Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 8.11.07, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.00 The entrance to Zeita is closed by cement blocks.
14.05 Za'tara
From the West the passage is clear but from the north, from Nablus 75 cars wait . We informed the centre and N. that said that he would phone the DCO in Nablus to find out why there was such pressure.
14.10 Yitzhar Empty.
14.15 Beit Furik. We had a meeting here with a Palestinian woman who had been a witness in the morning to the detaining of another woman. One of the soldiers had returned her ID and at once taken it back as if playing a game and when the woman got annoyed she was punished by being detained. The woman whom she had been going to meet described what happened and the soldier apologised and so the matter ended.
While we were standing next to the turnstiles we saw that there was no pressure at the pedestrian lane but that in the car lane coming from Nablus there was a long line. Only one checking area as one sees always at Beit Furik. Even though there was no pressure of pedestrians there were three soldiers checking there while only two were checking the cars very slowly and carefully.
14.30 We saw that since we had arrived a thin man had been standing next to the checkpoint and not moving from there. We were told by someone that he was "not right in his head". We then spoke to the commander who had come to speak to us and he noticing this and ordered the man to go home.
A Palestinian from Beit Furik arrived with a box with vegetables, sorted out by kind and in plastic coverings. He could not get it through the turnstiles and so asked to take it through an open lane but instead he was ordered to put the box down on the ground and bring each parcel separately for checking.
14.45 We spoke to G. at the centre about the pressure of cars and again at 15.00 about the same matter.
15.25 Checkpoint Huwwara. 2 detainees in the isolation. One was freed by the DCO captain and the other whose number had appeared on the list was no longer there when we checked at 16.40.The man who was freed said he had been punished because of speaking in Arabic to his friend in the line complaining about the checkpoint. A soldier who understood Arabic was angry and said that he would show him how hard life could be and that if he wanted to, he could also demand that he sing and then sent him to the isolation.
3 checking areas were manned by military police who demanded the raising or lowering of clothing and checked IDs and bags. A humanitarian line, very busy today with students on their way home.
An activist of the Ecumenical movement is there with two guests who live in the same entrance in Jerusalem and tells us about a man ( who maybe, had an epileptic fit or something like that) and who had lost consciousness. The activist called the soldiers and heard them summoning an ambulance and had seated the man on a chair. Afterwards his friends had carried him behind the humanitarian area. A car had come from Huwwara and a doctor to examine the man. The doctor told us there was no cause for alarm and some time later the man supported by his friends went to the parking lot.
Checkpoint Za'tara. 3 checking areas for cars coming from Nablus. 36 cars in both directions.
17.03 Marda. The lone house and its windows covered in camoflague. 2 Hummers with blinking lights.
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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