Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sat 14.2.09, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
Taxis fill the parking lot, owners of stands sell drinks and candy, taking advantage of the fact that for the time being the soldiers aren't chasing them away. People sometimes wait a long time for the taxi to fill up and leave, giving us an opportunity for many discussions.
People stand waiting between fences and in front of the turnstiles for the order to proceed to the turnstile and have their persons, belongings and documents inspected. People are classified by sex and age, or, as Rikki wrote in her report from 11 February, the special ones and the ordinary ones. The young men wait a long time and receive most of the insults and humiliation from the female soldiers secure in their fortified booths. Today they're not the only ones. The female soldier moving the line for women and older men forward doesn't stop yelling at them, roaring orders – "Arja lu'ara – Move back – and if they don't obey she stops the inspection. In fact, she's just stopped. One dares to reply that there's no room to move back, and she yells "Shut up, or maybe you'd rather go to the end of the line." A murmer of protest is heard from everyone waiting, and then the commander intervenes and also tells him to shut up. It's like that all the time.
Sometimes it's hard to hear what's happening, separated by the double fences and the dead zones between them.
That morning I read on "Wafa" and "Ma'an," the Palestinian web sites, that Palestinians from Israel will be permitted to go to and from Nablus on foot and in an Israeli vehicle starting today, Saturday, 14.2. We try to find out from the soldiers at the vehicle lane whether we can go through. They don't know, and the following conversations develops with the commander:
–It's just for Palestinians from East Jerusalem.
–How about Palestinians from Haifa?
–There's no such thing as a Palestinian from Haifa; they're Arabs, and they're not allowed.
We leave for Beit Furik, where one of the soldiers at the checkpoint tells us that everyone can enter and leave Nablus freely, and cars with yellow license plates pass through in both directions after a quick glance into the front seat.
At the Huwwara checkpoint we tried to follow up the story of Mahmud Awwad, who was severely beaten there. He was attacked from behind when the soldier (Yitzhak) simply shattered his skull with the butt of an M-16. Mahmud's brother, Na'im, has worked at the checkpoint for years as a taxi dispatcher. We asked to meet nearby with Mahmud and members of his family.
Mahmud's has a serious brain injury. His life was saved thanks to the quick thinking of his two brothers who were at the checkpoint,picked him off the ground and quickly drove him to Nablus where he underwent a complex operation. The incident was reported in Dvorah Oreg's report that day, and in Aya's report from Saturday, 31.1. A little appeared in the press, and B'Tselem is in contact with the family. Today we also met him. He's in considerable pain, he's out of the coma, is walking, but his mental and physical functioning are impaired and he needs intensive rehabilitation that, for now, he'll receive in Ramallah. His family doesn't leave his side, and one of his brothers or adult nephews accompanies his every step. An impressive grief-stricken, concerned family. I'm just reporting a small portion of the story; Aya will write a full report, with photographs.
I, personally, hope that some of those people who don't think Palestinians are human will read the report, that something in him will change. Meeting the family provides some small hope for a future that won't be as dark.
Next to the army base at Huwwara there are excavations and mounds of earth. There are rumors of a sunken road parallel to the Madison Route.
Returning from Beit Furik we see a military vehicle that caught two Palestinian cars that drove on the prohibited route. We didn't stop; we saw packages being removed from them.
Along Route 60 – A long line of cars at Za'tara, going south.
The entrance to Turmus ‘Ay, whose Palestinian residents are wealthier, has been renovated. A well-marked road has been paved with rows of palm trees on both sides.
A barrier that's never been removed blocks the exit from Sinjil, south of the settlement of Ofra.
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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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