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‘Azzun ‘Atma, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 8.8.13, Afternoon

Tags: Detainees
Observers: Yudith levin reporting & photographing
Aug-08-2013
| Afternoon

Shelly K. translating

 

Following the Fast of Ramadan, Palestinians celebrate Eid al-Fiter, during which they customarily visit family, dressed for the holiday and bearing gifts.

 

     14:15. The checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Kif'l Harert' is closed (see photo). Vehicles are waiting on either side. A soldier near the pillbox says that the checkpoint is currently closed due to rock-throwing. It will open at 18:00.

At the IDF Humanitarian Center, I am updated that the battalion commander ordered closure of all access roads to the villages of Kif'l Haret' and Haris in order to pursue the rock throwers.

In the meantime, more vehicles arrive at the gate from both sides. All of them turn back searching for alternate roads. We tried to follow a minibus whose driver knew an additional road to the village (underneath the new road), but there too, the yellow roadblock arm was closed at the entrance. An army vehicle was present and inside there were several officers who did not answer the requests of an elderly Palestinian dressed in white.

14:55 We continued from there to the entrance to the village of Zeita Jam'mayin, which was open.

15:10 Za’tara/Tapuach Junction CP. In the parking lot there is an army and a civilian vehicle (probably Security Services). Soldiers wander around them but there is no check at positions. Two soldiers guard the “Trampiada” in the direction of Ramallah, and one soldier is guarding the hilltop. One wonders whether today as well, the Blue Police will arrive to distribute entry passes to Palestinians. In contrast to most Thursdays, when there is usually a lot of traffic due to the upcoming Palestinian weekend, today there is a holiday mood, different. Most of the shops in Huwwara are closed except for a few groceries and sweet-shops.

 

       15:15 Huwwara Checkpoint

The checkpoint is not manned. A soldier guards all “Trampiadas” designated for Bracha settlers. Posted on the checkpoint fence are brand new signs advertising cheap houses for sale at Tapuach settlement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

15:50 North entrance to Huwwara –

An army jeep is waiting, its lights blinking.

16:45Traffic is passing through the Kif'l Harert' checkpoint! We are told that the checkpoint was reopened an hour ago.

 

17:42 Azzun Atma Checkpoint

Due to the holiday, no workers pass through the checkpoint but three youngsters are sitting, detained: they wanted to go to the beach but were caught. They were told that they would be freed in about 4 hours. I hope they will be freed sooner.

They agree to be photographed. Smile. Freed people

 

  • 'Azzun 'Atma

    See all reports for this place
    • '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

       

      עזון: הכניסה הראשית לכפר עזון: חסומה כבר מספר שבועות
      Apr-11-2019
      Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
  • Beit Furik checkpoint

    See all reports for this place
    • 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)
  • Huwwara

    See all reports for this place
    • 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)

      .
      חווארה: הבתים הישנים בשטח סי
      Shoshi Anbar
      May-18-2025
      Huwara: The old houses in Area C
  • Za'tara (Tapuah)

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.  
      זעתרא (צומת תפוח). שלטים
      Shoshi Anbar
      Sep-27-2023
      Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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