Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 21.7.08, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
The morning news reported that 18 Hamas activists were arrested last night in Nablus.
12:45 Opposite Ariel – the momentum of development continues.
Marda – Both the western gate and the main gate are open.
A man and woman stand next to the main gate, apparently waiting for a taxi, in the burning heat.
Zeita Jama'in – closed. Still closed.
12:55 Za'tara.
11 cars waiting from the west. The check is superficial.
In the middle of the square is a soldier guarding the "Menora" (lamp). At the exit to Nablus a soldier is stationed at the hitchhiking point.
A detained bus leaves as we arrive.
From the north: 19 cars waiting, two inspection lanes operating.
13:15 Beit Furik
No cars in the upper parking lot. One car visible on the approach road to the checkpoint.
The coffee-seller, in response to our question, "How's it going?", says, "Today is good."
The soldiers complain about our presence: "How come they're here again" and "It used to be Purim; now it's the Ninth of Ab" – and we learn that we were preceded by the Women in Blue and White, who brought them drinks and candy.
The checkpoint commander comes over and asks us to move back to our place behind the white line. A discussion, and we insist on our civil right to remain where we are. The soldiers don't like the idea, but the checkpoint continues operating as before, despite us.
A car leaving Nablus isn't checked.
Few people going through the pedestrian crossing. A soldier checks a bag carried by a Palestinian woman – pokes through it with the barrel of his rifle. A truck leaving Nablus has only its documents checked, but the driver is made to get out and show his license to the soldier, and only then permitted to get back in and drive on.
An MP comes out of the area where cars are checked, looks at us – and spits off to the side.
13:40 Odala
Palestinians in the parking lot tell us that 15 minutes earlier two rockets were fired – they say by settlers from Bracha or Yitzhar – one at the village of Odala (between Huwwara and Awarta) and the other at Burin.
Nur and I get a Palestinian cab and go there to take photographs.
When we arrive, the rocket, that didn't explode, is still burning. It's about 40 cm. long, and hasn't any military markings. A Palestinian policeman is there, and one of their photographers. We spoke to Hani, the head of Odala village, who told us that this is the third time its happened recently.
We reported it to N. in the humanitarian office.
14:05 Huwwara
At the checkpoint: In the absence of the DCO representative, all the women, regardless of age or what they were carrying – students with their books, women with children and babies and all their belongings – were sent over to the X Ray truck. It's particularly hard on women with small children.
When I., the DCO representative, arrived, the line moved a little more quickly.
In response to our question about why the line is handled that way, I' replied – the checkpoint commander's orders.
The express lane is set apart by plastic barriers – sometimes women wait for a few minutes until the woman ahead of them returns from the X Ray truck to get her documents.
I', the DCO representative, comes over again to E., the checkpoint commander, and succeeds in freeing things up slightly.
On the regular line: A man exits, says he waited two hours.
Someone else reports waiting ten minutes at the checkpoint.
A young man with an orange plastic bag stands under the guard tower as if being punished, next to the X Ray truck. After a few minutes two soldiers call him over and talk to him. He's released, and we couldn't find out what was going on.
Cars entering Nablus pass through quickly. A taxi arrives with an elderly woman, yelling and crying; I' the DCO representative says to let her through immediately. Apparently someone died, and she's mourning him, so he didn't see any reason to delay her.
We left the checkpoint at 3 PM in order to return to Odala, at the request of reporters.
We took photos again, also video, and we even interviewed one of the witnesses there, who saw the rocket land from where he worked, in a nearby packing house.
The rocket was still burning when we arrived (15:20), and soon after us a Palestinian TV crew arrived, and the Palestinian police, who marked the location with tape in order to keep civilians away from the rocket.
No one from the IDF came, nor from the Israeli police.
At the reporter's request we immediately left for Tel Aviv in order to transmit the material as quickly as possible, in time for the 8 pm evening news program.
15:40 Za'tara
We got stuck in an enormous traffic jam, that we couldn't even bypass. We reported it to the humanitarian office, and after a few minutes were able to get by, passing more than 60 Palestinian cars (we stopped counting at 60) waiting to be checked, even though two lanes were open.
19 cars were waiting at the same time from the west.
We reported it to the humanitarian office.
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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