Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), יום ג’ 3.2.09, בוקר
Translation: Suzanne O.
Although there are no jams along the way to Huwwara, there is the feeling of something about to happen in the area; there are lots of military vehicles.
The reason very soon became clear to us.
Sha'ar Shomron
The crossing is clear
A military vehicle is parked by the Zeita roadblock; the entrances to both Beita and Marda are open.
Za'atra/Tapuach Junction
7:45 a.m.
The roadblock is empty from the direction of Road No.5, about 27 cars queue from the direction of Nablus, there are no detainees in the area of the roadblock.
We continue on in the direction of Huwwara and Beit Furiq.
Beit Furiq roadblock
7:55 a.m.
Vehicles enter and leave without any inspection or hindrance. At the roadblock there are relatively a lot of military and police personnel and a military jeep is parked there.
Huwwara roadblock
8:15 a.m.
The roadblock is closed from all directions, no one in and no one out; there are a lot of military and police vehicles, soldiers with weapons at the ready, residents standing at a distance from the road.
We assume that a VIP is expected and, indeed, a few minutes later a helicopter lands at the adjacent army base and another few minutes later a convoy of military vehicles and white vans with darkened windows leaves for Huwwara roadblock. The soldiers do not answer us and are not prepared to reveal the 'secret' of the visitor. The visitors alight from the vehicles near the high tower and we identify the Chief of Staff.
The Chief of Staff and his entourage stop for about 10 minutes and talk to the soldiers and between themselves, they do not approach the pedestrian crossing, and then they re-board their vehicles and leave in the direction of Beit Furiq, at about 9:00 a.m. we saw them return to the base.
The DCO representative tells us that the area was cleaned up two days ago and, indeed, the area of the entrance to Nablus is clean and tidy. (Our assumption is that the area was cleaned up for the Chief of Staff's visit.)
The car park is also clean and not one stallholder is to be found there.
Immediately after the Chief of Staff left the oppressive routine recommences.
The place in which we are at present permitted to stand, the entrance path to Nablus, makes is very difficult to observe what is going on.
As soon as the roadblock opens the flow of many tens of residents into Nablus begins, the turnstile is unable to regulate the entrance and it is under pressure, even before we turn to the soldier to get him to open up the disabled gate too, the gate is opened and for about 20 minutes a great mass of people cross.
At the exit from Nablus a light stream of people leave, the humanitarian queue is empty most of the time, once in a while a resident crosses it without hindrance.
An average of 15 people queue at the turnstile and the waiting time is about 5 minutes. There are no detainees.
The inspection is routine: placing bags on the table, removing belts, document inspection and then crossing.
We must point out that although there is a disabled crossing, in order to get to it one has to go between concrete blocks and a wheelchair, even the narrowest one, would not be able to get between them.
When we go in the direction of the vehicle crossing, stalls have already popped up in the car park selling coffee and sweets.
The vehicle roadblock: there is a queue of some 10 vehicles waiting to leave Nablus, there are two checkpoints, the crossing is quick and we concentrated on a car, the seventh in the queue, and it reached the inspection within 11 minutes but, by chance, it was a large, empty taxi which was apparently chosen to have a thorough inspection.
The driver was sent to sit outside the vehicle while two soldiers made a thorough inspection of it; later a dog was added to the inspection which took about 20 minutes, but at the same time other cars continued to leave Nablus.
Every so often a car was inspected at the entrance; more often than not cars cross without being inspected.
At 9:45 a.m., we left the roadblock.
At Borin/Yitzhar Junction a military jeep was parked but vehicles were not inspected.
At Za'atra/Tapuach Junction only 7 cars were queuing from the direction of Nablus and there were no cars in the queue from the direction of Road No.5.
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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