‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Eliyahu Crossing, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 28.5.09, Afternoon
13.40 At the industrial area of Ariel on the top of the hill a building is being enlarged.
13.55 Zeita is blocked at the entrance as usual.
14.00 Under the settlement of Tapuah the ground is being deforested.
14.03 Checkpoint of Za'tara… from the west a bus waits to be checked.
From the north (from Nablus and Huwwara) 33 cars wait to be checked superficially at one checking post. If the checking can be done more quickly why are so many cars waiting? Because the soldiers are slow. We informed S. at the centre.
14.10 2 army jeeps on the north side of the road of Huwwara. Not far from the checkpoint of Burin-Yizhar.
14.13 Awarta. 9 cars in the direction of Nablus waiting to be checked. 
14.15 Beit Furik. Good to see the checkpoint dismantled. We get out to photograph the checkpoint where so many people had been stopped for no reason in days gone past.
The commander of the post signs us with his finger to come to him but has to get to us ( to try ) to stop us photographing. He says that he is the one who decides here.
14.25 Awarta. We stop at the checkpoint next to the apartheid road. It seems that our arrival hastens the passage of the cars and the line shortens.
14.30 Huwwara. A detainee in isolation. A Palestinian who had intended to entger Nablus in an Israeli car, the driver is a Canadian. N. , the DCO representative, says he is detained because the commander asked him for his ID. The man refused and attacked him. There is no possibility of speaking to the man and in the end the commander commands the DCO representative not to speak to us!? From now on we cannot make contact with him at the checkpoint. There are not many pedestrians in the shed. No university studies at this time.
The pedestrians have to pass an x-ray device, to take off anything metal, show the ID and the contents of their bags before the soldier in the armoured booth and then to bend down to take the ID.
In the humanitarian line there is an innovation… there is a car x-ray which was used previously to check the baggage of those in cars. It is in place of the soldier who checked things by hand.
There are many pedestrians entering Nablus as is usual at 50m.
Cars entering Nablus are not checked. When we came to look at the route of cars leaving Nablus we were surprised to see for the first time that there was no line. But soon there would be.
15.30 The dog trainer arrived and a soldier photographs her in action. The drivers stand at a distance.
We phoned the DCO about the detainee and were told that he would be freed when the amount of time of his detention had elapsed. We met members of the church. They said that 3 more people had been detained.
The porters say it is hard to make a living. Before they made 80 shekel a day and now only 30.
16.15 An army jeep goes to the side road to the Yizhar checkpoint.
16.17 An army jeep enters Yizhar.
16.21 South of the Gilad farm there is fire in the fields.
16. We phoned the centre where S. said that if he had not been freed he would be freed soon.
16.45 The Eliyahu pass. About 30 detainees are coming back from work in Israel and were waiting to have IDs checked. Not clear how long this would take and they wanted to get home.
'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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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing
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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Zufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone. This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone." It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.
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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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