Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Sha`ar Shomron (Qasem), Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 16.9.08, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
Until we arrived at Huwwara we thought that the day was a relatively calm one, a day in Ramadan month with little traffic on the roads, from the villages, but the picture changed when we arrived at the Huwara CP.
At the entrance through the Samaria Gate the traffic was without obstruction. At the exit to the West Bank areas the traffic is sparse.
The entrance to the village of Zeita is blocked, the entrance to Marda is open, the entrance to Beita is open, the police conducts the entrance and the exit to and and from Ariel, a short delay.
The Za'tara (Tapuah) Junction is empty from all directions, the flow of cars coming from Nablus is hardly delayed at all.
We went straight to Beit Furik
08:10 There are no vehicles at Beit Furik
From time to time a vehicle arrives, advances to the soldiers and passes.
Pedestrians – their traffic is lively, especially that of pleasantly behaved students who greet us and answer our good morning greetings, their checking is speedy.
A full bus arrives, the young men descend and pass through the turnstiles and the bus with girls students enters Nablus without any checking.
We thought that this was the situation because of the easements during the Ramadan month. But….
WE arrived at the Huwwara CP through the Awarta CP in which there were no people nor vehicles, except for soldiers.
08:40 Huwwara CP –
Half of the parking lot is empty but this is no indication of what goes on at the CP.
When we arrives there are 25 detainees under the shed, and from time to time some trickle to the checking posts. They report on a waiting period from 07:00 in the morning, and all the time more Palestinians join them, all of them young people.
From time to time one of them is taken by the CP commander, has to undergo a corporal check and is led, accompanied by the commander, to behind the humanitarian point. We too went there and saw an armored jeep to which the detainees were brought.
During the time we were there, 5 young men were taken for a talk there, according to the commander who was very efficient but refused to answer us and forbade the soldiers to talk to us. After a lot of nagging he said they were taken to be interrogated. The detainees tell us that they were interrogated by the representatives of the General Security Service (shabak).
There are 3 checking point at the exit from Nablus and during all our stay there the number of people waiting there ranged from 30 to 50, and the Palestinians reported on a waiting time of about half an hour.
At the entrance to Nablus via the turnstiles there are not many Palestinians passing.
Vehicles – both at the entrance and the exit too the number of cars isn't big.
09:00 There are still about 25 detainees. When we ask till when they will be detained and why they are detained, the elusive answer is that they are under investigation.
There still is a lot of stress at the exit, the routine checking accompanied by removing the belt, lifting the trousers up, bags are sent to the screening machine. The people are angry, one of them says to us "soon we will have to remove our under-pants too".
The soldiers murmur: ''and they (MW women) are helping them".
A phone call to the DCO to report that there is a representative of theirs at the CP but he is not to be seen, we ask that he be told to meet us.
T. arrives, he knows what goes on, according to him this is the usual situation, we disagree of course. He points out that the decisions are taken by the commanders and promises that the detainees will be released soon.
09:30 – There are 7 detainees left and the general picture of the CP doesn't change.
09:50 – There are 3 detainees left.
10:00 – There is "bingo" (one whos' ID number on the list which the soldeirs receive from the GSS), one of the young man leaving Nablus is detained and is put into the dungeon.
There is one detainee left, we suspected that his ID card disappeared.
The ID card is indeed not to be found, we again alerted the DCO representative who said that they were looking at the General Security Service, which had already left, and elsewhere too.
We asked that the young man be released with a confirmation that the ID card got lost there, and when it will be found it would be returned to him,
The DCO representative promises that he would be detained till 12:00 and if the ID won't be found till then he'll be released with the confirmation.
It should be pointed out that this detainee has been waiting since 07:30 a.m.
In general most of the soldiers behave in a very matter of fact manner towards the Palestinians.
As regards us they insist that we do not pass the blue line.
11:00 – we left the CP and were promised by the DCO representative that they would follow up the matter of the detainee in the solitary confinement whose details were up for checking, and also of the one without an ID card.
To sum up: The detainee was released at 14:00 without his ID card, one tries to assist him to get a new card soon.
On the way back there is no change, all the crossroads are empty.
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'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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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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