‘Azzun ‘Atma, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Sun 26.4.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
15.10 Beit Furik.
Few cars especially taxis which pass quickly and are checked randomly.
A patrol policeman says that he knows us for a long time already and that there have been many alerts and we must be careful. He advises us not to come in the next few days. He says he is there because it is his duty.
He is accompanied by a soldier who guards him with drawn weapon and does not understand at all our answer that we too are there because it is our moral duty as citizens to be at each and every checkpoint.
In the meantime it turns out that the policeman who has been speaking to us so pleasantly has taken Hamdan's papers and afterwards informed him that he is removing him from the road because his license plate is not clear. A long dialogue follows with him until he returns the license to the obvious displeasure of the soldier on guard.
15.30 The police stop a private car which only a few minutes before had been checked by the soldiers at the checkpoint and again make a very thorough and long search. When we ask if they do not rely on the soldiers the policeman says that he only has to answer to his commander and afterwards it turns out from his explanations that they were looking for drugs. What connection is there between the police and drugs in the area of the Palestinian Authorities. Nu. A good way to catch Jews who are drug dealers.
16.00 Huwwara.
The checkpoint is nearly empty and there are "only" two detainees who are waiting for a clearance.
3 students from East Juersalem get out of the bus leaving southern Nablus.
They are sent back to Nablus to go through Beit Iba. Why?
This is the decree of the day and the orders from above. Later we are told that today it is graduation at the university and there have been parties. Students are returning home. This is a good reason to harass and make their lives miserable.
16.20 Israeli citizens are dealt with by the police but free after 15 minutes.
Another three students with blue IDs are sent back to Nablus by the DCO representative.
Hardly any cars leaving Nablus. A truck with fruit is sent back to Nablus. There are more pedestrians but the passage is swift and quiet.
Two men between 50-60 years of age are detained. They have blue IDs and we guess that they are lecturers from the university. They refuse to go back to Nablus and wait. The elderly men are free and go on their way at 17.10. Their obstinacy paid off.
The taxi drivers promise us that in two hours time many students on their way home will arrive and then there will be a real traffic jam. We were sorry that we could not stay.
18.10 Azzun Atma.
Workers comeback from work. Every few minutes an Israeli car arrives and a group of workers return to the village. They have a wait of about 10 minutes. The permits are given for work in the nearby settlements and the factories on the other side of the road.
A man wanting to buy marble at the nearby factory is not allowed to pass and one of the workers volunteers to call the owner of the factory to speak to him at the checkpoint.
'Azzun 'Atma
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'Azzun 'Atma
A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.From a report from March 24, 2021: "The farmers from Beit Amin and Azon Atma are happy that since February 21 the Oranit checkpoint .is going to be open 3 times a day, The farmers are really developing the place."
Report from July 14, 2024: "Ornit checkpoint is closed . The Beit Amin/Abu Salman agricultural checkpoint is closed (there is no contact with the military to check if it opens rarely), the Ezbat Jaloud checkpoint was opened once a day before the war.
Updated for July 2024
Apr-11-2019Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
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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)
.Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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