Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 1.1.08, Morning
Translation: Maureen A.
The first day of the new year; perhaps because public institutions are closed, perhaps because people are tired of going from place to place when they know when they are going to leave but they never know when they'll get to their destination, and there are those who say that there's a PLO event in Nablus – but, for whatever reason, the traffic is very light at all the crossings.
7:40 Za'tara Junction (Tapuach) –
There are only a few cars waiting to go through; 2 from the west, 3 from Nablus.
There are no checkpoints till Huwwara.
7:50 The Huwwara Checkpoint is completely empty, so we set out immediately for the Beit Furik Checkpoint.
8:00 Beit Furik Checkpoint –
Group after group of people from the village arrive at the checkpoint in order to go into Nablus; the checkpoint is working quickly.
There is no traffic out of Nablus.
7 cars are waiting to enter Nablus; today there's a slight change in the procedure.
They have to wait in line, then drive up to a certain spot a certain distance from the checkpoint, the soldier waves the driver to move ahead, halfway to the checkpoint the driver stops and gets out of the car, lifts up his jacket, and only then walks up to the soldier to have his papers examined; at times the soldiers go up to the vehicle and check it, too. Only then do they wave the next car on, to a point where the soldiers can see it.
An ambulance moves up to the front of the line and immediately behind it a small truck for transporting passengers which was next in line. The soldier comes closer and scolds the driver, sending him back to the line. Only after the ambulance goes through is the driver of the transit vehicle allowed to move up to the position from which the soldiers will wave him on. The drivers report a wait of about half an hour.
8:30 When we left, 7 new cars were waiting in line.
The soldiers ignore us.
8:40 Awarta Checkpoint – 4 trucks are waiting to enter Nablus and 3 are waiting to leave.
The soldiers are checking them and the line is moving.
8:45 Huwwara CP
The checkpoint is empty, very few people are entering Nablus, very few leaving. When we arrive, Commander D. comes up to us, introduces himself and tells us he will take care of any problem; the DC Officer, R., gives us the number of his cell phone and tells us to call him about any problems that arise, because "our aim, the DCO and you women, MW women, is to help the civilian population".
There's a lot of traffic of police cars and army vehicles; when we ask the soldiers what's going on, they reply that they don't know.
There are relatively a lot of soldiers at the checkpoint; because there's nothing for them to do, they are fooling around. (Later on we will learn why there are so many police cars and the large number of soldiers.)
9:00 The DCO Captain arrives, smiles at us. The checkpoint is still practically empty. About 10 people are crowded together, go through quickly, so even though all the men have their belts in their hands when they leave the checkpoint, they are smiling. Today they weren't harassed.
Very few cars are leaving Nablus; the security check is very thorough; the x-ray vehicle is ready – people's belongings from the cars and from the porters' carts are put on it to be checked.
One of the men is waiting near the solitary confinement area; in answer to our question, he says he's waiting to meet someone who is supposed to come from Nablus. Five minutes later, he wasn't there.
9:30 There are about 10 people waiting to go through the checkpoint, there's one line open and the passage through is quick and relaxed.
Traffic remains very light.
9:40 We are about to leave when a stand-still is called – no one leaves, no one enters for a square kilometer around the checkpoint. The roads are blocked, as is the checkpoint. The Military Police close off the roads. We then learn that the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff are on their way down from Mount Bracha, from which they had been observing the area.
After this visit, the Minister of Defense announced over the media that "the checkpoints and the road blocks are important for security".
10:00 We left.
Burin/Yitzhar Junction – the checkpoint is manned. About 12 vehicles are waiting to be checked, most leaving Nablus.
Tapuach Junction – 7 cars from Nablus and 2 from the west.
'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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