'Awarta, 'Azzun, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 22.7.10, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
We continued on to the Za'atra/Tapuach Junction and, on the way, we noticed that the eastern and western gates
to Marda were open, and that there were a number of wide breaches of the fence.
The crossing at Zeita /Jemayn is also open.
At Za'atra/Tapuach a number of vehicles cross, they are stopped from time to time for a rapid visual inspection.
On the way to Huwwara, at Beita a military jeep is parked at the side of the road and the same is true in Huwwara itself. In both cases the vehicles were parked at the side of the road and the soldiers did not alight, at least not while we passed by them.
At Huwwara roadblock a taxi is detained at the exit from Nablus. The vehicles in this direction cross the roadblock slowly but are not inspected. At the entrance to Nablus the vehicles cross without slowing down. Vehicles with Israeli number plates are stopped but permitted to pass.
At one of the positions in the direction of the exit from Nablus a car is parked with a dog tied up beside it. A soldier comes up to us and introduces herself as a member of the Sting unit. She asks us not to take photographs at the roadblock because of security issues related to the presence of her unit, this in spite of the fact that we didn't have a camera with us.
The taxi is released and another vehicle is detained. The soldiers order the passengers to alight and stand at the side. The dog is sent to inspect the vehicle and after about 6 minutes they are released and another vehicle is detained, inspected by the dog and so on and so on. At the same time a bus is detained for inspection and waits for over 10 minutes until it is released.
At Awarta there is one lorry, its driver is required to alight and open the doors of the container for a rapid inspection. After that he is released. On the way to Beit Furiq, opposite Itamar, again there is a military jeep parked at the side of the road while the soldiers sit in the shade of a bus stop.
At Beit Furiq there isn't even one vehicle and the roadblock appears to be completely open. We only saw one soldier in the watch tower who looked at us.
We returned in the direction of Huwwara and continued on Road 60 via Kdumim Junction and there, too, we saw a military jeep parked at the junction. Later, at one of the entrances to Jit, a column of soldiers marched out of the village and at Karnei Shomron there were two female soldiers standing and observing the road. We continued on Road 55 and at the exit from Ponduk we came across a snap roadblock. Four vehicles were parked at the side of the road and a number of soldiers collected documents and checked them on their radio devices. One of the soldiers sits in the vehicle and records all the names of the ID card holders. One of the detained taxi drivers tells us that he has already been waiting for a quarter of an hour but, after a few minutes, he is released. During the time we were there 3 - 4 vehicles were detained for between 5 - 10 minutes.
On Road 55 the eastern entrance to Azun is open but here too a military jeep is parked at the side of the road. We turned to the direction of the inactive roadblock at Kalkilya and from there attempted to continue by the Ayal roadblock, however, in this direction there is a roadblock on way to Tsofim which allows only residents of the settlement to pass. We turned back and left via the Eliyahu crossing.