Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), יום א’ 11.5.08, בוקר
Translation: Suzanne O.
Za'atra
7:45 a.m.
There are no vehicles from the west.
A bus enters the inspection area few minutes.
The soldiers: Air Force reservists. The commander: A., talks to us readily.
While we were there another two buses arrive, they too leave after the driver's documents are checked.
The roadblock at Yitzhar is not open.
Beit Furiq
8:10 a.m
There are two cars at the roadblock and a sprinkling of pedestrians.
Awarta
8:00 a.m.
There are no lorries. The roadblock commander is quick to get rid of us, because our presence at the roadblock is ‘problematic' he said, without elaborating.
Huwwara
8:40 a.m.
The car park is full of life, taxis sound their horns, the market is busy.
There are about 50 people at the turnstiles. There are three inspection lanes. The people at the turnstiles appear to be impatient; we spoke to someone leaving who told us that it had taken him half an hour to cross. The commander, A., treats us as if we are invisible. The DCO representative, H., avoids us.
9:00 a.m.
A group of 8 youngsters is standing at the exit from the roadblock, waiting. It turns out that their I.D. cards have been taken away. One of them is taken to the Humanitarian Point and inspected at its doorway by the commander, a thorough body inspection. It is really ironic to watch the inspection involving the person raising his arms against the wall of the building while the sign ‘Humanitarian Point, is proudly located above him. Later the youngster is taken behind the building, obviously so that we cannot see what is happening, but he is returned to the door of the building, sits on the steps with the commander beside him talking on the phone for a long time, apparently conferring in connection with the boy.
9:20 a.m.
The boy is released and another one is taken for a similar inspection. We go to H., from the DCO. We want to know what is going on here. He unwillingly says that he does not know.
Each boy is inspected, one after the other, plus another four young men who arrived at the roadblock later.
9:40 a.m.
There are two inspection lanes; there are 25 – 30 people at the roadblock.
9:50 a.m.
A coach with schoolchildren is on its way to Nablus, it has a sign ‘American School' on it and it crosses with no inspection.
10:10 a.m.
We left the roadblock.
Za'atra
11:00 a.m.
There are 22 vehicles in the queue.
'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-RamatiMay-11-2008Awarta: a long line of cars
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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 AkfaMay-11-2008Huwara: 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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