‘Azzun ‘Atma, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 7.5.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
The occupation routine; it seems Tapuach junction is again operating normally.
06:10 Azzun Atma
A long line – 120-130 people, we estimate – and more keep arriving. Crossing goes quickly, considering there are only two booths for document inspection and another person, outside, inspecting belongings. But that doesn’t really help people who have to wait on line every day, in the cold and the heat. They still have to wait in line an hour or more, arriving early in order to insure they’ll cross in time to get to work. And if they go through relatively quickly they then have to wait outside, but at least seated beside small fires to keep warm (mornings are still chilly). To think about people who live far away (in Bethlehem, for example) and come here via a roundabout route, and then be exposed to all the terrible harassment – but at least they have jobs, which isn’t true for many others.
At one stage they allowed many people through the revolving gate at once, which made the line advance quickly. Those standing farther back began running forward madly, pushing, and pressing against the fence bordering the line, which was in danger of collapse. The soldiers panicked, began shouting, delayed the line, but things quieted down pretty quickly and inspections continued.
A boy on his way to school – the contents of his satchel are inspected – but he’s going to the West Bank, not entering Israel, so why do we care what’s in his satchel?
06:40 The line gets shorter, fewer people join, and since the fence was moved aside earlier by the people pushing against it there’s now more room and the line is wider and shorter. A man we timed took 40 minutes to go through. Towards 07:00 a man we timed took 17 minutes.
Women enter Israel through the vehicle gate, with no line.
We continue. There are police at the Shomron Gate entrance to the West Bank on Highway 5, and a plastic barrier that forces drivers to slow down, but we’re not stopped.
We drove toward Huwwara via Hars, Kifl Hars, Qira and Einabus. Many children on the road going to school, the villages are full of people, many groceries are open and we wonder how the owners of so many groceries can make a living in such small villages.
Burin junction. Huwwara is open; there were no soldiers, nor when we returned.
Huwwara. No soldiers at the checkpoint (maybe they were in the pillbox, but we saw nothing).
09:30 Za’tara junction. Tapuach
No soldiers at the junction at the moment but two cars are in the parking lot at the junction. One immediately drives away, the second is being inspected by dogs. The trunk was emptied, a wheelchair and other belongings lie on the ground, including a large paper envelope. A woman sits in the car –apparently it’s her wheelchair. The dog inspects all the belongings; then the female soldier asks to see what’s in the envelope – x-rays. A few minutes later a Border Police soldier arrives who behaves as if he’s in charge. He also wants to inspect the contents of the envelope, and the x-rays come out again – that’s certainly important, since the soldier is undoubtedly an x-ray specialist in addition to his military skills. And maybe he thinks that the envelope is just right for smuggling weapons. After further discussion with one of passengers they’re released, pack up their belongings and drive away.
Now the two Border Police soldiers return to the junction and send two more cars for inspection. One, full of cartons, is inspected by a dog and released five minutes later. The second car is a taxi. Its passenger have to get out and are sent to stand to the side – “far” from the vehicle. They have to come back and remove all their belongings from their car, and then the dog goes into action. He checks the car and then the belongings, and doesn’t want to come out before receiving a treat. At the same time, the soldier checks documents – apparently speaks to someone on the phone and ten minutes later the taxi is released with its passengers. We should note that the packages removed by the passengers were replaced by the dog handlers.
Now the soldiers close the gate to the junction and take a break.
'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
Apr-11-2019Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
-
Burin (Yitzhar)
See all reports for this place-
Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: 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.
Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
-