Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 23.6.08, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
12:20 Shomron Gate, we entered Palestine.
12:45 Za'tara (Tapuach) – t
Tree vehicles come from the west. Five vehicles from the direction of Ramallah. A driver is suspected of driving a stolen car. Detained on the side for about an hour.
13:05 Settlers are drawing on the wall surrounding the army camp (on the apartheid road leading to the Beit Furik checkpoint). One of them throws a small rock at us.
13:10 Beit Furik
Little pedestrian traffic and vehicles coming from Nablus. Sacks and handbags are checked with the hand-held magnemometers. One of the soldiers insists that "its illegal for us to be at the checkpoint. It's not me, it's the law." But the checkpoint commander surprises both him and us: "You're not allowed to enter Area A, but you're allowed to be at the checkpoint."
13:35 Huwwara
Three lanes open to check the men. The line is long (and very orderly. We wondered what had occurred here prior to our arrival.) They pass under the magnemometer. The men wait about an hour – we asked four of them, and always received the same answer. "It's too fast," says one, who hasn't lost his sense of humor. "Yesterday it took two hours."
A line to the side for women, children and elderly men. The stream of people leaving Nablus doesn't stop at all. Many families, very many children. Babies as well. Some of those going through are sent with their bags to the x-ray vehicle situated on the other side of the checkpoint. A few minutes after we arrive they also begin to check ID cards of people entering Nablus. An MP, and then a policewoman, compare ID numbers with a printed list. Bags are checked. From time to time a line forms. The checkpoint commander refuses to talk to us. "Go back to your place" he yelled at Makki, meaning the white line that has meanwhile been painted blue.
Vehicle traffic – at the entry to Nablus ID cards and permits are checked. Few vehicles in this direction, they pass through quickly, and only once, when the shifts changed, was there a traffic jam. The stream of vehicles exiting the city doesn't stop. The passengers get out a little before the checkpoint, the driver brings the vehicle closer, the passengers continue on foot. The vehicle is checked, the passengers are sent with their bags to the x-ray vehicle, and after they're searched and their ID cards checked they're allowed to continue on their way. The checking is stricter today than usual, and therefore it takes more time, 5-6 minutes per vehicle (usually we observe it to take 2-3 minutes), depending on the number of passengers (not including, of course, the waiting time until the person gets to the checking station, which we weren't able to estimate).
A young man in solitary confinement – for two hours, he says. We contacted the humanitarian office. Later T, the DCO representative, told us that the man was from Gaza, and was turned over to the police to handle.
Between 13:40 and 14:05 another young man was detained in solitary.
13:40 A taxi approaches rapidly, honking loudly. An elderly woman lying down inside, having fainted. For some reason that isn't clear they're not permitted to enter Nablus (apparently the driver doesn't have a permit). The driver may enter Nablus if he leaves his ID card at the checkpoint and doesn't return after 18:00.
13:50 Three elderly people, two women and a man, leave Nablus through the 
humanitarian line. People passing through this line are subject to a random check, and asked to display what's in their bags. One of the women has difficulty standing, sits down, leans against the wall (photo on the right). They remove X-rays from large envelopes and show them to the soldiers.
At 14:45 vehicle passengers are prevented from entering Nablus freely (their backs are to Israel).
Women wait for the husbands on the far side of the checkpoint from Nablus, where we're standing. Also some young men, waiting for a friend to come through. "Ruh min hon zalma," yells a soldier. "Shemesh al haras" one of them replies. They want to be in the shade. The weather doesn't interest the soldiers. The Palestinians leave.
The sights at the checkpoint are familiar – an old man leaning on a cane, finding it difficult to stand for such a long time, helped by a man he met on line. Students carrying books returning from a day studying. A male nurse from a hospital complains about the difficulty medical personnel have passing through the checkpoint. The humanitarian office told us that "it was up to the discretion of the checkpoint commander."
17:10 Za'tara (Tapuach) is empty coming from Ramallah, four vehicles coming from the west.
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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Fathiya AkfaJun-23-2008Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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