Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 22.10.07, Morning
In general the roadblocks are not crowded except for cases where the
soldiers conspire and slow down or close the roadblock purposely.
Za’atra
7:10
There are 10 cars from the west. None from Nablus. The roadblock at the entrance to Huwarra is not staffed.
Beit Furiq
7:20 a.m.
15 cars wait in the queue in the car park. Only one lane is open for both directions.
At the roadblock we stood near the turnstiles and didn’t move any nearer. The roadblock was immediately closed down both for cars and people and we were commanded to leave. Within minutes a queue of tens of people built up.
We moved to the edge of the concrete lane and the roadblock opened.
Pedestrians cross quickly and women are not checked.
The car crossing is still very slow. We see four soldiers at the car crossing all the time (in addition to those who are checking the pedestrians and the soldier at the upper position) some of whom are leaning on the concrete parapet and chatting instead of opening an additional lane to speed the crossing up. According to our calculations each car is inspected for 3 – 4 minutes and a lorry which we monitored crossed after about an hour.
The soldiers were very hostile and, of course, didn’t talk to us at all and we could only phone the humanitarian centre and the DCO and ask them to come and deal with the situation.
8:30 a.m.
We moved away to the car park and saw that they began to move cars across more quickly, about a minute or less per car.
The drivers say that since the festival the roadblock is tough. To our sorrow they also say that it is worse when we arrive and the roadblock is closed.
They complain that the crossing is only opened around 7:00 a.m. or later. Perhaps we should try to get there earlier to check what is going on. Osama, the coffee vendor, shows us the permit for a Palestinian I.D. card and said that he got it through the agreement with the Authority for 5000 permits to reunite families. Perhaps this is a testimony that it really is taking place.
Huwwara
9:15 a.m.
A few coffee and bagel stalls are open in the car park.
At the roadblock there are about ten people waiting behind the turnstiles and the crossing is quick. Two positions plus a humanitarian lane are functioning.
There are also two lanes open for cars at the exit from Nablus and there is no queue at all.
In order to cross to the x-ray machine it is again necessary to jump over the fence. Although there is an opening in the mesh fence and the concrete one, the opening behind the checkpoint has been barred by iron rods, behind the area of the turnstiles. We can see men climbing over the iron rods which are over a metre high. What can someone who finds it hard to climb do, even if he is under 45 years old? I tried to take a photograph but the barrier is so ingenious that it is difficult to see from where we stand.
The soldiers, between themselves, say that they have been ordered to ignore us. At any rate at least one soldier greets us warmly and asks how we are and the roadblock commander, N., comes to talk to us. He says that he has looked at our site but has not seen a report of his shift. It must be said that his shift appears to be run properly within the limits of the general dreadful situation. It shows again how a roadblock commander can influence the attitude towards the Palestinians even though it can’t influence the policies at the roadblocks. He agreed with us that it is not right that they have to jump over the fence by the x-ray machine lane and we asked him to pass on our request to make an opening.
Za’atra
10:20 a.m.
Not one car there. There are a few Israeli cars in the car park near the kiosk. Perhaps it would be possible to open a kiosk for the Palestinians in the large car park at Huwwara?
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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