‘Anabta, Deir Sharaf, Huwwara, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 6.12.09, Afternoon
Summary
Today's shift, combining southern and western routes in the West Bank, around Nablus, and exiting at Jubara to reach Irtah/Shaar Efraim, felt like going through the scenes of some classic drama. There was scenery, some bizarre, much beautiful; there were actors, some on stage and many behind the scenes, as the totally hidden producers, and there was a Greek drama chorus, representing the overall Palestinian population, offering us a grasp of the continuing theatrical production that is the "Tragedy of the Occupation."
On Route 5
15:00 — at Zeita, the earth mound is firmly in place, a number of Palestinian cars wait on the apartheid road side of it.
15:05 Zaatara
Few cars but a mass of red and white banners around the central military compound, proclaiming, in Hebrew only, "No entry for supervisors to freeze outposts." Just in case the Hebrew is not clear, there is the large universal no symbol, a red circle with a white line through it.
15:15 Huwwara
The village seems quiet to day, the ploughed fields beyond it a rich gravy brown, making a welcome contrast to the dinginess of the main road.
At the checkpoint, the tattered Israeli flag flies besides two equally tattered green and yellow Golani flags. Here, too, the same "No entry" settler banner as at Zaatara, but only one. Yet high above, on the mountain, the half built cement homes for normal population increase, hover at the settlement of Bracha, seeming to bless the checkpoint below.
There's a line of five vehicles ahead of us: they are trying to get into Nablus, we to the parking lot. One of the five trucks is thoroughly checked by the two soldiers on duty at the checking post in the middle of the roadway, some distance from the original version of this checkpoint.
To remind us of the original production of this checkpoint, there is a soldier atop the lookout tower at the southern edge of the checkpoint and more soldiers, atop the larger, more imposing military tower in the middle of the checkpoint. On the ground, there are six soldiers (no dogs), and "pedestrians" are only checked as passengers in taxis or private cars.
The second lieutenant commander calls something to the two soldiers at the checkpost as we arrive, but his words are indistinguishable, except that traffic into Nablus now flows more smoothly, with no checking. Not the case with traffic coming out of the city.
15:20 — as one vehicle is checked coming out of Nablus, a line develops behind it, and the soldiers make no attempt to pull it aside. Only one of the three checking booths is open in the center of the checkpoint, and the one lane that is open is full of ruts (in spite of lack of rain this winter). Nearly every taxi is checked, IDs taken from the driver, and the soldier returns to the checkpost and calls in the IDs.
15:30 — a disembodied voice calls out from the lookout tower; the second lieutenant stays and chats with us. As we leave we ask if there are soldiers on duty at Beit Furik (none last Thursday), but he has no idea where that is. On hearing that it is on the apartheid road, leading to Elon Moreh, a road, he is told "for Jews, but not for Arabs," he quickly offers a correction: "You mean Palestinians."
16:45 On Route 60
Opposite Yizhar, soldiers are positioned on the Burin side of the road.
16:55 — below Shavei Shomron, the new road, still without a painted middle line in the center, is functioning. A truck makes its way up the curving roadway to the settlement above.
Deir Sharaf
Freely flowing traffic in both directions.
16:00 Anabta
The still bright and shiny new checkpoint is unmanned. Not a soldier in sight. Just a police car and the white DCO jeep visible, both parked in the middle of the four lane checkpoint, making traffic swing around both.
On Route 57
At Shufa, on the north side of the road, there's a new earth mound where a newly leveled dirt pathway had recently been made (by the villagers, we assume), and used for access to and from the apartheid road. We imagine people have to make their way up the steep dirt path a little to the west, as before, but nobody is around today to substantiate that point.
16:20 Irtah/Shaar Efraim
There must be about 150 people in line, waiting to go through the "terminal" building to go home after a day's work in Israel. We can't see inside the building, since one of the two yellow doors, beyond the turnstile, is closed, making it impossible to see how many booths are open. According to the Palestinians, just one.
We phone the DCO and are told that they will take care of the matter. Either that, or the guard in the window above spies us and makes things move speedily from now onwards.
16:30 — ten minutes later, there's not a person to be seen waiting to go home. Things change in the next minutes, however, as more vehicles disgorge workers in the parking lot. Now the turnstile turns so fast, that its non stop squeak is a delight to hear!
16:50 — twenty minutes later, there's again a line, again a phone call, this time to the Humanitarian Center since the Palestinians come in a never ending flow. From many, there's a greeting, from some the frequent refrain of, "But you should come in the morning," and from one, "There's no solution to this problem, it's the same in the morning," and from above, the civilian security guard gazes at the people below, wanders from one window to the other, monarch of all he surveys.
'Anabta CP
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'Anabta CP
The checkpoint is located south of the village of 'Anabta, at the intersection of Road 60 (leading to Nablus at the entrance to Area A), with Road (57, 557, 5576) facing west towards the Einav settlement and the checkpoint at the exit from the West Bank - Figs checkpoint. Until 2010 we used to watch the intersection and report the long columns created due to a slow inspection of the vehicles in both directions.
Oct-28-2011Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.
Nina SebaFeb-28-2024Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
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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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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.
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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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