Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Mon 6.10.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
Za'tara (Tapuach) No cars from the west and 10 from Ramallah.
13.15 Beit Furik.
We arrive when there is a change of shift and are told by pedestrians waiting on both sides that they have been waiting for 10 minutes. A minute after we arrived pedestrians started going through in the direction of the exit from Nablus. The checking was not in both directions. The pedestrians showed IDs which were checked against a list. Cars were carefully checked and also the inside and the baggage compartment and IDS of driver and passengers. No cars in the direction of the entrance to Nablus. The commander said that the passage was for residents of Beit DaJan, Beit Furik, Dir el Hatib, Salem and Azmut. We asked him if he was sure because Ramadan had ended and the checkpoints have returned to routine and the passage was only for residents of Beit Dajan and Beit Furik. But he insisted.
13.20 A civilian car stopped next to the checkpoint and three young men with skull caps got out. They had served here and one of them was on leave before ending his service. They brought nuts with them which they cracked while standing there, talking loudly and spitting the residue on the ground. One of them joins a soldier checking cars "for the fun of it." He asks the drivers and after that one of the pedestrians "Do you have a bead chain" (which is used for prayers). When we left at 13.40 they were still there.
14.00 Huwwara.
The commander comes up to us and says, "After we found two detonators yesterday you still have the cheek to come here."
There are 3 checking posts for the men and they pass the x-ray device. Belts are removed and put on the other side of the checkpoint. The line is very short and there were moments especially after 15.00 that the checkpoint was empty. The side lane for women and men over 45. Some are sent to the x-ray device on the other side of the checkpoint to check their bags and parcels.
Cars at the entrance to Nablus have IDs and permits checked. There are not many in the other direction and the passage is swift. At the exit to the city there is a constant stream of cars. The inside and the baggage compartments are checked this took about 4 minutes not counting the time spent in line. One of the soldiers chased away some men who were putting on their belts in the area where we were standing. He said to them in Arabic, " Get away from here. And then in Hebrew, "Only they can stand here because they are Israelis and Jewish." He did this to insult us and repeated this every few minutes. This was the same soldier who pushed me two weeks ago and whom I made a complaint about.
14.40 A young man is told to stand with his face to the separating fence between the side lane and the car lane which enters Nablus. The commander pushes his legs aside and checks him bodily…his ankles, legs, back and stomach. This takes a few minutes. We asked the young man why and he said he did not know. Maybe because he is not goodlooking.
From the DCO representative A. we understood that the checkpoint closes at 21.00 and not at 23.00 because of "the winter clock." The army centre N. gave the same explanation and we asked what the connection was between the change of time and she said maybe because of Ramadan. But Ramadan has ended. We asked if they are trying to make things easier for the soldiers who worked long hours in Ramadan because of the alleviations for the holiday (let's suppose) and she insisted that it was not so. She also did not know if the checkpoint was closing early that day only or also on other days.
The soldier photographs us a number of times from different vantages. When Dannie takes out his camera and tries to photograph him he shouts not to photograph him. That is forbidden.
16.00 Za'tara. (Tapuach) 10 cars in the direction of Ramallah and one 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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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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