Deir Bani Ubaid, Bethlehem, and ends on a plain on the outskirts of the towns of Abu Dis and Sawahra east of Jerusalem.

The end of the valley of fire on the northern side is the gateway to the tragedy and the beginning of the suffering for one million Palestinians. Israel maintains a large military checkpoint, a gate equipped with all possibilities, surrounded by iron gates and military towers, called the Container checkpoint. Moving and closing in accordance with their mood, cars stand in long lines on both sides, in addition to the strict inspection policy that affects all transients.

A journey of torment

The road of the valley of fire, which has become the only way to connect the southern West Bank with its north and the gate of its citizens to Jerusalem, is the path of torment and siege that Israel has caused against the Palestinians. It is a punishment for them in their travel and migration in the morning and in the evening. Jerusalem to Mosul and to the north of the West Bank.

Raed Faleh from the city of Ramallah works as a driver on a public vehicle on Wade al-Nar road, on a daily basis. He leaves his house at 4:00 AM to transfer people from Bethlehem to East Jerusalem and the Ramallah and Hebron areas through the twisted roads and dangerous slopes. Is much nicer despite the gravity of the suffering he is subjected to on a daily basis at the military checkpoint.

Daily thinner

The driver says to Emirates Today: "The road to the fire is very dangerous and bothers me every day. If I can cross the slopes and reach safely without a traffic accident, the checkpoint is a surprise that we do not wish to see every day. To wait for long hours until the soldiers allow the passage of cars, which adds a great deal of time to my work hours ».

"In the normal and good conditions, the path of the fire is done in an hour, but because of the actions of the Israeli soldiers at the Container checkpoint, it is more than five hours."

Faleh asserts that "the Salik to the Container barrier is bitter with Israeli measures and practices. The Israeli soldiers are held inside the gates of the checkpoint, subjected to harsh interrogations, some of them arrested and beaten."

In addition to this tragedy, according to driver Faleh, the suffering of queuing of cars is added in queues, sometimes more than a kilometer, which leads to the disruption of citizens to get to work and their usual places on time, or even can not go, and return from where they came.

Yara Thawabta, from Bethlehem, who is studying at the University of Abu Dis in Jerusalem, is forced to leave early in the morning to get to her university, but she still faces daily hardships and delays.

"The students, workers and all the Palestinians traveling through the Container checkpoint are exposed to many different forms of scourges by Israeli soldiers who are permanently at the checkpoint," says the Palestinian student.

"I leave every day at 5 am from my house so that I can arrive at my lecture, which starts at 8 am, and the road does not take more than 20 minutes in normal times," she says.

Alternative route

The "Wad al-Nar" road was created by Israel to allow West Bank residents to enter Jerusalem, as an alternative to the Ramallah / Jerusalem road, after all roads to both sides were closed due to the large number of military checkpoints in all areas, All the windows connecting the towns and villages of both sides were closed.

The road to the fire, after being transferred from the south to Ramallah through the city of Jerusalem, a new old project for the siege of the city of Jerusalem, and denial of access to the people of the West Bank, according to the Director General of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Abdel Salam al-Talahmeh.

The road is cumbersome

The cohesion emphasizes that the path of the "valley of fire" has exhausted the Palestinians physically and materially, by being subjected to searches, arrest and waiting for long hours at the Container checkpoint, in addition to the excessive fuel expenses paid by car owners every day.

He points out that access to Ramallah, through this route, takes double distances, along with excessive consumption in cars, trucks, buses and heavy tankers because of curves and high and steep turns.

The Director General of the Ministry of Transport and Communications that the expenses of increasing fuel and consumption and expenses of the imbalance and damage to Palestinian cars more than 370 million dollars annually.

For his part, the West Bank settlement official, Ghassan Daghlas, points out that the Container checkpoint is one of the 720 checkpoints erected by Israel throughout the West Bank, which is one of the most dangerous checkpoints in which the Palestinians are exposed to violence and violence. Because of the gravity of its slopes.

"Israel is working through the Container checkpoint to divide the West Bank into closed squares with military points, and this is in the interests of settlement," says the settlement official in the West Bank. "The settlements benefit greatly from the barriers that cut off the cities And even the village from its neighbor. "

"The Palestinian is subjected to various forms of search and abuse at the Container checkpoint, in addition to the deployment of heavily armed soldiers and the presence of military towers in the vicinity, which makes it a dangerous military zone, not a passage for passers-by."

The end of the path of fire from the northern side is the gateway to the tragedy and the beginning of the suffering of one million Palestinians. Israel is constructing a large military checkpoint, a gate equipped with all possibilities, surrounded by iron gates and military towers.

The path of the valley of fire has exhausted the Palestinians physically and financially, by being subjected to search and arrest and waiting for long hours at the Container checkpoint.

370

Million dollars a year expenses of increasing fuel and consumption and expenses of the imbalance and damage to Palestinian cars.