‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 14.5.09, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
It's hot today.
13:55 Marda. Both gates are open. Zeita – the entrance is blocked, as usual; also when we returned.
14:05 Za'tara checkpoint.
11 vehicles on line from the north, waiting to be inspected. One inspection booth.
14:10 Awarta checkpoint. A long line of vehicles waiting to be inspected.
14:16 Beit Furik checkpoint.
All vehicles are checked quickly. A Palestinian sits on the fence between the lanes – the checkpoint commander says that he's in a stolen taxi so he has to wait for the police [we'll send a photo]. An Israeli driver is waiting next to the checkpoint for someone from Beit Furik who owes him money.
14:35 Awarta checkpoint. The line we saw earlier has disappeared.
14:45 Huwwara checkpoint.
No crowd in the shed; sometimes there was almost no line. The soldiers doing the inspections weren't yelling over the loudspeaker. We walked over to the vehicle lanes, near the remains of the old checkpoint.
B., the checkpoint commander, came over and announced that we're not allowed to stand there??!!. That the entire area is considered to be part of the checkpoint…a military area. We asked to see an order defining this as a closed military area.
The peddlers reported being treated badly: he threatened them that they had to leave the checkpoint by 15:00.
15:10 The checkpoint commander shows up again and demands that we leave.
S., the DCO representative, says that for the past week inspection of vehicles leaving Nablus have been eased: only IDs are checked, not the interior of the vehicle. Nor do people have to get out of the vehicle. Nevertheless, when a bus full of passengers arrives and every ID is checked, a line forms and people wait.
12 vehicles waited in the vehicle lanes to be inspected. Vehicles entering Nablus weren't inspected.
15:34 A bus from Qalqilya full of children returning from a trip to Nablus and from the Al Bidan pools is detained. A woman – the mother of one of the children – is taken off the bus. A female soldier noticed her photographing the checkpoint. We heard snatches of the conversation: A soldier checked the camera, claimed he found photographs of other checkpoints. The woman was taken to the pen. We notified the humanitarian office.
15:45 The checkpoint commander comes over (again) and demands that we leave.
15:55 We reminded the army's humanitarian office that the Palestinian woman and the bus were being detained. The call was transferred to the DCO. A. said that they'll try to hurry things along.
S. the DCO representative, came over to us and said that the matter is being handled at the divisional level. Her ID card is being checked.
16:30 The woman and the bus are still being detained. Mothers ask for water. Their request is granted – the DCO representative accompanies them to fill their bottles. Meanwhile a few children get off the bus, accompanied by mothers or teachers – to use the bathroom [a photo will be attached].
16:45 We can now see the Palestinian woman (who was removed from the pen) [photo to be attached] talking with army personnel – one of them is the commander of DCO Nablus, Abu Rukun, whom we've met today for the first time.
17:10 The woman is released, along with all the bus passengers. We were told that the camera was returned to her, but without the memory card. The DCO representative who took care of her release promised to check the matter. We hope the memory card will be returned to her.
17:15 The bus returned, in reverse, because the ID card hadn't been returned. And then they're on their way home.
17:30 Za'tara checkpoint.
9 vehicles from the north wait for inspection., two inspection booths, the security personnel's weapons pointed straight at the drivers.
'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-RamatiNov-6-2025Awarta. Crossing the road towards the checkpoint
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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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