‘Azzun ‘Atma, Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Huwwara, Ras ‘Atiya, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 8.8.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
One of the participants on “A Star is Born” this season is a settler from Tzufim. Just “Tzufim.” Yesterday participants were each asked to sing a song recalling a childhood memory. As she explained the reason she chose her song she was filmed at a bird-watching station from which you could see into the distance; the red-roofed buildings of Tzufim peeking from one edge of the frame. She gazes west, but from the bird-watching station where she stands she can’t see the town of Qalqiliya surrounded by a wall, the villages of Jayyus, Nabi Elias and others whose lands were stolen for the benefit of the settlements in the area. Nor do the directors, hosts and judges of the show with the largest viewing audience understand how they legitimize the occupation when they write just “Tzufim.” Apparently the overflow audience in the studio and those sitting in front of the TV at home don’t know, or don’t think about the de facto annexation of an area located beyond the familiar, sovereign borders of the state of Israel.
We saw facts being created on the ground at every settlement below which we drove (“below” – of course. That’s the strategy) – construction whose momentum doesn’t cease, the lofty cranes, the buildings spreading from the hilltops down the hillsides, already touching the Palestinian villages below.
And therefore our shift today raises a question about the political solution of dividing the land.
The land has been carved up by checkpoints which, according to the wishes of politicians/the military prevent/control/determine the movement of Palestinians. So we saw:
06:50 – Habla. About 15 people wait on the Habla side for the checkpoint to open.
06:58 –A driver and cart cross to Habla.
07:04 –A “quintet” of Palestinians is inspected and exits toward the plant nurseries.
07:06 –The second “quintet” exits.
07:08 –Women exit.
A young man seated between the fences is told by a soldier to remove his shoes.
More and more people, and also horse carts, join those waiting.
There’s shoving among the people waiting on the Habla side.
Those wearing belts are told to remove them during the inspection.
A woman who isn’t young waits to enter Habla. She came out earlier; now she’s carrying a large bundle of mallows on her head.
07:43 –People arrive bit by bit from Habla.
A young man exiting the inspection building says: “They’re [the soldiers] stuck-up.” We asked what he meant. “I say: ‘Open the door;’ She says: ‘You’re not my boss;’ I say: ‘Open it so we can go out.’
07:48 –We left.
07:58 –Eliyahu crossing checkpoint – Three people are waiting in the shed.
We continued our circuit of the checkpoints:
We saw where the Ras A-Tiya checkpoint had once stood; today there’s no sign of it. But the military “security road” located on the village’s land is blocked by a gate.
Azzun Atma’s northern gate #1459 is manned by soldiers. Cars exiting aren’t inspected; no cars were entering at this hour. We entered the village and drove to Azzun Atma’s southern checkpoint. No one waited to leave the village. There are remnants of a checkpoint at QarawatBani-Hassan(near Biddya) – from which we learn that the occupation is still present. We continued to the Za’tara/Tapuach checkpoint. No inspections here either, although there were Border Police soldiers in the parking area. Cars go through the Huwwara checkpointwithout delays; a soldier peeked at us from the guard tower overlooking the plaza.
Throughout our circuit we saw, as we said, how the phrase “We’ll dress you in garments of concrete and cement”… is being applied, as you can see in the following photos, taken opposite the settlements of Sha’arei Tiqwa/Etz Efrayim.
'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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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing
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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Zufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone. This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone." It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.
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Habla
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Habla CP (1393)
The Habla checkpoint (1393) was established on the lands of the residents of Qalqilya, on the short road that
connected it for centuries to the nearby town of Habla. The separation barrier intersects this road twice and cut off the residents of Qalqilya from their lands in the seam zone.(between the fence and the green line).
There is a passage under Road 55 that connects Qalqilya to the sabotage This agricultural barrier is used by the farmers and nursery owners established along Road 55 from the Green Line and on both sides of the kurkar road leading to the checkpoint.
This agricultural checkpoint serves the residents of Arab a-Ramadin al-Janoubi (detached from the West Bank), who pass through it to the West Bank and back to their homes. The opening hours (3 times a day) of this agricultural checkpoint are longer than usual, about an hour (recently shortened to 45 minutes), and are coordinated with the transportation hours of a-Ramadin children studying in the occupied in the West Bank.Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-25-2025Habla Checkpoint: system of gates
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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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Ras 'Atiya
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The checkpoint is presently on the Separation Barrier roadway, manned and open 12 hours a day, from 6:30 to 18:30. West of it is the large Seam Line village whose school is attended by children from the nearby villages east of the Barrier and many of whose inhabitants have permits to work in Israel. How long this checkpoint will remain in place is unknown, since construction of the Separation Wall, just by the settlement of Alfe Menashe, east of the present Separation Barrier, is endless, as is the creation of a new road and, obviously, a new checkpoint.
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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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