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Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 3.2.08, Morning

Observers: Yael B and Ditza Y (reporting)
Feb-03-2008
| Morning

Translation: Ruth F.

Za'tara:
One car standing from the west. There were three open lanes for car arriving from the north. A dog trainer with her dog were at the western lane. We stood and observed: Such a routine sight and such a difficult one. People were taken out of a cab and the dog sniffed their bags and packages. He's saliva might have even dripped in side. A disturbing feeling of humiliation.

Another cab: The driver, following  the orders of the dog trainer, took two bags out of he's trunk and then the dog jumped in side the trunk. The bags were full of food, at least the driver had the opportunity to take them out so that the dog couldn't stick his nose in them. A third driver that had his trunk inspected but the dog, was asked to get in to the car and stay there during the inspection.
A young settler came towards us, he greeted us as expected saying: Bitch! You are worse then the Hamas! Stand by the Palestinians so that they inspect you!". During his speech the passengers of a bus that had arrived were taken  off, so he wanted me to stand by them. And another thing he said: "The Hamas pays you!"
On the way to Huwwara we counted 64 cars.


8:15
On the northern side of Huwwara we noticed a car that had it's front window shield broken, by it was an old Palestinian and some BP soldiers. The soldier we had approached told us that there was an argument between the families and the young man, the some of the old Palestinian that was there, was shot and taken to the hospital. 

8:25 Beit Furik:
 9 cars were in line waiting to enter Nablus. At the turnstiles there were 15-20 people.
An argument had erupted between a soldier and the owner of the car he was inspecting. The commander headed towards us, he warned us not to speak with the Palestinians and demanded that we left. We refused. We showed him that we weren't passing the white line and demanded to the order that forbids us from speaking to the Palestinians. He claimed that he didn't have the order with him, he would bring it later, in the mean while he threatened to call the police and then closed the cp. Considering the fact that the Palestinians were being used as hostages, we had to leave.

8:50 Awarta:
Three trucks heading to Nablus. A long line of people leaving the city. Abu Ahmad said there were 30 trucks waiting. He claimed that earlier that morning there was much traffic.


9:00 Huwwara:
About 20 people were crowded by the turnstile to Nablus, but after a couple of minutes the place was empty. Afterwards- fewer people entered.
Two lanes were open for those coming out of Nablus. The checkpoint commander (D) came to us, he suggested that we come to him if we had any problems. This was a refreshing change after the commander at Beit Furik. The representative of the DCO was there (sergeant A) and cooperated with us. 


9:20
A soldier in gray uniforms and a tag of the engineering corps gave us some damped papers that he found on the ground and that supposedly had something to do with us. These were the papers of the Women in Blue, those that praise the IDF and advise it to act against us, attached to this manifest there was a copy of a letter from the unit of investigation of the Samaria region to the assistant chief of staff for operations, about restricting our activity.

9:45
There was a detained man by the northern cell. According to A he was an Israeli that was coming back from Nablus. He was inspected.
A young man came to us, asked for some pictures of the cp that women from our organization had taken, so that he could send them to his uncle at Saudi Arabia.

At about 10:00 an ambulance with his siren on arrived. It was heading to Huwwara.
A Palestinian later told us there was a dispute between two families and that they burned some houses in Huwwara so that ambulance was heading there. He said that two young men were shot and injured. 


10:20
We left.

  • '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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  • 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)
  • 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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