‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 29.7.09, Afternoon
14.20 Zeita Jamma'in
Why has the blockage not been removed???.
14.25 Za'tara
From the direction of road 5 there is no checking. From Nablus about 15 cars pass quickly. One taxi is standing in the carpark and the passengers are standing and waiting for the search to be completed. After a few minutes their IDs are returned and they go on their way.
14.45 Checkpoint of Beit Furik
A bored soldier stands under the shelter. The few cars pass freely. One of the soldiers comes up and signs to us to stop. We say that we are from MachsomWatch and he remembers H. from the morning. He asks how we are and says that the checking is random, some questions without the ID.
15.00 Awarta
One car goes in the direction of Huwwara. Two cars wait at the checkpoint. One is a trade car and the other a truck. The driver of the trade car says that he has been there half an hour. The car is empty and the driver opens the baggage and see two gallons of juice and says to the driver, "Why do you lie, the car is not empty" and takes the IDs of the two men. The truck has already been there for 45 minutes. This is a truck which goes through 4-5 times a day. Other cars stop for a short questioning by the soldier and go on. Some minutes later a soldier comes to the trade car with the IDs of the men, takes his hand away and does not allow them to go on. And then he says to the driver, " Next time I ask you if there is something in the car tell me exactly what there is and don't lie." He gives them the IDs and they drive away.
Racheli goes to the driver to speak to him and then the commander comes up and says that he is not allowed to speak as he has been detained. Then an ideological argument starts and in the meantime the truck waits. The commander claims that the passenger's ID is forged and there they are detained. He says he can detain him for three hours. Racheli says he is there to check the car and not the ID. He says that the man's ID says that he is married with three children and the man says he is not married and that he will wait for the ID to be checked. He affirms "that the driver has to take everything out of the truck and to wait for the soldier and a dog" and again what does that have to do with the ID? In the end the commander says that he hopes that he will be freed in half and hour. So. And he says that he enjoyed the conversation with Racheli. Racheli and the driver exchanged phone number and we drove off. Since when is the ID of a passenger checked at Awarta???
15.22 Huwwara
A soldier checks car of those entering and tells us to stand at the side and not to go through but we continue to advance. 15 cars leave Nablus, it seems that the lines at Huwwara have started again. Here too there is a random checking and the drivers are stopped and questioned. Here too there is an ideological conversation with the soldier who does not know about MachsomWatch and the facts of the occupation. The commander comes up and asks us to stand "at the place for MachsomWatch. I asked him who decides where this is and he says this the command of the chiefs. I said to him that I am not a chief and also do not take orders from the army and that there has never been a "special place" for us. Racheli adds that not only there is no such place for us but also nowhere in the checkpoint is it written "the place for MachsomWatch" and that each time we are told something different. He says that we are disturbing them and I say that the soldier began the conversation of his own free will. Then he leaves us alonge to see the cars entering freely. And the line exiting Nablus lengthens and it takes about 3 minutes to pass. There is no DCO representative present.
15.45 The driver of the truck at Awarta phones to tell Racheli he has been freed.
16.10 Checkoint of Za'tara
About 30 cars from Nablus.
For personal reasons we did not go on to Azzun Atma.
'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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