West Bank village celebrates end of 20-year-old Israeli roadblock
The residents of Qalqas, south of Hebron, will finally see the main road to their town’s entrance reopened, blocked in 2000 by the Israeli authorities.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hebron municipality, in the south of the West Bank, began long-awaited work Sept. 21 to expand and open the barrier known locally as the "Qalqas barrage" south of the city, which the Israeli forces closed more than 20 years ago.
Some 5,000 people live in Qalqas village. A highway known as Street 60 lies along one side, just minutes to the Hebron city center. With the outbreak of the 2000 intifada, the Israeli army blocked the entrance to the town with a dirt barrier, thus preventing residents from taking Street 60 to the city and forcing them to take a longer and more difficult route. People also cross the barrier and Street 60 on foot to reach vehicles they leave parked there, risking being run over on the highway.
Qalqas' residents have repeatedly tried in vain to open the road over the past 20 years.
The opening of the road will not only end the long drives to the city center, it will also enable economic, social and urban development in the area that consists of the sole outlet for the governorate’s urban expansion.
