‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 11.1.09, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
07:40 Za'tara:
From the west: An ambulance and behind it a car.
From the north:a bus is parked in the parking lot, its passengers waiting next to it. There are two cars at the CP.
07:45 Next to the road to Yitzhar there is a military jeep with soldiers in it,
07:55 Beit Furik:
The CP and the whole surroundings are deserted only the soldiers are there .
Two soldiers with drawn weapons march towards us, but we didn't wait for them
Before we leave a taxi arrives from Nablus – it is not checked, and a station wagon arrives for Nablus – it too is not checked.
08:00 Awarta:
A car is being checked. A soldier searches in the pages that are strewn on the counter next to him, probably to search for the names of the passengers, but a minute or two later he releases it. Another vehicle: the soldiers makes a call, seemingly in connection with the vehicle or its passenger, but lets it pass a short time later. About 15 vehicles: trucks and cars are waiting in line.
08:15 Huwwara:
We pass through the parking lot. A man who speaks Hebrew welcomes us with a reproach: this is how you kill our children! You only make more and more people of Gazza support the Hamas.
There are about 40 people at the CP.
A soldier comes to us, it seems he finds it necessary to talk to us. He tells us that a good friend of his mother is member of Machsom Watch. His mother isn't but she identifies herself with us. He had no time to tell us what his own stand is because he was called to the commander.
H. the DCO representative arrives and draws our attention to a page stuck on the checking cell where it says that this is a military zone, a sterile area and that we are not allowed to stand there. The CP commander lieutenant Y. joins him and asks us to leave the place. After a futile discussion we go down and stand next to the turnstile at the entrance to Nablus. From there it is possible to see part of what is going on at the CP and to hear from time to time the screams of the military policewomen who, when checking, demands that shirts be lifted and other screams the meaning of which we were not able to identify.
08:30 A young man comes to us and tells us that he and six other people are tradesmen, that they have an authorization to enter Israel, but that they were detained near the CP of Beit Iksa, and the authorization were taken from them, claiming that they by-passed the CP. Hanna B. with whom we consulted, took upon herself to take care of the matter.
A volunteer of the Internationals tells us that at 08:50 she counted 50 vehicles leaving Nablus, the waiting time was 45 minutes.
09:25 In the queue for vehicles leaving Nablus there are 20 cars. There are 2 checking stations. The checking is thorough, about 2-3 minutes per car.
The entrance for vehicles to Nablus is free. There are drivers who are not aware of this, and they are waiting. The soldiers do not always hasten to signal to them that they are allowed to pass.
The commander asks me to go away from the car checking station. A conversation ensues, he does not accept my position regarding the occupation but expresses his understanding that there may be a different opinion than his.
09:40 The commander turns to me: at the CP a cheque on 3000 IS of a Palestinians was found. On the cheque there is only the name of the person who signed it without other details. He asks us to tell this to the people at the parking lot so that they might try to locate him and to tell him to come and collect the chque.
The people we turned to don't know him, but promised to find out.
09:50 We left the CP.
10:20
The Hannukia at the Za'tara junction is still there and raises a question: who, and on whose authority put this Hannukia in an area that is Palestinian.
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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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