‘Awarta, ‘Azzun, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 17.3.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
We visited Azzun Atma, Beit Furik, Awarta and were told that the checkpoint at Sara-Kotzin this last week had been taken down.
Azzun Atma. 12 20.
The new checkpoint with the tower and provisional cement blocks. 3 policeman man the place and another jeep with captains arrives together with another army car. The gate is closed and cars and people and children passing through have to show a permit and an ID which shows that they are residents of Azzun Atma.
We tried to find out if we could get to the southern gate which encloses the village. We were told that for that we had to ask for special permission from the battalion and that the police were only there until the soldiers came. The police were aware of our complaints about the transfer of food in sufficient quantities to the residents living across the road/checkpoint and said that " we are only not allowed to pass through commercial quantities of goods…because maybe the tomatoes in boxes are poisoned." There were hardly any people going through the checkpoint.
Sha'ar Ephraim. We see people in blue uniforms and phosphorescent shields on which is written Ministry of Defence.
Zeita Jama'in is closed.
Za'tara at 13.10 3 cars in the direction of Nablus but no line.
Awarta.
We check the area for rifle practice which is widening opposite. . Arab tractor drivers say that in another week they will finish this. When we ask who owns the land he says, " We do not know but who can go against the army."
Beit Furik. 13.30
3 soldiers check most of the cars entering and exiting. They come to find out about us. At the same moment cars press on the gas and go through without taking notice of the soldiers. They say that they have been checking since the attack in the Jordan valley two days ago. One of them says that according to intelligence maybe they were killed because he had allowed terrorists to leave Nablus. He feels that he did not carry out his duty……it seems to us that the checking that was being carried out but because of too much motivation caused by feelings of guilt because at Huwwara and Asam the DCO were surprised at the procedures.
14.00 Huwwara.
At the car lane there were only two soldiers checking on line of cars very carefully.
34 cars waiting in line and that drivers said they had been there an hour to an hour and a half. All the large vehicles were sent back to go through Awarta.
At the pedestrian crossing a handcuffed man was put into the isolation. About 10 owners of kiosks were gathered next to the cell and waiting for their sentence. Amongst them lads who are our friends. The handcuffed man said that he had been caught in the morning trying to knock down a soldier who had motioned him to stop. He was waiting to be taken away by the police. The soldiers were busy with him the whole time. To take him to the toilet, bring him things and to pass through the medicines which he had with him.
3 lines are checked. The humanitarian line goes through quickly. Two other lines slowly. The people are called out first from one line and then from the other and so it takes a specially long time. Today they have been waiting two hours. When we ask A. about the slowness he said that all the military police have gone for a special training session and so there is not enough manpower.
After some time Z. from the DCO arrives and gathers the owners of the kiosks to give them an educational lecture and to free them. He says that they make a big mess and disturb the cars which are parked. He has had 100s of complains and is worried that an old man or woman may fall and break a leg.
He is proud to tell us that yesterday while they were dismantaling Beit Iba CP, "taxis drivers blocked our way because of that" as a protest against the prevention of their making a livelihood that day. He was glad to tell us that the following day the checkpoint of Sara-Kuchin would be taken down.
A Palestinians appealed to us. B. S. said that he had difficulties getting a permit to take his four year old child to a follow up/hospitalization at Wolfson after an operation. Today he had had to be there with the child and the DCO had said that he was security refused and would not give him an answer. He already knows all the procedures. Dalia Bassa does not answer and we turn to Hanna B. who very quickly managed to find out all the details and to deal with the problem and give B.S. an answer. Another man stands near the checkpoint of the cars and says that his friend was caught and kept there all day. We get A. to deal with the problem.
15.30 We go back.
'Awarta
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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.Ronit Dahan-RamatiMar-17-2009Awarta: a long line of cars
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'Azzun
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Azoun (updated February 2019)
A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),
on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.
Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.
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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)
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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)
.Fathiya AkfaMar-17-2009Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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