Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 1.1.09, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
A new year, new checkpoints, but the easing of restrictions that was promised hasn't been implemented because of the situation.
6:20 Sha'ar Shomron going east isn't manned.
It's still dark, and we suddenly see a new traffic light at the junction to Kedumim and Emanuel.
The entrance to Marda is open, and Zeita is still blocked. A little farther, on a path that goes nowhere, a military vehicle lies in wait.
6:40 Za'tara/Tapuach junction:
The fighters have gone to war, and been replaced by male and female officer training cadets.
Five cars coming from Ariel.
A line forms from Huwwara. Only one lane is open, in addition to the VIP lane.
A car with an Israeli license plate, full of foreign workers from the Far East, waits in the parking lot for the employer who'll come get them.
There aren't any Border Patrol personnel at the entrance to Beita at the moment.
Burin/Yitzhar – nobody there.
7:00 Beit Furik:
Two soldiers at the vehicle inspection lane. Vehicles arrive without stopping at the intersection to wait for a hand signal. The soldiers said they were re-stationed there because of the situation, conducting random checks. They let us make a U-turn on the far side of the checkpoint.
A resident of Beit Furik tells us that there isn't any problem getting assistance at night from soldiers in the pillbox, who come down to open the hinged barrier to let an ambulance through.
7:15 Awarta:
We approach the checkpoint from the direction of Beit Furik; no one pays any attention to us, and we get to the deserted parking lot. Except for the paved area and the garbage, there's so indication there was ever an IDF checkpoint here. As we leave a soldier asks us in great amazement where we came from. ("Ramat Hasharon," we answered, of course)
7:25 Huwwara:
The entry lane for vehicles at the vehicle checkpoint has been widened, but there's still no sign posted indicating that all vehicles are allowed to enter Nablus, and that residents of Nablus need authorization to exit with their vehicle. The checkpoint commander and the DCO representative promised to take care of it. They'll also raise the issue of women who have to wait in the rain for husbands delayed going through the regular lane.
Two vehicle inspection lanes are open, but the line is still long. There's an x-ray machine and a dog handler. Vehicle passengers wait outside at a distance in the freezing cold until the inspection has been completed.
Many students entering Nablus, even though schools are on holiday.
Light traffic at the pedestrian lane, and whoever arrives goes through quickly.
In principle, everyone could enter or leave Nablus by taxi, but it seems that because of the long wait on the vehicle line and during the inspection many people prefer to go through on foot and get a taxi in the new parking lot.
A British woman, from the Church Union, arrives. She's happy to see us, and asks us to explain the new procedures. She heard that, beginning today, anyone may leave Nablus. Apparently there's a delay in implementing the change because of the situation.
8:25 Beita junction:
The familiar Border Patrol jeeps are back in the parking lot, listing on a form the ID numbers of passengers in the taxis. This time they also stopped a private car. The process is very slow, about 20 minutes per vehicle. I suggested to the commander that he add another soldier to help fill out the form, but he says that the delay is caused by a security check they're carrying out vis-à-vis some unit in the rear. We suggested getting a laptop, like they have now at the checkpoints.
We didn't understand why an additional inspection point is needed midway, delaying people coming and going. He said that not all taxis go through Huwwara or Za'tara, and "if all they're doing is driving from one village to another, who'll check them?" He got tired of our presence at "his checkpoint" pretty quickly, and announced that he's going to arrest me. We saved him the trouble, and went on.
We passed the Za'tara checkpoint, which was pretty empty, and reached Sha'ar Shomron.
No one stopped us – or anyone in front of us, or behind us – to make sure we hadn't smuggled some attacker into the State of Israel.
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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Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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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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