Awarta, Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 27.3.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.21 – 14.35 The crossroads of Ariel
Where there are 2 Hummers and 2 soldiers on guard.
The gate at Marda is open. At Zeita big cement blocks close the entrance and the iron gate is empty.
At the checkpoint of Za'tara
3 car, 3 soldiers and one checking area. From Nablus are 33 cars and a police car and two checking areas.
At Beita we see that the road to the market is open. Afterwards one of the ecumenical workers tells us that there are many dust blockades which a resident tells us had been removed and we did not check.
Burin/Yitzhar is not manned.
14.36 Huwwara
A boy from Beita is in the isolation. He got his ID a month ago and the commander says that he tried to take a device through which he describes as a firecracker with some bullets of an AM 16. Later when we have spoken to the centre about the boy N. corrects us saying that he did not say that it was a device. The commander says it was a rifle bullet with a wick attached to it. The commander says that the sapper exploded it before we came. The ecumenical workers is told by phone that the media said a boy with an explosive device had been caught at Huwwara and the checkpoint closed. We see it is working.
When one of us goes in the direction of the isolation, the commander, second lieutenant E. screams "Get the hell away from here. Don't you dare go near." The DCO supports him. While we were there we did not see the boy so as to know if he were handcuffed and if he had been given anything to drink. We spoke to his father who was standing close to us as he had been informed by people that his son was arrests and with him a relation and two friends. All had had their IDs taken. When we tried time and again to find out when they would get these back we were told that besides the boy there were no people detained at the checkpoint. It seems that according to N. those who have their IDs taken from them are not detained and because they cannot move away they are called "stuck." A detainee is someone who is waiting to be investigated.
At 16.11 one of those "stuck" gets his ID back and at 17.45 two more do so.
At 19.00 the father phones to say that he got his ID. Because there was constant communication with the centre the commander had been ordered to free those "stuck." Now we phoned the centre to give them the good news that the father had been freed. A. as we are told by the center. It is important to note that when we turn to T. at the DCO the handling of matters is to the point and efficient. The boy was taken in the evening to the Ariel police station for questioning and freed at 24.30.
There were many people at the checkpoint, about 100 in the shed and we were told that there was a waiting period of more than an hour. Students going home for the weekend. Only 2 checking areas. When we ask why there are not three second lieutenant E. again screams at us "Get away from here. You are all disgusting" and some other rantings. Later another post was open but not continuously. A humanitarian line where the DCO B. stand for most of the time but does not cooperate with us.
There is an x-ray device for baggage and we are told by the ecumenical representative that there are 13 cars waiting to exit Nablus but no pressure of those going in.
15.46 Beit Furik.
No congestion and no tension but we are met by the commander with our car being sent off from its usual parking place and then he starts to speak and does not stop even though we have not said a word. He educates us about the security aspects with all the argument and around him stand his obedient soldiers. We met the strangest lot of soldiers.
A taxi is detained. It drove on the Madison road and a military policewomen screams at us not to go near him. The commander says he will be there will 17.00 and he is not allowed to speak to those who are "stuck."
16.11 We go back to Huwwara where we are told that there is pressure at Za'tara.
Burin/Yitzhar is not manned.
Za'tara 27 cars, 3 checking posts and 8 in another direction.
Zeita where the entrance is closed and where 3 Hummers stand on the main road next to the fence of Marda.
At the end we have this question. Is there a point in complaining about the shrieking and cusring and vulgar Er. He actually shouted at us that he wanted us to complain about him to the brigade commander. Maybe we should?
'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-RamatiJan-6-2026Awarta: Traffic jam on the way to Nablus
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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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Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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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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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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