Beit Furik, Beit Iba, Huwwara, Sat 6.12.08, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
From 06:30 to 13:00
"Blessings" from on high…straight to the land of "apples" and honey. ["Blessing" – Bracha – and "apple" – Tapuach – are the names of two settlements in the area]
Route 60:
Hesitating slightly whether to "risk" entering the "lion's den," we decided they're not going to deter us, and began our shift.
Route 60, south, was very crowded – unusual for early Saturday morning. We wondered whether the Palestinian travelers also figured out that while the settlers are still asleep, and then busy with morning prayers, the road will probably be open. Only at the end of our shift did we discover, if that was their calculation, that it was definitely correct!
Beit Iba:
Traffic flows freely. No inspections of people entering Nablus on foot. ID cards checked of people leaving Nablus. Only a sample of vehicles leaving Nablus are inspected by the dog from the "Oketz" unit, which barks from time to time. No inspections at all at the entry to Nablus. Two inspection booths and a gate have been erected at the junction leading to Shavei Shomron. From what we've been able to learn, Beit Iba will only be shut down at night, when the barrier will be closed. It wasn't at all clear what time the main checkpoint will close – we'll wait and see.
Huwwara:
Lots of traffic at the entry to Nablus, apparently because of preparations for Eid al Adha that begins Monday. Since entry to Nablus is via a turnstile that people go through "wahad-wahad" [one by one], the line stretched to the parking lot. Even before we could say something, it was decided to let people on foot through the vehicle lane, and the line disappeared. The soldiers repeated this procedure again during our shift, when it was necessary. Cars enter Nablus freely – no need for authorization, and cars with Israeli license plates, driven by Arab citizens of Israel, were allowed to enter Nablus without being delayed. Rigorous inspections of those leaving Nablus – as usual. Average length of time for a car to go through – half an hour. There are no lines in the pedestrian lanes.
The new checkpoint apparently will open tomorrow. People on foot will, of course, continue to go through – in the future (since they're apparently planning for the occupation to continue forever) the checkpoint will be like the one at Za'tara. Meanwhile, the immediate change involves opening the new checkpoint, already decorated with flags in honor of the event. We can assume that the IDF spokesman will make certain to "communicate" the "improvement in conditions at the checkpoint, eliminating contact between soldiers and Palestinians."
Get Ready! Get Ready! Palestinians born before 1960 will (apparently!) be able to go through without having to show ID cards. (Let's not forget the "humanitarian lane" – where's the improvement?!) We've heard hints that they intend to move the taxis away from the existing parking lot – and apparently also to eliminate the informal market that's developed. But – we've learned from many years of experience that life is stronger than any decision – and we'll wait to see what happens.
Beit Furik:
Pedestrians aren't checked. People go through the turnstile, but their ID's aren't examined – neither at the exit from Beit Furik nor at the entrance from Nablus. Cars pass through quickly, but documents are checked at the entry from Nablus. That, apparently, is the meaning of the news that the checkpoint was "closed." We saw in our mind's eye the years of suffering imposed on those who had to use this checkpoint – and they're all recorded in the "chronicle" of the Beit Furik checkpoint on our web site! At the entrance to the village, near the "coffee shop," the yellow barrier again appeared. If it's closed at night, once again the position at the pillbox will be cut off from the gate, and there will be a problem in case of an emergency.
Huwwara:
We were amazed to see Palestinian cars driving on the Madison Route. For a moment we thought it was a mirage, until it turned out that Route 60 had been closed from Huwwara south to the Yitzhar junction because of an alert about settler riots. In order to permit access to the checkpoint, the gate from the Madison Route to the parking lot was opened. The checkpoint continued to operate normally.
We drove, therefore, via Awarta and Beita, and then onto Route 60. An extremely long line stretched north. We walked to the junction of Route 60 and the road toYitzhar, where there was a temporary roadblock set up by the Border Police that turned back anyone heading north, toward Beita and Awarta, and from there to Nablus.
We returned to Huwwara and saw that traffic at the checkpoint was flowing normally.
The rowdies from Bracha apparently came down to the road on foot, bypassing the roadblock where forces were waiting for them. We learned from a phone conversation that settlers also rioted in the area of Rehalim – so there was also a line of cars at the Za'tara/Tapuach checkpoint.
Almost no traffic on Route 60 – definitely unusual for the afternoon. As we noted at the beginning of this report – others must also have guessed the same thing we were afraid of.
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.
Jun-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)
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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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