Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 18.12.07, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
A different day: very few people going from place to place, after some clarification we were told that it is the eve of a holiday today and therefore people are at home.
At the entrance to Ariel there are police as usual, they stop the traffic and allow the residents of Ariel to leave the settlement.
Zaatra
Not a car in the queue to cross to the west, Road 5, nor from the direction of Nablus. The soldiers are unemployed.
Up to the Huwwara roadblock we see no roadblocks along the way.
Huwwara roadblock
8:00 a.m.
When we arrived the activity appeared unusual, the car park was comparatively empty.
About 30 residents queue at the exit for their documents and the contents of their bags to be checked. The crossing is relaxed and quick and those crossing are equally so.
8:15 a.m.
From the direction of the turnstile there are shouts, a soldier shouts at one of the residents who shouts back in Arabic. The soldier calls A., the commander, who comes and calms the situation down but leads the man in the direction of the cell, while talking to him. A., from the DCO arrives, he has been in the area the whole time, and then we find out that: the man, a resident of Nablus was arrested the previous day because his name appeared on the soldiers' list. While he was in the cell he leant against the door which fell down, the soldiers thought he was trying to escape, but after clarification he was released.
When he arrived at the roadblock today the magnometer was out of order so he was asked to remove his jacket, he simply lifted it and was convinced that the insistence on its removal was in reprisal for the previous day's happenings. After all the explanations were heard he was released to go on his way.
At the entrance to Nablus the traffic is very light, there are almost no women crossing today.
There are few cars at the entrance or at the exit.
8:25 a.m.
A father and his son are on their way out of Nablus, the soldier at the roadblock does not believe that the boy is really his son. After discussions and harassment, they go on their way after the intervention of A., the commander, once again.
The commander comes over to us and asks us not to photograph the soldiers; we photograph the situation and do not focus on their faces.
8:30 a.m.
There are three people waiting to cross.
8:40 a.m.
The roadblock is completely empty; we have never seen such a thing.
Beit Furiq roadblock
9:00 a.m.
It is comparatively deserted, not one car waits to enter, there is one car waiting to leave. From time to time people from Beit Furiq get out of their transport and cross quickly.
We stood under the shed and the soldiers ignored us.
9:30 a.m.
Back to Huwwara: it was comparatively empty.
On our way back, at Za'atra Junction, there were three cars from the direction of Nablus and from the west no cars at all.
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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