A/HRC/31/44 Checkpoints 33. During the reporting period, there were 85 fixed checkpoints in the West Bank. Nine of those checkpoints were on the Green Line, while all others were located within the West Bank.37 In addition, hundreds of “flying” checkpoints were erected each month on roads throughout the West Bank. Together with roadblocks, trenches and earth mounds, the checkpoints severely impede Palestinians’ movement, including between main Palestinian cities in the West Bank. 34. Access through checkpoints is often accompanied by rigorous security checks, including vehicle inspections and bag searches, resulting in long delays. At Qalandia checkpoint — the main crossing point for West Bank Palestinians into East Jerusalem — it takes pedestrians up to 90 minutes to cross during peak times.38 Long waiting times, uncertainties at the checkpoints and frequent clashes disrupt many aspects of Palestinians’ daily life. 3. Restrictions on movement affecting Gaza 35. The ongoing blockade and permit regime restricts access by Gazan residents to the West Bank and Israel. Within Gaza, movement is restricted in areas along the fence with Israel and at sea, with the Israeli security forces maintaining a buffer zone. For a detailed update on movement restrictions in Gaza, see the 2015 report of the Secretary-General on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/70/421). Restrictions on movement between Gaza and the West Bank 36. In accordance with the Oslo Accords, Israel opened a “safe passage” route in October 1999, allowing 12,000 residents of Gaza to travel to the West Bank each month. However, that route was closed in September 2000, following the outbreak of the second intifada. By March 2005, five months before the evacuation by Israel of the settlements in Gaza, travel to the West Bank from Gaza had declined by 98 per cent. 39 Movement of people was cited as “virtually impossible and expensive”.40 37. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, a strict quota system was imposed. Obtaining permits became limited to specific categories of persons, such as individuals in need of emergency medical evacuations, medical referral patients, certain businessmen and humanitarian cases (see A/70/421, paras. 23-25). 38. During the reporting period, restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza remained in place. The easing of some measures (see para. 18 above) had a tangible effect, increasing the monthly average of exits of Palestinians to 13,800, up from a monthly average of 5,990 during 2014.41 However, this represents only 2.8 per cent of the half a million exits recorded monthly prior to September 2000, before restrictions were tightened and when around 26,000 workers from Gaza were entering Israel on a daily basis.42 37 38 39 40 41 42 8 Ibid., Humanitarian Atlas 2015, p. 53. Ir Amim,Displaced in Their Own City: the Impact of Israeli Policy in East Jerusalem on the Palestinian Neighbourhoods of the City Beyond the Separation Barrier, June 2015, p. 48. B’Tselem and HaMoked, One Big Prison. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The agreement on movement and access: one year on”, November 2006. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Erez crossing: movement of People into and out of Gaza”, 2014-2015. See gaza.ochaopt.org. Gisha, “Separating land, separating people”, June 2015, p. 12; and “Rafah crossing: who holds the