‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 2.7.09, Morning
Visitor: Amal
Translation: Suzanne O.
A new era has started at the Nablus roadblocks. Today's star: the wave of the hand – drive on through.
We did not go into Azun Atma because of constraints.
6:20 a.m.
At Sha'ar Shomron eastward there are no inspections at all.
The entrance to Marda is open, Zeita is still barred.
Za'atra/Tapuach Junction
6:40 a.m.
The roadblock from Ariel to the junction is not staffed. On the road coming up from Huwwara there is traffic but no queue. The soldiers wave them through. In the car park a bus waits for documents.
There is no Border Police jeep at the entrance to Beita.
A Border Police jeep patrols backwards and forwards at Huwwara.
Borin/Yitzhar
The roadblock is not active.
Huwwara
6:50 a.m.
This is a new era. Almost no one is inspected at the car lane. The soldiers stand in both lanes and wave cars through. At the most they say Good Morning to the driver. And indeed there is no queue at all at the exit from Nablus and the entrance is also clear. There is no dog handler and the DCO representative is present.
At the pedestrian roadblock the Military Policewomen are still there in their shelters and a paratrooper guards them. But there are no customers. A young man arrives and, when asked why he crossed via the roadblock, he explained that he lives in Kalil village which is close by and it is convenient for him to come to the car park to get a taxi. Just a few Palestinians arrive from time to time with their belts in their hands but no queue builds up.
The Military Policewomen are not happy that I enter their holy territory to talk to the soldier but he does not care.
There are very few taxis in the car park. Even the bagels are not fresh. There is no one to sell them to.
The drivers are suspicious. As long as the fixture is there and a soldier is within it – orders can change in the twinkling of an eye. Years of occupation have made them mistrustful.
Awarta
7:30 a.m.
There is no queue. We asked the soldier if the rumour that private cars from Awarta can cross from there to Nablus is true and he denied it. It is still only a crossing for lorries and VIP cars and the residents of Awarta will have the honour of driving round and round to cross at the Huwwara roadblock.
Beit Furiq
7:40 a.m.
From afar we see a chaotic queue of cars at the entrance to the town. The soldiers have barred the entrance lane and they are inspecting cars entering and leaving in one lane. While one lot enter the others wait. The commander orders the soldiers not to talk to us. We telephoned the DCO and they promised to find out if there is a reason for the sudden rigidity. Afterwards the commander sends a taxi driver to tell us that as long as we stay there the roadblock will be at a standstill. (It was a piece of luck that Amal was with us so that we understood what the driver was sent to tell us.) Before we had time to start our vehicle up, the soldiers suddenly started to wave and the queue disappeared.
When we got back to Huwwara we asked the DCO representative to find out what is going on and to speak to the commander who appears not to have taken in the new atmosphere.
Huwwara
8:00 a.m.
There is no queue at the car inspection area and only very few pedestrians cross.
Za'atra
8:30 a.m.
There is no queue and the traffic flows almost without inspections. In the car park there are some civilian police with a group of female soldiers. We told them that, in the present situation, they will soon be sent to guard the Kirya and one of them replied: It can't come soon enough.
'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-RamatiApr-23-2026Awarta Checkpoint is empty
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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.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiJun-9-2026Za'atara (Tapuach Junction). The Temple Flag Above a Station
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