Za’atara, Huwwara, Awarta, Beit Furik
Za’atara, Huwwara, Awarta, Beit Furik, Wednesday 15.2.06 AMObservers: Nina S., Ilana H., Hanna A. (reporting)Translation: Hanna K.7:50 – Tapuach/ZaataraFive cars coming from the West.The soldiers say that Jenin is under “segregation” and that Tul Karem is under full security check, and then they pass (whoever is allowed to pass, of course).From the direction of Zaatara there are thirty cars in a row. Three checking posts are manned. Sometimes there is a fourth post (for instance for a U.N. vehicle).A bus driver arrives at the checking post. The IDs have already been collected by him beforehand (how does one develop the habits of the occupied, to stand out as little as possible, to save precious time…) The soldiers thanks the driver who hands the IDs over to him.A young woman arrives on foot from the direction of Zaatara. The soldiers asks her to mount to the bus: “one does not pass a CP on foot. These are the rules. What can I do”.8:00 HuwwaraThere is one detainee in the detainees’ station.There are two points for the checking of IDs.A. from the DCO is present. With him there is somebody else. Part of the time he is in the region of the “humanitartian point”. From time to time he arrives also at the checking post for pedestrians. Once we even saw him asking what the matter was with the detainee. During our stay Nina was contacted about a prolonged detention and blocking at the Beit Ibba region. Nina tried to interest A., asked him to talk with the Palestinian who was on the line. “I don’t talk to Palestinians on the phone” he said.The screening device is active.The queue of the people entering get short and then again long alternately. When the load is relieved in the region of the turnstiles, pressure ensues in the ID region.When Nina goes behind the detainees station to watch the CP, one soldier of those who are at the turnstile area shouts at her: “Irja la-wwarra, Irja la-wwarra” and his colleagues join in the fun: “I am photographing you” they mimic in a high voice an imaginary personality, and “here is the police”, they are boisterous, mocking; they are people hanging between stupid childishness and the violent forces that is invested in them by the arms they are given and their ability to rule the Palestinians.8:44 – another man is sent to the detainees post.A Palestinian says something and a soldier shouts at him “shut your mouth, shut your mouth!” This doesn’t make the Palestinan stop talking.9:05 – The first detainee is released.The holder of a blue ID who lived in the past in Sheich Jarach and lives now in the Grisim mountain is allowed to pass.9:20 – AwwartaIn the yard there are many vehicles, but it seems that cars entering Nablus and leaving it are doing it without special detentions.The shift commander behaves politely, explains that the entering cars are being checked, but he regrets that he cannot check the cars leaving Nablus.9:30 – Beit FurikIn the detainees’ station there is one person who is being allowed to continue a few minutes later. There is a sparse traffic of pedestrians and the number of cars waiting at the exit from Beit Furik is each time two on the average.Contrary to reports and warning we got, the soldiers this morning are ready to talk and they have no problem letting us come near and stand next to the detainees’ post.10:00 Back at Huwwara If at the beginning of the morning we didn’t see that the pedestrians entering Nablus were being checked, now the people are stopped, especially those with parcels in their hands. They are requested to empty the parcels on the concrete walls (we photographed) one of the soldiers also checks their bodies thoroughly, each and every part of the body, each and every region of the Palestinian body.10:40 – Yitzhar JunctionA CP is put up. There are eighteen cars in the queue. On the military vehicle an Israeli flag flies proudly. The checking is sporadic. There are cars that pass without being checked, and there are others whose drivers are asked to open the trunk.10:45 – ZaataraFifty (!) cars coming fron north; there are only two checking posts. “only” twelve cars coming from the west.10:50 – a little after Tapuach, on road no. 505 there is a rolling CP of the border police.
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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