Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 5.2.09, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
06:40 The entrance to Zeita is blocked, the entrance to Marda is open.
07:00 Tapuah/Zaatara –
Before the junction, from the west, they stopped a bus for checking, all its passengers alight, the bus is checked, the papers of the passengers are checked and ten minutes later the bus continues on its way.
07:15 When we arrived there were no vehicles, but in a moment we witnesses the accumulation of a queue of 24 vehicles coming from Nablus.
07:20 Huwwara.
Many taxis in the parking lot. In the pedestrians' queue at the exit from Nablus there are about 25 people. We draw, for the second time, the attention of the soldier and the DCO representative at the CP to the concrete blocks at the entrance to the CP, which stand so close that they make it impossible for a wheelchair to pass.
The pedestrians passing at the CP are requested to lift their coats and to make a round turn ("to dance").
07:50 We notice that there is a long queue of vehicles at the exit from Nablus. There are about 20 vehicles standing there and the CP is closed – eight soldiers and one DCO representative stand there and do not let any vehicle pass. We approach them to ask the reason for that, and the soldier answers aggressively that they don't let them pass because we approached. When we demand to be given a serious reply, the DCO representative tries to wave us away by telling us that they are going to open the CP again immediately. We insist on getting an explanation for the stoppage of the two queues and he tries to bluff us by saying that the security guard went to eat. At the CP two lanes are supposed to be active, we counted there at least eight soldiers, not counting the DCO representative, and the claim that the CP was closed because the security guard had to eat is ridiculous. A few moments later one lane was activated, in the meantime the queue became even longer.
08:00 One CP is open the other is closed.
08:10 Awarta – seven vehicles in line to leave Nablus, they advance quickly.
08:15 Beit Furik – it is empty.
08:44 Tapuah/Za'tara – about twenty five cars from the direction of Nablus.
Marda and Zeita – the same situation as on the way there.
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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