Za’atara Jnc. Huwwara Beit Furik
Za’atra-Tapuach jnc. Huwwara Beit Furik, Wednesday 14.6.06, AMWatching: Nina S., Tushka K., Yael H., Hanna A. (reporting)Guest: Esti7.45 Road block on road 4765. 3 Rock and earth mounds are still there. A cab driver from Hares, waiting for passengers, says there are similar ones at Kifel Hareth too.8.05 Zaatra/Tapuach JunctionFrom the west – 20 cars in line, we timed 14 minutes for the checking on Ids of a bus’s passengersUpon our arrival another checking lane was opened.From Zaatra – there are 2 checking points and a humanitarian lane in which cabs with sick people and a lorry with turkeys were let through too. We could not get info re passage limitations as the soldiers were not allowed to talk to us. Passage was fast.There were 63 cars in line, their passage hampered by a truck stuck on a road island being pushed over by another truck.8.45 -At the junction of roads 5 & 60 there is a road block and cars pass slowly.8.5 Huwwara2 checking points are operating as well as a humanitarian line that is opened when needed. A screening lorry is checking heavy bags and merchandise. Very few passers.At the eastern checking point a girl soldier searches parcels, man lift their shirts and show their midriff, their back… raise their pants and Shaw their ankles…In the car checking line going into Nablus there is great commotion – a few DCO reps, a few officers. All this to let through, without trouble, a convoy of Palestinian soldiers. Until this convoy disappears, down the road, all car passage is stopped.Pedestrians with big parcels have to cross the checkpoint to the screening lorry to have their bags checked there, another 100 meters to walk with heavy luggage.In the footpath going into Nablus a gate and a turnstile were installed. Now pedestrian passage into town is hampered too.9.25 – 3 cab drivers are sent to the detainee enclosure. They were released around 12.50. This, in spite of repeated calls to the humanitarian centre, whose workers reassured us they are taking care of the matter and were amazed the detainees were not released yet…At 9.50 – a woman with parcels joins the three. According to her (her words were translated to us) she is stopped every day for a few minutes. Her brother is a Shahid. She was released 30 minutes later.10.45 – a young boy is sent back, the girl with him is let through.In the incoming car lane, walks an elderly woman with a man carrying her shuttles. The man passes to her, her shuttles and she is sent back to the queue of those leaving Nablus.11.00 – we leave, not before we see U., the policeman, stopping Palestinians that were already checked at the CP and rechecks their IDs.10.05 – 10.30 – Beit Furik (Nina, Tushka, Esty)Thin passage. We were not let near the CP by a soldier who claimed they have received a danger warning! He himself was wondering around the CP without a helmet…The mayor of Beit Furik approaches us complaining there is no water, neither in the toilets nor in the taps. We complained to the Humanitarian centre who promised to deal with the problem.11.00 Junction roads 57/60 – 7 cars in line, IDs are checked.11.15 Za’atra/Tapuach junction, no cars in line!!!11.30 -Next to the road blockage on road 4765 there is an army vehicle.
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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