‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 2.11.08, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
Za'atra
7:05 a.m.
There are 7 cars from the west. A bus on its way to Ramallah is being inspected, the male passengers taken off, their documents checked. The women remained on board. After a few minutes the bus continues on its way.
There are 12 vehicles in the queue south.
Huwwara
There are 25 – 30 people at the turnstiles. 2 checkpoints are open. The entrances to Nablus are crowded, about 50 people crowd around the turnstile. However, the crossing is quick and within about 10 minutes the number of people near the turnstile has reduced.
Beit Furiq
8:30 a.m.
There are people sitting at the café which is back to normal after the fire. Among those sitting there is the 'mukhtar' of the village and later the 'olive mukhtar' arrives. They tell us that the owners of the olive groves on the hill near the village, about half of the residents of the village, have been unable to harvest their olives since the intifada, for the last 10 years, because the inhabitants of the settlement Itamar do not allow them to do so. This means about 570 dunams (143 acres) of groves. We contacted Ya'akov Manor. He is aware of the problem. He claimed that he, and other Israeli factors, told the residents to bring documents proving their ownership of the groves which would enable them to take the matter to court, but this has not been done. He telephoned the 'mukhtar' again, after our approach to him, and explained again what is needed to be done. He promised to continue to deal with the matter, and is considering initiating a protest harvest.
The roadblock empties and a light flow of people again march across. There are 5 cars in the queue. A car gets to the inspection area and is held up about 4 metres behind the one in front which is still being inspected, and a soldier asks in wonder: why two? He converses lengthily with the driver and daringly decides to break the IDF rules. We did not hear the gist of the conversation.
The people at the café claim that the roadblock is very crowded between 7 – 8 a.m., and 3 – 6 p.m.
Awarta
9:35 a.m.
There is a small number of lorries at the exit from the village and 4 lorries at the entrance.
Huwwara
9:45 a.m.
There are about 20 people at the turnstiles. The traffic of pedestrians to Nablus is light.
The inspection of cars leaving Nablus is thorough.
There are road works at the roadblock. We asked a soldier to tell us what is going on and he explained that they are for 'the welfare of the Palestinians', to widen the car crossing.
10:10 a.m.
A young man who had been injured in a road accident a month ago, who underwent stomach surgery, and is on his way to Ramallah for a check-up is detained because he was not in possession of his I.D. card. He explained that it was left at the hospital as a deposit because he had no money to pay for treatment. He showed medical documents. We contacted the humanitarian centre to ask them to intervene. We also wanted to involve A., the DCO representative who, we knew, was at the roadblock but we could not find him and our repeated requests to the soldiers to call him went unanswered. They were too concerned that we should not cross the white line (which has meanwhile become a blue line) to do it in case we endanger the safety of the country. We finally found A., with the help of Zaharan.
A man who has been advised that he needs surgery on his hand at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, after being operated on at the hospital in Ramallah, approached us. He has been unable to obtain a permit to go to Jerusalem.
10:35 a.m.
A., from the DCO, went over to the detainee where he was joined by the roadblock commander; we heard them questioning him about his family.
We left the roadblock.
'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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