The Palestinian Territories Transport

Coming and Going

There is not much happening these days at Yasser Arafat International Airport, located at Rafah. Palestinian Airlines flights are currently suspended and the runway has been rendered unusable, thanks to a few bombs dropped by Israeli aircraft. There are several points of entry into the West Bank. From Jerusalem heading north the main checkpoint is Qalandia, just south of Ramallah. South of Jerusalem, the checkpoint nearest Bethlehem is at Gilo. Coming from Amman you enter the West Bank at the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge border crossing, from where transport is available to Jericho (there is an Israeli checkpoint between the two). At checkpoints you will be dealing with IDF soldiers. Rafah, the Gaza crossing on the Egyptian border, is now in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. However, the only people being allowed to cross are holders of Palestinian ID cards or Egyptian passports.

Getting About

Sheruts, small minibuses that carry around ten passengers, ply between the main cities with great frequency. But moving about is limited by the numerous IDF checkpoints and Israel's habit of closing or blocking major roadways. When checkpoints close taxis tend to find alternative routes through the territories but are always subject to stoppage and inspection by IDF soldiers. Many sheruts only ferry passengers between the checkpoints so you may need to change a couple of times if you are heading deep into the West Bank. Lines can be long at checkpoints but generally move quickly - looking like a tourist and flashing a foreign passport might help to get you through a little faster. If you are traveling from the Dead Sea through the West Bank to northern Israel (eg to Tiberias on Hwy 90), it is possible to drive your own car and there are few hassles associated with this.