Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 25.10.07, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
13.40 Za'tara (Tapuach)
18 cars. At the crossroads of Yizhar no checkpoint.
14.05 Huwwara.
About 20 people , two checking areas and a humanitarian line. As far as we can see the line is moving but there are complaints about a delay of two hours. A minute after we arrive another lane is opened by the same tough two. A prying search into innocent places and the usual complains at the annoying length of time.
14.25 – About 80 people and the line is moving. The commander ( a Givati unit) comes every now and again to complain that we are interfering with their work and demanding that we move off. The tough two show great creativity. This maybe helps their boredom but does not bring joy to those waiting. (Details later).
14.45 – An improvement in the lanes. The tough two prefer to doubly check two people.
15.15 – 100 people in line. The tough two insist that people go through the x-ray even though it is not working. A line of cars piles up at the entrance but the checking there is symbolic but to the point. At the exit the checking is careful and the passengers wait at a distance.
15.30 – The overcrowding causes anger and shouting. A young girl is taken by the military policewoman to be checked and freed a few minutes later.
15.47 Beit Furik.
No cars and no lines and the soldiers are bored. The matter of the commander repeats itself but we have not desire for hostilities.
We go back to Huwwara at 16. 25 where there is a detainee and some 10s of people.
16.40 – The line decreases and the military policewoman turns her attention to cleaning the area.
17.00 – Cold, Advisable to bring warm clothing. The lines are reasonable. And thank you to Nadim the one and only.
Added a few lines on a minor harassment.
Practical advice. It is advisable to take off rings and the contents of pockets. The dance and lifting of the arms. A body check of surface areas. If the x-ray machine does not work..go backwards and forwards until it does. And while this is happening look for amusing pictures in the cellphone of the person and find out particulars of the family waiting around.
Bags thrown on the ground to see if they will bounce.
Take your time with the pictures while the young man sweats in front of you. Stop the turnstile slowly to see that the electricity is working.
When the people in line get impatient give them a lesson in how to behave and lengthen the waiting.
Make sure that they realise how important all this is and that each delay has a reason.
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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