Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 20.11.07, Morning
Translation: Maureen A.
Even when everything looks "fine", relaxed and moving along, in actuality, nothing is "fine". The routine of apartheid roads and checkpoints is hellish.
We thought that there would be a lot of checkpoints along the roads today, in light of the shooting near Punduk last night, but we were wrong.
7:45 – The Za'tara Junction (Tapuach)
Is backed up in both directions, but no more than usual; about 27 vehicles from the west and about 20 from Nablus. The security check is going quickly.
The Burin/YitzharJunction – the checkpoints in both directions are unmanned.
8:00 Beit Furik Junction –
There's a line of about 10 vehicles waiting to enter Nablus; only a few vehicles leaving the city.
Two soldiers are checking the vehicles, according to the usual procedure – the first vehicle in line moves forward, stops, waits for the soldier's signal before approaching, the soldiers check the papers and the vehicle continues on its way. The drivers report a wait time of about 10 minutes today. Yesterday, they say, the wait time was two hours.
As we walk towards the checkpoint, we are approached, as per usual lately, by the Checkpoint Commander, who reminds us of the white line, which we are not allowed to cross. It's important to point out that the white line keeps moving further and further away from the security check posts. (Does preventing us like this from approaching the station have any legal grounds?)
Only a few pedestrians approach the checkpoint; a vehicle arrives, the passengers get out and go through the checkpoint on foot.
8:40 Hawwara Checkpoint –
The usual hustle and bustle; a lot of taxi drivers shouting out where they're headed for.
There's a strong, cold wind, but the sky is still blue.
The checkpoint for those leaving Nablus is crowded; loads of people waiting to leave the city. There are two security-check posts open when we arrive. Esti T. is already here with guests from Boston who came to see, firsthand, what they had only heard about the checkpoints before.
At any given time, there are about 100 people waiting to leave Nablus; the check moves quickly, but it is thorough. All the men that go through the turnstile stop afterward in order to straighten their clothing, put things back in their pockets, put their jackets and belts back on.
The people who have gone through report a wait time of about an hour and a half. The soldiers go about their business and don't bother with us. This allows us to move closer, even across the white line.
There is a young man in the solitary confinement area. Once we have found T., the DCO representative, we learn that the young man arrived at the checkpoint carrying a knife, with the intention of killing someone and getting himself arrested.
There's a difficult story behind this: he was beaten at home; he went to work, where he was also beaten; he has nowhere to go, so he came to the checkpoint and wants to be arrested. The DCO representative, who doesn't believe his story, asked a Nablus resident who was nearby to speak to the boy; the boy sticks to his story.
The truth is that the soldiers didn't know what to do in this case. The boy was in the corner of the solitary confinement area, scared silly, didn't want to eat or drink anything. T., the DCO representative, promised that they would do what they could.
A 17-year-old girl is detained; there is a discrepancy between the appendix to her request and her ID, and the number on her birth certificate. After the security check she is allowed to return to Nablus until she straightens out her paperwork.
Every once in a while someone is put into the solitary confinement area for a body check. One young man enters the area; he enters with a soldier whose loaded rifle is pointed at him. Another soldier is waiting outside and the door to the solitary confinement area is locked. The young man gets through the security check successfully, and goes on his way.
A woman with a baby wrapped in a blanket in her arms and a little boy holding on to her from behind comes along. She is covered from head to foot, so the same procedure is used for her. A female soldier goes into the area with her, the soldier's loaded rifle pointed at the woman, the door is locked, another female soldier guards from outside. The woman also leaves and goes on her way.
At a certain point a humanitarian line is opened up, things start moving more quickly and people move through the checkpoint faster.
The sky gets cloudy, it will soon start raining. This will make impossible conditions even worse.
For some strange reason, very few people are headed for Nablus.
Vehicles – There are few vehicles entering or exiting the city. Passage is quick.
10:00 – We left; on the way back, we see the same thing as before – at the Za'tara Junction (Tapuach) there's a line of 20 cars in each direction.
Beit Furik checkpoint
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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)
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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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