Beit Furik, Beit Iba, Huwwara, Jit, Mon 3.3.08, Afternoon
Because of a lack of volunteers on Thursdays, we went
only to Beit Iba and Huwarra.
We passed the "pundak" where all the stores
were closed. For a moment, we thought there was still a strike of the
residents because of the events in Gaza, but, quickly enough, we realized it
was because of a closure.
The J'it Junction was open.
Beit Iba 14:20
Light traffic of pedestrians. We stay away
from the exit enclosure, so as to lessen the humiliation of those coming out
and having to put on their shoes and fasten their belts. The Second Lieutenant
from the DCO checks documents of those passing through the
"humanitarian" passage. Once he let a whole family through.
A group of six soldiers, with a
"trespassing" student between them, bring him to the detention cell.
Absurd picture. According to the body language of one of the soldiers, he was
also not sure that this was such an heroic operation.
The inspection of vehicles was especially slow. A
truck which we noticed when it arrived at the area of the carpentry shop, took
35 minutes to pass inspection. The dog trainer was training the dog.
Before we left, the checkpoint commander explained to
us that the length of the "educational seminar" for the detainee
depended on him and only him. As though we didn't know!
Huwarra 16:15
Closure in the village. At the entrance of
the checkpoint we noticed a new blue sign which indicated the point where cars
had to stop, in English and in Arabic. Traffic procedures were appropriate. A
driver who had been caught on the apartheid road was detained with his car and
asked for our help. We didn't even know what the "checkpoint law"
might be in this case: three hours? six hours? maybe cancelling his
license? The DCO representative was surprised: What, doesn't he realize that
that road is not for him? We couldn't help.
The peddlers' stalls were operating at the entrance to
the checkpoint. A few months ago, the soldiers were still persecuting and
beating the peddlers. So, something good has happened at the checkpoint…
Beit Furik 15:15
A long line of cars at the exit from Nablus.
We couldn't see the end as we were a bother to the soldiers. The drivers who
were asked to get out of their cars obeyed the order to raise their shirts and
turn around again. The pedestrian traffic was light.
The apartheid roads cut apart the landscape which is
so beautiful in this season. We see from afar Har Baracha and Itamar, and
don't understand "Why did the Palestinians build their villages exactly
under the settlements," as a soldier asked us once.
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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Beit Iba
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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.
Neta EfroniJun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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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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Jit Junction
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The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.
Yehudith LevinMay-14-201414.05.14 Jit junction צומת ג'ית
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