‘Azzun ‘Atma, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 25.6.08, Morning
Translation: Tal H.
6:45 We thought it was important to visit Azzun Atme. After leaving road 5, from the entrance to the village to the checkpoint we traveled by a local cab.
Although we came at the time when people are usually seen going out to work, there was hardly any traffic at the checkpoint. Two women-soldiers and a male soldier were checking the few cars who came and went, and they explained to us how important and necessary checkpoints and the Occupation really are. Inside the air conditioned concrete structure sit the MP soldiers who inspect pedestrians and are a source of envy for the soldiers who secure them. For over an hour we saw nothing unusual at this checkpoint. The village looks neglected, dirty and poverty-stricken.
7:50 We leave.
The entrance to Marda is open. Zeita is blocked.
8:15 Za'atara-Tapuach Junction Checkpoint
Traffic is lively and flows, three checking lanes open and active. The soldiers are relatively courteous. A bus is ordered aside, IDs taken for checks. The passengers are not ordered off the bus.
To the right of the road from Za'tara/Tapuach to Huwwara stands a single, beautiful hilltop house. Every time I pass by I wonder … who lives there, says Edna. No sooner had the words been said and we were already climbing up the path to the house itself. Thanks to Edna's fluent Arabic and the gracious hosts we enjoyed a lovely hour in a grapevine arbour, visited the house itself that was neat, well-off, accessoried. It was refreshing to see and remember that there are such houses here and left feeling things could be so good and in fact are so awful. The single house belongs to Beita village.
9:50 Huwwara
4 detainees in the concrete cubicle. we approach them immediately, they have been held here for three hours already. These are taxi drivers, and no sooner had we exchanged another word and we were already gruffly reprimanded by the checkpoint commander who announced we could not ask or talk with anyone.
No DCO representative is visible. Two phone calls to the DCO chief helped, and lieutenant T. approached us. To my question why he has no name tag, he said he lost it. No chance of getting a new one? It costs money… After a short and 'amusing' discussion, the detainees were released.
Few pedestrians passing both in and out of Nablus, those exiting hold their belts and wallets… everything as usual.
10:30 we leave.
Beit Furik
Hardly any traffic at all. Perhaps because of the late hour. Drivers and the coffee corner man tells us the soldiers have really been alright. Edna encourages them to stay that way and we leave.
'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)
.Fathiya AkfaApr-11-2019Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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