Azzun, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 27.12.07, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.14 – A trip to the blockage of the entrance of Azzun. A constant movement of people trickling through the blocked area on their way to Israel or of those coming back from their daily or weekly work and many children selling vegetables.
The lone house, the private prison of the Amar family next to the colony of Elkana and 2 children aged 6 and 8 playing as if it was normal next to the barbed wire fence. Along the entire road and so it is along road 5 are many pedestrians and even bicycles, Israeli cars let off passengers next to Az-Zawiya. Many people coming back from work in Israel.
15.15 Crossroads of Za'tara.
13 cars in either direction. The police are checking and we did not stop.
Beit Furik.
Drivers tell us that this morning there were 100s of cars waiting to enter Nablus. Since Friday has been very bad and now they say that there are 100s of cars waiting to leave Nablus. From where we were we could not see the end of the line but it was obvious that it was very long and cars stood one next to the other.
The reason was that the intervals of 7-10 minutes which we checked on our watches were caused by 4 of the soldiers strolling nonchalantly around on the road. When eventually the car was called forward the driver did the ritual dance but the cars was hardly checked and passed quickly. We phoned H. and 15 minutes later a jeep arrived from the DCO and then things began to move and it took 2-3 minutes a car.
No long lines of pedestrians, about 20-30 people the whole time.
As the same soldier had to check both those entering and leaving he tended to forget those coming from Beit Furik and they had to wait a long time. When they lose patience they leave the line and go to that of those leaving Nablus and then they call to the soldier who lets them wait a few minutes as he is the one who has the power and then lets them pass.
An old man of about 70 wants to go to Beit Furik as most of his family live there. Now he lives with his son in Nablus. The soldier says to him that he knows that people who do not live in Beit Furik are not allowed to go there and he is sent back. Today also he will not see his grandchildren.
The commander E. chases us away, we refuse and he says and that he will call the police but none arrived.
16.30 Huwwara.
Quiet and not many people and at the most about 50 in line. No detainees and the soldiers are not tense.
Cars pass slowly and there is always a line of those wishing to enter Nablus.
5 minutes after we arrive a large kitchen knife is found in the belt of a 22 year old man. The knife has a green ribbon around it, very decorative. The commander walks around the checkpoint with the knife, tried to stab himself , waves it around so that all can see. The man is put into the isolation and the police called. The door is left open but the man himself closes it (maybe he is scared that someone will pull him out of there).
Tamar says that she heard him telling the soldiers "that he had come there so as to be caught. And it really seems so "
If he had come to use it why had he not done so before being caught. Why should one try to pass it through the checkpoint when it can easily be bought in Huwwara.
The unit, "Foxes", investigate him through the telephone. No one stopped us from talking to him and they did not guard him.
Everything was quiet. We took the number of his family to inform them, brought him something to drink and there was nothing more for us to do.
The soldiers were not hostile, did not send us off, did not enter into a conflict with us but there was just the usual unpleasant routine of " back back". The imploring look. The humiliating strip in front of a woman soldier and everything on the ground as there is not enough place.
18.00 – We left.
18.45 – Za'tara/Tapuach. 25 cars in both directions.
'Azzun
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Azoun (updated February 2019)
A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),
on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.
Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.
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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)
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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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