Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 5.11.07, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
There is no roadblock at the entrance to Marda; there are concrete blocks at the entrance to Zeita.
7:10 a.m. There are roadblocks around Za'atra/Tapuach
There is a roadblock from the direction of Tulkarm to Jerusalem/Ramallah.
There are 9 cars, the crossing is swift, a young man who was detained and whose taxi did not wait for him is released some ten minutes later, and is forced to go and search for another taxi.
There is a roadblock in the direction of Nablus.
There is no separation.
There are 27 vehicles; the inspection and the crossing are speedy.
A bus was sent to the car park; all its passengers are taken off and sent back on again, they waited about ten minutes for their documents to be inspected.
There is no roadblock at Yitzhar Junction or at the top of the road; there are no military vehicles at the entrance to Beita.
Beit Furiq
7:30 a.m.
There are about 30 vehicles waiting in the queue to enter Nablus and they descend the slope of the taxi car park one after the other to the area of the roadblock. Drivers claim that they have been waiting since 6:15 a.m.
Many people arrive all the time at the pedestrian roadblock and they cross very quickly.
8:10 a.m.
A detainee is put in the lock-up. The army claimed that he was caught when he tried to take the by pass via Salem to Nablus. They said they would hold him for three hours but shortly after 10:00 a.m. he was released.
The roadblock commander explained that his people are new; therefore, vehicles cross very slowly as they are teaching them how to make inspections.
He agreed to our request to open two lanes for a while (one for those entering, the other for those leaving) and also to permit, when no cars are leaving Nablus, the second lane to be used for cars entering as well. In this way, and after the soldier being trained began to work a bit faster, the lengthening queue was considerably shorter within 20 minutes. A car inspection, which had previously taken up to 4 – 5 minutes, was reduced later to about 2 minutes.
Awarta
8:50 a.m.
A queue of 10 cars waits to enter Nablus and one of almost 30 to leave.
Aimen from the DCO arrived; he spoke to the soldiers about opening an additional lane (i.e.: one in each direction) and also said that he would arrange to get reinforcements so that the crossing would be considerably quicker.
Huwwara
9:10 a.m.
There is almost no queue of cars in either direction. People leaving Nablus by taxi with cases carry them to the x-ray machine. The dog handler with her muzzled dog was also there. The dog was not used while we were there.
There are no detainees.
There are more than 30 pedestrians in the queue and the humanitarian queue was very slow. The DCO representative, Tarek, explained that there are new people at this roadblock too and that is why the inspection is slow. He acceded to our request and went to help the soldier in this queue and immediately the queue began to move and the whole queue moved more swiftly.
The car park is very full and crowded.
It was a hot day and in neither place did we see any water for the use of the Palestinians.
At both roadblocks, Beit Furiq and Huwwara – they were strict with us about the white line – the imaginary and the actual one.
Za'atra
10:10 a.m.
There 8 cars, the crossing is quick, there are no buses.
We went to see if there was a roadblock at Kariah banei Hassan – there wasn't one. (Mickey was informed in the morning by one of the drivers that there was a roadblock there in the early hours.)
'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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