Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 9.12.07, Morning
Translation: Rachel B.S.
7.55 Za'tara – one car at the western checkpoint.
At the northern checkpoint: a bus is being checked. The passengers who are standing outside are being called by names by a female officer, and she is giving them their ID cards back, and they are getting back on the bus.
The CP commander comes to us and asks that we stay away from the Palestinians, we are keeping him from doing his job. When we ask if we are forbidden from talking to them, he says we are not, it's just that right now our presence on the spot is interfering. We could not understand what we were interfering with exactly, but as there was no need for any particular intervention on our part, we stayed in the place where we were allowed to stand.
8.05 another bus arrived and is being checked. The passengers are ordered to come out and commanded by the female officer to stand in a line. She is holding their ID cards, reading their names, and they get back on the bus.
8.10 a third bus arrives. Its passengers are waiting until the soldiers are done checking the passengers from previous bus.
8.13 the bus that arrived at 8.05 is leaving the CP. We are also leaving, counting on our way 12 vehicles that are waiting.
8.30 Beit Furik: there are a few pedestrians in the carrousels. 4 vehicles are waiting. The drivers, in reply to our question, say that it is ok right now, they only have to wait for a short time.
8.45 Huwwara: about 30 people are in the turnstiles. 3 checking posts and an X-ray machines are working. From time to time one of the people going through the turnstiles is being asked to bring his or her luggage over for examination on the X-ray machine. A., the CP commander, comes and speaks to us. He treats the palestininas humanely. When an old man who is walking with difficulty starts to walk towards Nablus, he lets him go past the checkpoint and arranges a ride for him.
9.20 A., the commander, is allowing the driver to enter Nablus. We can hear T. the DCO representative, who is standing near him, saying to him: "Don't do it, don't make any disorder". A. says it's fine, the driver is only going for half an hour, he will still be here when the driver comes back. It turns out that the driver did not have a permit to enter the city. Evidently, A. trusted him and let him go through any way. The parking lot near the checkpoint is very full, there is a lot of commotion, yelling and arguments among the Palestinians.
9.35 there are about 10 people at the checkpoint.
9.50 two checking posts are active. About 30 people are waiting in the turnstiles. A Palestinian arriving from Nablus tells us that the situation at Al-Baddhan checkpoint is very bad.
9.55 we left the checkpoint.
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.
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