Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 12.11.07, Morning
Translation: Ruth F.
Za'atara Junction
7:00- A bus was inspected. All the passengers were taken off and checked after a thorough inspection of the bus was preformed.
Beit Furik
7:15- The parking lot was full of cars. All the buses were standing in line, waiting for a signal from the soldier that they should move forward and reach the inspection post. The drivers complained about the time they wasted waiting each day, in the morning and in the evening, while making their way to Nablus and back again. These are the hours in which the rage is planted.
A phone call to the DCL had woken a sleepy voice that said it would try to make some inquiries. As if there was something new going on. A part for us, the new ones, everything was as usual, according to what the Palestinians that waited and waited, said.
A couple of hundred meters from the road, in the direction of Alon Moree, we spoke to a shepherd from Salem that was with his herd in a field in which a ditch and a mound of dirt blocked the way, defining a new border in the field.
Back to the checkpoint: It's inconceivable that people have to stand, day after day, in the morning and in the evening, for hours, waiting to reach their destination which is only a foot step away.
Huwwara
8:15- As soon as we arrived, a woman told us about her 18 year old son that was arrested by the soldiers at the inspection post. She was standing there, waiting with her other son that they release him. We tried asking the soldiers that said he was being investigated and that it would take some time. She waited. S. that was with us, tried encouraging her. Eventually he was released and sent on his way.
Two soldiers had informed us that we passed the white line. I said that according to what we know there is no white line, that is what the court ruled (right?). A call to the police. In the meanwhile, from where we stood (from which it was very hard to see) we heard a soldier singing (Avadim Haiinu…) loudly, the soldiers and managers laughed patronizingly, and we saw the people coming out fixing themselves so that they could head on… a belt, trousers and shoes. And S., explained to us like a narrator in a movie about hard feelings of those passing in the lane. And it went on until we left. There weren't any long lines, there was much sorrow, cruelty and rage.
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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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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