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Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 28.10.07, Morning

Observers: Yael B., Diza Y. – reporting
Oct-28-2007
| Morning

Translation: Hanna K.

7:25 Zeita:
The gate CP for the passage of cars is active.

7:35 Za'tara:
20 vehicles coming from the west to the east are waiting.
There is a long queue of cars heading south. There are two checking posts. The checking is rather slow. Palestinians who stand near the checking post tell us that they have been waiting one hour in the queue.

7:45 – A bus from Tul Karem on its way to Ramallah. Its passengers are told to disembark and the bus is being checked. They tell us that they have been waiting at Jubara for half an hour, and have been waiting here already for an hour and a half. They estimate that the entire adventure: the bus ride plus the CPs, will take about three and a half hours. At least the checking of the bus and the papers was quick and the passengers continued on their way.
A young man was ordered to go up to the observation tower, it turns out that it's for another check. When we turn to the officer we are told "he is being checked, we shall release him immediately", and he is indeed released a few moments later.

8:15 – On our way from the CP we count 83 cars in the queue. We turn to the humanitarian center asking them to see to it that another checking queue be opened at the CP.

8:25 – Awarta:
11 trucks are waiting at the exit from the village. There is no queue of cars entering the village.

8:30 Beit Furik:
7 cars are waiting. Few people at the CP and a few others marching towards it.

8:55 Huwwara:
About 30 people are at the CP. It is quiet. The CP commander, second lieutenant N. comes up to us, and is ready to talk to us and asks us to turn to him with any problem we might encounter. He doesn't limit the area where we are allowed to stand, who does limit the area is a border-policewoman who comes up to us and reminds us firmly of the "regulations" pertaining to our standing at the CP.

09:15 – An elderly woman from Kfar Beita turns to us. Her son, 20 years old, went yesterday for his studies at the university in Nablus, he was supposed to return in the evening to his home, and didn't come. We turn to N. who tries to check the matter. After an investigation he refers her to the DCO, where she would be able to ascertain whether he is detained.

10:00 – A Palestinian was put into the detention cell.
Women whose entire body is covered, are checked by a military policewoman in the solitary confinement  cell. The process takes a few seconds.

10:07 – We turn to the commander N. in the matter of the detained person. He replies that the man is being released and indeed  he comes out and goes on his way.

10:10 – We leave the CP.

10:50 – Zeita: the gate CP is opened.

  • 'Awarta

    See all reports for this place
    • Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
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      Jan-6-2026
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  • Beit Furik checkpoint

    See all reports for this place
    • One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west. The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.
      Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages. Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)
  • 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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  • 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.  
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