Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 4.9.08, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
There are not many pedestrians, probably because of the Rammadan.
06:15 – At the Samaria Gate there is no police.
06:15 – The gate at Marda is open and at Zeita closed, as usual.
06:35 – Za'tara –
Completely empty from the west. From the direction of Huwwara there is no car queue, and two lanes are open. The Lamp square is not manned.
A group of reserve officers are on the spot. They ask whether in our opinion there are any achievements to our activity. Of course not. The Occupation continues as well as the enormous CP array, the authorizations and all the other restrictions.
06:50 – Opposite the entrance to Beita there is a Border Police command-car next to which there are 2 transit taxis. A soldiers in the command-car fills out a form with the ID details of all the passengers. When we ask they answer that these are the regulations and we are not allowed to know why this is done.
We called the humanitarian center.
Within 10 minutes the two taxis are released, others are not stopped, and the command-car leaves.
07:10 – Huwwara –
The CP is very empty. Only one lane is open and the passage takes a few minutes.
A soldiers asks Naava to move her car from her usual place near the CP. According to him these are instructions from high-up. Her request to talk to the commander is rejected again and again until we leave, and the attitude towards us is very hostile.
2 Palestinians pass in peace with their tools. One with two pickaxes and the second with a shovel and a spade. They are lucky that nobody thought that these are weapons. However one of them is forced to take off his shoes at the checking. In spite of the quiet and emptiness the sergeant removes from the CP a young man who passed and is waiting for a friend. Why?
08:00 – Beit Furik –
There are 2 cars waiting to passe.
The CP commander asks us to remove ourselves from the CP. When we argue with him he threatens to close the CP if we don't go away. When we say that this is not legal, he says that "this is my place and I am the one who decides".
Naava calls the Judea and Samaria headquarters to find out whether there are new regulations regarding us. A few minutes later the officer calls and says the matter has been referred to the division spokeswoman. Half and hour later the spokeswoman calls. According to her there are no changes. She is prepared that one should call her, but only in matters of principle (I have her phone no. and name)
08:20 – Back at Huwwara –
There are two lanes open and hardly any queue. The turnstiles of the entrance to Nablus are crowded.
It is still Rammadan, but the university is open and there are many students on their way.
09:00 – Again there is a military police command-car opposite Beita, and next to it two transit taxis whose papers are registered. When we arrive they release the taxis quickly and don't stop others.
We again called the center. According to them there are no special regulations in the matter.
Last week and two weeks ago as well it seemed that when we are present they stop this "checking".
It is important to pay attention because it looks like a command-car near which a taxi happens to stand, and not as a rolling CP. They don't put up a barrier but just wave their hand to make vehicles stop, like the police. Quick taxis who are in the course of overtaking or in a quick and dense traffic, are not stopped.
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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