Beit Furik, Huwwara, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Salfit Checkpoint, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sat 21.4.12, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
Salfit roadblock
9:30 a.m.
Something new at the roadblock: Both of the yellow barriers (a 5 metre distance between them) are closed.
Just one soldier is present, and he is not at the roadblock but at the civilian guard post at the entrance to Ariel, 50 metres from the roadblock.
The gates (barriers) are electric and we see the soldier open and close them by pressing large switches on the wall of the civilian post.
When we arrived a car was waiting to leave Salfit.
The soldier left the guard post and went to the roadblock, took documents, returned to the post and spoke on the telephone.
An ambulance arrived to go into Salfit. The soldier opened the gates from a distance and the ambulance drove through.
The car also started to drive through and the soldier shouted and caught it between the arms (yes, just like the entrance to the Safari Park, into the lions' area…)
With hand signals from a distance he instructed the driver to reverse, the permit has not yet been received. From a distance, the acrobatics with the gates, the hand movements and the car appeared to be a real work of art.
Then three taxis arrived from both directions and the whole thing became very complicated. The soldier, alone for some reason, ran from the roadblock to the electric switch, and from there back to take documents, and back to the telephone… waving, arriving, walking, opening and closing.
9:45 a.m.
The car crossed. The taxi waited over 5 minutes to enter.
The soldier checks absolutely every car and this takes a lot of time, much more than usual.
Za'tara/Tapuach Junction
10:00 a.m.
Totally void of police and soldiers.
In Huwwara village, by the falafel stand, there is a Border Police jeep.
Huwwara roadblock
10:15 a.m.
There are no soldiers. The traffic is heavy.
The deep hole on the road has been repaired!
Beit Furik
10:25 a.m.
There is a roadblock!! We haven't seen a roadblock here for a long time.
A Border Police jeep is parked under the guard tower, they inspect only those entering.
When we arrived there were 9 cars in the queue, the first one was a taxi.
One soldier was with the documents from the taxi passengers, one was on the telephone.
Within a few minutes a third soldier got out of the jeep and waved the cars (now there are 13) through, leaving just two taxis and takes documents from the passengers.
10:40 a.m.
The first taxi is released; a few more cars join the queue. The cars continue to be waved through.
10:47 a.m.
A private taxi with three young passengers from Kartaat is also held up.
10:50 a.m.
Two taxis are released. We also left.
Awarta roadblock is closed as usual.
At Huwwara even now (11:00 a.m.) there are no soldiers.
On Road 60 and afterwards on Road 55:
Westwards of Jit a police jeep stops vehicles randomly.
Opposite Azzun there is a military jeep at the observation point.
Irtach/Sha'ar Efrayim
There is no traffic, the crossing is very quick.
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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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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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.
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Salfit CP
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Salfit CP Approximately 15,000 residents live in the village of Salfit in Area A. The periphery villages associated with Salfit governorate (18 in number) have 75,000 residents. Around them live 60,000 settlers in 24 settlements (In the past there were violent demonstrations in the village against construction of the separation barrier). To the village big agricultural area between Salfit and Ariel, farmers can enter only in coordination with the Israeli DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL, once a year for picking and plowing, through three seasonal checkpoints: 4008, 4012, 4017. Ariel's wastewater flows towards the springs of Salfit and the operation of the purification plant built by a German company is delayed so far.
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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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