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Deir Sharaf, Huwwara, Jit, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 18.3.10, Afternoon

Tags: Detainees
Observers: Riva B., Nili F. (guest), Yehudit L. (reporting and photographing)
Mar-18-2010
| Afternoon

Translator:  Charles K.

In general: 
No closure today.  All the checkpoints are manned by Border Police soldiers.

14:32  Deir Sharaf/Barrels checkpoint
Not manned.  But an army command car appeared on the new road to Shavei Shomron. 
Question:  Is Route 60, which Palestinians used to be able to use to reach Jenin, now closed? 
And if so – does anyone know whether there are plans to open it?

15:07  Jit junction – Two Border Police jeeps by the side of the road.  They’re not stopping traffic.

15:22  Huwwara checkpoint –
Heavy traffic.  Trucks from Nablus are sent back, to the Awarta checkpoint. 
From time to time a vehicle leaving Nablus is inspected and a line of waiting vehicles forms.

16:05  Beita –
At the entrance to the village (in the direction of the wholesale market), a Border Police vehicle checkpoint.  People say that it was a “balagan” here yesterday.  Locals threw rocks and Molotov cocktails.  From time to time, the Border Police stop vehicles entering or leaving Beita.

On the way to Za’tara we again see grafitti, “Blessed be he who did not make me a Gentile,” on the side of a house.

16:18  Za’tara checkpoint

A line of 22 vehicles from Nablus wait for some sign from the soldiers in the inspection booths. 
There isn’t any, and they don’t know whether or not to go through.

Four vehicles detained near the intersection.  Two remain by the time we park.  Four young Palestinian men are detained there, next to the cars, waiting in the bitter cold for their IDs to be inspected.

The driver says that each time his ID number comes up, and each time he’s detained. 
An elderly Palestinian sits on the ground.  He’s also waiting to be inspected; he’s a released prisoner whose ID wasn’t released with him.  After being checked, all the detainees are released to go on their way. On a cold day the detainees are allowed into their car Did our appearance speed things up?

16:46  The entrance to Zeita-Jamma’in is blocked, as usual.

  • Deir Sharaf checkpoint

    See all reports for this place
    • Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.

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      Nina Seba
      Feb-28-2024
      Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
  • Huwwara

    See all reports for this place
    • 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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  • Jit Junction

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    • The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.

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  • Za'tara (Tapuah)

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.  
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