Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 11.3.10, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
A short and frustrating shift. Border Police take charge.
Sha'ar Shomron
6:40 a.m.
There is no police roadblock at the entrance to the territories.
6:50 a.m.
The road to Marda is open and to Zeita/Jemayn still closed.
Za'atra/Tapuach Junction
6:55 a.m.
40 vehicles queue from the direction of Nablus to Ramallah. We are in a hurry to get to Beit Furiq and will stop to check it out on our way back.
Yitzhar/Borin roadblocks
A military vehicle is parked in the bay of the roadblock but does not appear to interfere with the traffic passing by.
Beit Furiq
7:18 a.m
As usual, no soldiers are visible at the roadblock. Only the sound of the generator gives their presence away. As we do every so often, we pretended to enter Nablus and no one tried to stop us. We parked opposite the tower for a while and only then did a soldier peep out to find out what we are doing.
Awarta
7:25 a.m.
Quiet. There is no dog handler. The soldiers from the Kfir brigade see the end of the era on the horizon.
Huwwara
7:30 a.m.
We park in the car park and immediately the Border Policemen at the entrance have something to say. According to them we are not allowed to stop there because, as is known, it is a military area for inspecting Israeli vehicles on their way to Nablus. We step over the roadblock and they shout again. They claim that we have no right to go there, not even as far as the yellow iron barrier. Nothing we said convinced them and I did not have the permit which allows us to enter with me. They said it was a closed military area but, of course, had no order stating this to show us.
Meanwhile from a distance we see that an unusual queue has built up of people leaving Nablus. This is partly because of lorries trying to cross and soldiers forcing them to turn back and cross via Awarta. The lanes of the new roadblock have not been built to enable lorries to do u-turns and each manoeuvre causes a hold-up and a build up of the queue first at the beginning of one lane and then at the second.
Meanwhile the Border Police at the entrance stop a taxi on its way to Nablus and collect ID cards. We ask the passengers what is going on and they say they have not been told anything. The Border Police are not forthcoming with information: 'routine inspection'. However, there is no computer in their kiosk nor do we see them making contact with security forces. The documents are not opened to pass on information. According to them they are permitted to detain for 18 minutes without explanation. Later the officer will tell us that they are permitted to detain for half an hour without having to give a reason. We asked to take down the personal details of two soldiers and they – as policemen – immediately asked for our ID cards. (Their details are held by me.) Finally they went over to the taxi, returned the documents and the taxi swiftly drove off.
The roadblock commander, also a Border Policeman, approaches to warn his soldiers not to talk to us. According to him the Border Police now run the roadblock and there are no combatants there any more. When we again tried to approach the iron barrier we are not permitted because "the area past the roundabout is already Area A and there is a red sign (even if it is covered with settlers' stickers) saying so".
Za'atra
8:05 a.m.
There is a queue of 20 cars on the way up to the roadblock. This roadblock too is staffed by Border Police and a dog handler. They try to distance us from the car park because they need the area to inspect suspect cars. If only. Here they hold thorough inspections in the only lane open and the queue lengthens. We tried to get them to open another lane because of this – but how does one get the Border Police to listen.
When we arrived, frustrated, at Sha'ar Shomron to our surprise we were asked by those checking to open the window and they looked in: to ensure that we are kosher.
Perhaps in the end they will inspect those entering 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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