Huwwara and Beit Furik Checkpoints, Yasuf, Iskaka, Abu Falah
The day of our vigil was rainy and dark. The roads, streets and checkpoints were almost empty of people and vehicles.
The village, Khirbet Abu Falah, does not suffer from harassment from the settlers in Shilo, as do the towns, Turmus’ayya and Al Mughayyir. The army only passes through Abu Falah on its way to Al Mughayyir.
9:00 We went from Rosh Ha’ayin straight to Huwwara checkpoint and not on our usual route to the villages along Road 60, after we had heard on news reports that in the last few days there had been some bad problems at the checkpoint.
Za’atra (Tapuach Junction) – At every bus stop and waiting point for rides there were 2 armed soldiers on guard. A border patrol jeep was parked by the road to Ramallah. Across from the entrance to Beita another jeep with soldiers was parked.
9:45 At Huwwara checkpoint we saw no sign of the problems we had heard about. Everything looked quiet, the road was almost empty, and the few cars passed through without any problem. At the Beit Furik checkpoint the situation was the same, and along the ‘apartheid’ road (for Israeli cars only) we met very few cars.
10:30 – Yasuf – The streets of the village were empty. We met a few high-school girls who had taken an exam at school and were on their way home to continue their winter holiday.
Iskaka – The Council building was cold and empty. We were met by a young secretary who telephoned to the head of the Council for us. He said he could come to meet us only in another hour, so we left.
We continued along the road in the direction of the village, Kafr Malik. When it became clear to us that the village was a long ride away on a small road that goes down and up again with lots of twists and turns, we realized that this was not a drive for a rainy day. We decided to stop for coffee in the small village of Abu Falah.
11:15 – Abu Falah – We went into a Café that looked a bit different from the ones we usually see in the West Bank. We learned that the owners of the Café had been in Venezuela for quite a few years. The mother and the children returned to the village about 5 years ago. The father continues to work abroad, now in Panama. He comes every year to visit his family in the village.
N., the owner of the Café, received us very nicely, and was happy to tell us about the family and the village. (We have her telephone number.) She told us that in this village, as in the neighboring town of Turmus’ayya, most of the people live and work abroad. According to her, Palestinians who have made some money in Venezuela, which is a poor country, have opened stable businesses. Other Palestinians join them and work for them as salaried workers. The wages are not high, but are better than in Palestine. Those who remain in the village work in construction and/or on their olive groves.
There are four schools in the village; girls and boys learn separately.
Abu Falah does not suffer harassment from the settlers of Shilo, in this they differ from the people of Turmus’ayya and Mughayyir. Land for Shilo has been expropriated from all three of the Palestinian villages and town, but mostly from Turmus’ayya and Mughayyir.
12:00 Za’atra (Tapuach Junction) – The junction and the military area in the center are quiet and almost empty.
We paid attention to the gravel path leading from the hill to the west of the junction to road 60. This is the path that is permitted to the Palestinians to walk down to their separate bus stop going to Ramallah, so that they won’t, heaven forbid, use the road that serves the Jews who come to the junction.
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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Iskaka
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Iskaka
A village of about 1,000 residents near Ariel. The land was expropriated for settler roads, a spring on their land became a mikvah and an area of 120 dunams was declared an archaeological site. No building permits are issued in the village. Water flow is not continuous. There is harassment during the olive harvest from Rachel's settlers. Two agricultural gates are available to the residents at limited dates and times.
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Yasuf
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Yasuf The village numbers 2,500 residents, and in the neighboring village of Iskaka about 1,500. Yasuf suffers from low water supply and intermittent flow - although the population has more than doubled since the Oslo Accords, the 12 cubic meters set in 1996, sometimes even less, are alternated between the two villages, summer and winter .Permits to complete the harvest are only given for a few days, and there are often roadblocks on the way to the groves and the settlers, mostly fr/om Tapuah, try to drive the harvesters away. Since 2006, the settlements have been expanded threefold from their original location, and the harassments are numerous - including vandalism of cars and spraying of hate-inscriptions on the mosque. The settlers from Kfar Tapuach took control of land belonging to the residents and planted their own trees, and the army does not allow the villagers to approach these plots.
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