Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 20.7.08, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
15:05 – Tapuach Zaatara Junction Checkpoint – empty
15:15 Huwwara Checkpoint
Checkpoint Commander D., DCO representative T., active x-ray truck,
3 active checking posts
As we arrive, vendors tell us that "today's good"…
A MPwoman patiently and quietly explains to a Palestinian: "So take this and go. Go on. Scram." (sic)
A securing soldier stands by the checking post, his rifle barrel sticking into the middle of the passage so that each Palestinian done with the check must collide with the weapon. The commander approaches to say hello and listens to my plaint about the impossible passage between the rifle and the post, promises to look into it.
A MPwoman approaches us and says that our Beit Iba shift has written lies about her, that she had humiliated Arabs. "I never humiliate Arabs. Never." I ask her what she considers humiliation, and she then recalls that "I mustn't talk to you, but just so you know I was hurt."
The special sideline for women and the elderly moves relatively fast.
16:00 Sniffer dog and trainer arrives
Beit Furik 16:40
The checkpoint is empty of vehicles, just a thin trickle of pedestrians arrives.
Still, a young woman carrying a baby in her arms and with 3 toddlers at her side wants to enter Nablus and has to watch her little ones get caught in the turnstile that is locked shut with them inside, for a moment that for her must have felt like an eternity. Until the woman soldier at the checking post remembered to free them and let the mother and baby through as well.
Abu Salah's shaded coffee and tea stand at the taxi park is becoming more pleasant from week to week and we enjoy a sip of sage tea and some lovely conversation with him and his friends.
17:30 Upon our return from Beit Furik, we see the soldiers suddenly breaking into a mad run, pointing their rifles at a clump of bushes on the outside of the compound, and yelling hoarsely: "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!…" as well as "One terrorist hurt!"
"I am coming around the left!"…
What a show. Both we and the Palestinians laughed at the mayhem and the fact that at least we were not being pushed back and out of the way in dead earnestness. Still people had to wait for some minutes.
In short – the "rooster" maneuver routine. 10 minutes later, the commander called everyone to resume ordinary checking routine.
Ecumenical Accompaniers of the Yanoun Team also watched the battle show and we had a chance to exchange notes…
All laughing aside, this absurd theater too has become a routine part of the monster called the apparatus of denying the Palestinians their freedom of movement in their own land.
We left at 18:00.
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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