‘Azzun ‘Atma, Habla, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 24.11.11, Afternoon
Translator: Charles k.
Following up on the recent reports:
- Palestinian laborers (still) wait on long lines at Azzun Atma
- Armed soldiers present in the villageof Huwwara.
13:45 Habla checkpoint – Palestinians in cars and on foot wait on both sides of the checkpoint to be inspected inside the rooms.
Next to the entry gate (on the Israeli side), one of whose doors is missing, two Israeli contractors in civilian clothes, armed with revolvers, “explain” to us that the Palestinians broke the gate (?!); they’re repairing it. Then they rudely chase us away.
At the same time, reservists stood on the other side (next to the gate through which Palestinians exit to Israel).
When we asked Palestinians about the broken gate, they said it had never happened.
14:10 Eliyahu crossing – Two settlers armed with submachine guns wander around the checkpoint.
14:15 A military truck with a sign “Abirei HaDarom” drives toward us after we passed Nabi Elias.
14:20 An armored police vehicle drives toward us beyond Al Funduq.
14:25 A military command car coming from the Mitzpeh Yishai settlement turns onto Highway 55 (not far from the Qedumim settlement).
14:27 Something new near the settlement of Havvat Gil’ad: Two kilometers of high electric light poles, for nighttime illumination (on Highway 60).
14:40 A military jeep comes toward us near the village of Madme(Highway 60).
14:45 Highway 60 – Burin/Yitzhar junction –A military jeep drives toward the villageof Huwwara. We see another military jeep lying in wait at the entrance to Huwwara.
15:00 Huwwara checkpoint – We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint. Settlers’ posters hang as usual on the checkpoint fences, including an invitation to an event connected to a new neighborhood in a settlement. A military jeep, soldiers standing alongside, parked at the plaza at the hitchhiking station at the entrance to the Bracha settlement.
15:02 A group of soldiers at the northern entrance to the villageof Huwwara, weapons at the ready, walks toward the village. The jeep we mentioned (at 14:45) is still parked there.
15:10 A military command car speeds along the main street of the village.
15:35 On the way to Za’tara – a military jeep drives toward us.
15:40 Za’tara checkpoint – Heavy traffic, particularly coming from Nablusto Ramallah, but no inspection at the checkpoint. Groups of soldiers undergoing orientation in the parking area. Two armed settlers near them.
15:50 A command car exits from the direction of Hars.
16:05 Azzun Atma checkpoint – Long lines at the checkpoint. About 150 laborers returning home after a day of work in the settlements (in their midst, large metal poles for a shade netting or canopy being erected there). A Palestinian who’s had enough complains, “A donkey gets better treatment than people here” (in fact, a Palestinian with a donkey cart comes later and go through before him…). He says yesterday he arrived at the checkpoint at 4 PM, and didn’t get home until 7:30 PM. “No father coming home from work tells his children to make peace,” he says. He can’t understand why they register him twice a day.
We contact N., in the humanitarian office. She says she’ll look into it.
16:35 We contact the humanitarian office again. N. says they’re trying to speed up the crossing.
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'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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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.
Nina SebaAug-18-2025Habla: The gate is in the process of closing
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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)
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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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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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