Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 24.12.07, Afternoon
Translation: Hanna K.
12:35
At the Ariel hitch-hiking stop – in the direction west – three soldiers guard a deserted station
In the station for traffic heading east – three soldiers guard a few waiting people.
Kif el Hars – is blocked. The cars unload goods back to back.
12:40: Marda – the entrance is open. Zeita – still blocked.
12:50 – Za'tara CP:
Four cars heading east – only IDs are checked, without physical checks. Coming from the north there are 7 cars waiting, but they are not delayed for long.
The checkpoint commander a woman with the rank of second lieutenant "does not impart intelligence information to civilians" this is her reaction to our question whether there are special alerts.
At the humanitarian center they reported that there are no alerts today.
13:20 Beit Furik:
At the upper parking lot there are 11 cars waiting and one of the drivers tells us that he has been waiting for over an hour and a half. Moreover, there were complaints about the late opening of the CP in the morning – at a quarter to six, instead of at five as on any other day. A phone call to the humanitarian center resulted in almost immediate action: the cars passed much more quickly a few moments after we arrived there.
There are two detainees – a pedestrian who tried to transfer an engine, and after he was told to put it aside as it was forbidden to take it with him to Beit Furik, tried to load it on a vehicle. The second detainee is, of course, the driver of the vehicle.
The CP commander, sergeant Y., comes up and wishes to find out whether the complaint that reached him in this matter came from us.
In answer to our question regarding the detainees: they have to learn their lesson.
There are few pedestrians and they are not detained for long.
13:50 – Awarta –
There are two trucks waiting to enter Nablus.
Five soldiers are idle.
14:00: Huwwara:
There is one detainee – his friends tell us that he was detained because "a fruit knife was found in his possession". According to them he is sitting there for over half an hour.
The CP commander, lieutenant B: takes a knife out of his pocket and shows it to us, saying that that is a knife which it is forbidden to carry even within the boundaries of Israel. He sits here for no longer than a quarter of an hour. The knife is indeed of a long blade and looks very sharp. He reported on it and is now waiting for further instructions.
There are few people waiting – about half a shed full.
The humanitarian queue advances quickly.
There are only two turnstiles active – when we ask why lieutenant B. explains that the third one broke down during the former shift. He has reported on is and has asked that is be repaired today. In the meantime – people are waiting in the queue.
There are two girl dog trainers in the area.
The checking of a taxi – all the doors are opened, the passengers are requested to pass their bags through the x-ray machine and to perform the CP-dance to the military policemen. The total delay is five minutes.
A private car – only IDs were checked.
Another taxi – is being checked, also by a dog trainer. The checking is especially meticulous, perhaps owing to the changing of the guard that took place this week.
A third taxi – the checking took 10 minutes, including a checking by the dog trainer and everything else.
There is an accumulation at the humanitarian queue –
T. from the DCO goes up to the post and discharges the people quickly.
14:30 – an Israeli car leaves Nablus. It is checked very thoroughly: its passengers have an entry permit to Nablus – journalist cards, but the soldiers check the vehicle to make sure no explosive matter was hid in it.
14:45 – the police arrives, they take the soldier who detained the man with the knife, for investigation. Later they investigate the detainee.
According to the DCO he will be transferred to one of the two: If they'll get the impression at the police that there is interest in him he will be handed over to the security services, but if not he'll be handed over to the Palestinian police.
15:50 – Za'tara – there are 38 cars coming from the north waiting, 5 coming from the east.
Beit Furik checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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)
-
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-
Za'tara (Tapuah)
See all reports for this place-
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
-