Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 7.2.08, Afternoon
Natanya translated.
14.40 Marda …the main gate is open but all the other openings are closed with rolls of barbed wire.
At Zeita the main gate is closed by large cement blocks.
At Za'tara/Tapuach are a few cars from the west but from the north (Nablus, Huwwara) are about 45 cars. We phone A. at the centre who says he will try to speed things up.
At 14.53 the checkpoint of Burin/Yizhar is not manned and so too when we come back.
14.54 Huwwara.
We see that the isolation cell is closed and green plastic covers the iron door, through which before we could see what was happening. A small hole in the plastic open a rather high and small window and we cannot see if anyone is inside. A soldier with drawn weapon stands before the locked door. 
Then he moves away and for a moment we can see a head of someone inside, but there is no one to ask what sin the detainee committed. After the we see R. of the DCO who for most of the time stood near the side line and only when we were leaving came close to us. When we asked why the man had been detained he said that there were security reason. We do not see the detainee after that and R. said he did not know what had happened to him. We did not see that he had been taken away and hoped that he had been freed (By the way if one tries to see what is happening in the isolation area through the room where women are checked this is impossible. And maybe someone is lying on the floor).
3 checking posts, the magnometer is squeaking, people come out with metal objects in their hands.
Today before they were checked they were told to stand away from the entrance and the woman soldier shouts continuously though it is not clear why.
There is an X-RAY machine, a dog trainer in the car lane from Nablus.
Passengers wait outside the car and their IDs are checked and only after that are the passengers allowed back. We cannot see how many cars there are at the exit from Nablus but there is no pressure on those entering.
16.11 Beit Furik
When we arrive the commander tells us we have to stand at the red line and that is his decision. There and only there.
Click here to see a video of the event.
We see two lines of cars and there are hardly any cars or people in the shed and they pass through swiftly.
We can encountered the young man who is always detained and handed over his details to A.of the Association for Human Rights.
A resident of Beit Furik said that the hours of the opening of the checkpoint are not written down anywhere and it is impossible to know whether it opens at 5.00 or 5.30 and says that yesterday the checkpoint did not open in time. When we reported this to the centre B. says that when this happens they should be contacted immediately but the man had already left. We spoime to T. who said he would deal with this and we should follow it up
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As far as the segregation is concerned. B. says it is as yesterday, men of 16-35 from the north of the Shomron can not go south but he did not know from which checkpoints. T. said from all those leading south.
(We met a man from Jenin who had gone through Huwwara and was waiting for the lady friend who was from Ramallah. That is they had let him through but, we told him that he might be stopped at Huwwara. But this did not bother him.
17.26 Two Hummers park on the main road at the entrance to Beita.
Checkpoint Za'tara 5 cars and 3 checking points. From the west 27 cars and one checking point.
Kif El Haris … a jeep with lights flickering.
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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