Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 3.11.08, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
Za'tara junction
14:00 Traffic toward Nablus flows without inspections.
Toward Jerusalem: 3 cars
Huwwara
14:30 A man came over to us for help when we arrived in the parking lot. His two-year-old daughter has a liver disease. Hospitals in the territories can't help her, only Hadassah Ein Karem. He applied to the Peres Center two months ago but hasn't been able to make contact with them and they haven't replied even though he left messages. He's looking for help.
A taxi driver came over to us for assistance. His wife, who's from Venezuela, is waiting for an ID card. She got the ID number two months ago, but the ID card hasn't arrived. Today they didn't want to let her through the checkpoint with the authorization she has. Who can help?
14:45 More than 50 people in the shed, in two lines. Inspections are rapid, about half an hour wait.
14:50 A taxi driver, his first time at the checkpoint, parked too close. His keys were confiscated; he's released after a talk with the commander.
Vehicle lanes: No line to enter Nablus.
It's hard to see how many cars are waiting to leave Nablus. A driver asked how long it took him to get through said "a long time" because the taxis are constantly passing and butting in line, so it takes a very long time.
15:05 An ambulance arrives at the checkpoint, siren sounding, and goes through quickly.
The soldier stationed at the position closest to the entrance to Nablus comes out of his position from time to time and organizes the line by whistling at the people waiting. He checks ID's against the list he's holding; when he comes to a suspicious number he yells it out to the female soldier sitting at the computer. Since the people waiting on line make noise, she doesn't hear the number, and occasionally screams at the people waiting to be quiet. A real bazaar.
15:15 We selected a particular person to time.
15:50 We stood next to the entry turnstile to Nablus and watched the people waiting in the shed. The commander stopped the inspections until we moved back to the imaginary extension of the blue line. There are barbed wire between us and his position. How can we be disturbing him at this distance?
The shed is full of people; we estimate there are more than 100.
16:15 The person we selected to time at 15:15 just went through.
We left.
Beit Furik
16:30 As I arrived at the checkpoint a soldier came out and made me move away.
6-8 vehicles at the exit from Nablus. 4-5 vehicles at the entrance. One inspection lane. One vehicle waiting at the entrance. The rest wait on the other side of the junction.
In answer to our question, the soldiers say they haven't enough manpower to open an additional lane. As far as I can see, there's a group of soldiers there who aren't doing much. It's more important to them to deal with us and where we're standing.
The people say, in their own tongue, that the soldiers now manning the checkpoint make you feel really discouraged.
16:40 We left.
A taxi driver came over to us in the parking lot to show a letter from the DCO that refuses him permission to enter Nablus with the taxi. The reason can't be deciphered.
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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