Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sat 13.6.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14:00-17:00
At Za'tara in the direction of Nablus is a long line of over 100 cars, small cars and vans, trucks. Some of the people in the middle of the line say that they have been there for over an hour and a half. The checking is very slow and aimed at slowing down the passage. One soldier wanted to drive us away saying that the area was a closed army area. Somehow the line began to move more quickly while we were there. In the parking lot 3 cars and passengers are being checked, the IDs in the hands of the soldier.
Huwwara. 20 men in each turnstile most of them men and men under the age of 20. Today they do not have to raise their shirts, their parcels are checked by the soldier or the x-ray machin. From the air conditioned booth the soldier, Alexi and a woman soldier next to him shout and scold to each one who arrives. Alexi stops the checking because we are too close for his liking and this discussing blackmail succeeds and we withdraw.
In the parking lot we have an exciting meeting with Nawad, the usher of the taxis. He is the brother of Muhammed Awad who was badly hurt at the checkpoint of Huwwara on 14.2.2009. After 4 months there is little change in his medical condition and there is bad brain damage and his family are next to him the whole time.
Naim who had also been at the checkpoint at the time of the attack was worried that he would be arrested as revenge and from the absurdities to which we are accustomed the one who takes revenge is he who abused. And therefore at one time he was arrested as being wanted and sat at Huwwara and Salem where his punishment was lengthened and after a month with the payment of much money was freed. He is sure that this was planned from the very day that his brother was nearly killed. Yesh Din is in contact with Muhammed and the family and they need much medical and judicial help.
The abuse of the peddlers continues. It is impossible even to begin to understand this abuse by soldiers with orders from on high of the two youths who sell coffee and who work all hours of the day and the year so as to make provision for the poor family and yet manage to distinguish themselves at school and to dream of a future of university education.
Today the bigger Mansur was beaten, put into the jorra for an our and afterwards went home to hide. The younger brother fled with the cart and came back to sell. It is not for nothing that they took the older brother as he is 16 and has an ID.
Another trader in the parking lot preferred not to speak as he was sure that the soldiers would take vengeance on them afterwards.
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Huwwara
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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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Za'tara (Tapuah)
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Za'tara (Tapuah) Za'tara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuah settlement. This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005. At the Za'tara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits. The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.
Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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