Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 3.12.07, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
13.20 – Opposite the entrance to Ariel we see that a gravel area has been laid out and there are 3 soldiers and an army vehicle. We will follow the developments.
The entrance to Marda is open but Zeita is still blocked and people and cars crowd on both sides.
Za'tra (Tapuach) .
15 cars and one which is detained is freed after 3 minutes. Three checking lines.
A bus on its way to Ramallah is detained and the IDs of all are taken. The driver says that they had been delayed for three hours at Burin. The commander says that there was a suspicious object and therefore the road had been blocked. 2 minutes later IDs are returned and the commander wishes them a pleasant trip.
He was very hostile to us and would not answer our question about any alerts.
From the east we saw over 50 cars. Cars with yellow plates ride through the middle of the road. Also to the east was a traffic jam which opened up after a few minutes.
13,55 At the entrance of the village of Beita we saw a demonstration which included the Palestinian flag and sheets on which were written in bold lettering. They were waiting for those who had been freed from the Israeli prisons.
Burin/Yitzhar – was unmanned.
At Awarta –
We saw trucks only leaving Nablus. A., the olive seller, says that there had just been back to back trucks. He said that the commander is pleasant and does not detain people.
14.15 Beit Furik.
Two trucks and one van waiting to enter. When we got there two soldiers were running towards the parking lot as something had been seen. Accompanied by a soldier we went to the white line. Few people there and no one has complaints about the soldiers. The IDs of entering cars are checked and doors and the baggage compartment opened. The incident ended with nothing particular happening.
On our way out we saw a truck with yellow plates and an army vehicle stopping it on the side of the road. Everything was carefully checked. Two soldiers sign to us to stop at the side of the road. They saw us leaving Beit Furik. We asked why the driver had been stopped and they said he had done something forbidden. Another said politely "He is suspicious." The driver who looked like an Arab was sent on his way a few minutes later.
14.50 Huwwara –
There are a great number of people at the fence on the Nablus side. When they come closer they are sent back and the commander says that it only needs one stone to be thrown or one song of "Kill the Jew" and everyone will be in danger.
The soldiers have been reinforced because the freed prisoners are returning.
A young man comes to us and asks us to help a boy of 10 who is alone and very frightened. He had tried to slip through. We went to speak to the commander but the boy was already freed and on his way home.
In the ordinary line some say they have waited three hours and others say less than an hour.
A man comes who says that his friend from Marda forgot her ID and now she cannot leave the village. The commander said he had received no ID yesterday but checked with the DCO and the ID was there. He was polite to the man and gave him details…the phone number and name of the person he should speak to.
15.20 One of the soldiers starts to sing and it seems that the soldiers are having a game. They throw out a word and she finds a song which begins with this word.
At the same time she keeps passing the people through.
16.00 Lieutenant colonel Doron and the commander of the military police unit arrives together with two captains of the rank of sergeant and comes up to us and shakes hands warmly with us.
He says that when we do not make a drama when the checkpoint is handled well and we answer that it was truly handled well and it is up to the commander, but still horrible.
16.40 At the entrance to Zeita was a bonfire to keep people warm.
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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