‘Azzun ‘Atma, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 6.9.12, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
A large brush fire burning on the hillside in the often lawless area between the villages of Burin and Huwwara, while the settlement of Yitzhar sits comfortably on the hilltop.
We took a different route this time, from the village of Azzun, on Highway 55, south via the villages of Tulth and Beit Amin. On the secondary road we saw for the first time an ordinary road sign (in green) on which the names of the villages appeared only in Arabic and in English (may there be many more like it).
We arrived at the northern Azzun Atma checkpoint.
15:20 Northern Azzun Atma checkpoint/Gate 1459 – Israeli flags and banners of the military unit stationed here flap in the wind. We saw no soldiers; the crossing was open.
15:55 We passed to the northwest near the Barkan industrial area. Huge cranes indicate that construction continues apace.
16:00 Za’tara checkpoint – A soldier sits in the guard tower in the middle of the checkpoint. No soldiers at the inspection stations. Heavy traffic, primarily from Ramallah toward Nablus, returning home from the work week.
As usual, no one has prevented the settlers from hanging new signs on the checkpoint fence. An army jeep comes from Huwwara, followed by a police vehicle.
16:07 A military command car arrives from the direction of Huwwara.
16:20 Huwwara checkpoint– A soldier sits in the guard tower next to the plaza. We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint, nor at the settlers’ hitchhiking stations.
Smoke rises from the direction of Burin village ,
grows denser. You can see that the fire is
burning in several places, consuming the vegetation.
The exact location: the bottom of the hill between
the villages of Burin and Huwwara.
Higher up, on the hilltop, is one of the construction
outposts (which are scattered on a number of ridges)
of the Yitzhar settlement.
The location where the fire is burning was also mentioned in the report from 10.5.2012: ”We drove to the village of Burin to look into the incident of the40 trees belonging to the villagers that had been cut down two days earlier by settlers from Yitzhar. The residents pointed to the hill the settlers had taken over, but said it was dangerous to go there.”
17:00 Highway 60 – Two armed soldiers sit on the concrete bridge opposite the village of Madameh.
17:20 Anabta checkpoint – Vehicles go through without inspection. We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint.
17:30 Irtach checkpoint – We’re told the checkpoint is open from 04:00 until 19:00, and the laborers returning from Israel to Palestine aren’t inspected.
'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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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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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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