Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 3.6.08, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
7:30 Za'tara-Tapuach intersection.
About 70 cars waiting from the direction of Nablus.
Burin-Yitzhar intersection: The checkpoint isn't manned.
7:45 Beit Furik
About 10 cars waiting. As usual here, only one car at a time goes through on each side. Few pedestrians.
A youth asks for our help. It turns out that he has an old ID card, and his new one is waiting in Nablus. But he's not allowed to enter in order to pick it up, because he doesn't have a valid ID card… (Chelm, or just bureaucracy at its best, or maybe something else?). He has Mikki's phone number. We speak to her and she suggests we talk to Z/, the DCO officer. We do so. After about ten minutes, the soldiers allow the youth to go through. It turns out that Z. was helpful. And there's more to come: the soldiers ignore Etti's warm "Good morning," and demand she move back behind the white line. To make ourselves feel better, we go have some coffee at the kiosk that's been set up next to the "parking lot." An environmental structure made of junk has sprung up there, along with mint bushes.
About ten cars are awaiting their turn.
8:35 Huwwara
No cars waiting. Two lanes open, and also a humanitarian lane.
A third lane opens for a few minutes. 10-20 people on line to exit.
There's no magnemometer, but there is a dog handler and her dog, and they carefully check each car that exits. Z., the DCO checkpoint officer, greets us politely. He's ready to cooperate and help, and shows a lot of good will. The checkpoint commander, A., also comes over to say hello. He's also friendly and polite. The soldiers are relaxed and behave politely. Some of them look like settlers (a beard and sidelocks peeking out from under their helmet), but unlike the stereotype, they also behave properly.
And here's a surprise: The young man from Beit Furik who didn't have a current ID card comes through the Huwwara checkpoint, smiling and happy, and shakes our hands gratefully. The truth is that Z. is the one who should be thanked.
Z. complains that during a "checkpoint tour" a couple of days earlier, one of the members of Machsom Watch accused the DCO representative of all kinds of things (we didn't completely understand what they were). He was really offended by that, personally and professionally…It appears to us that she'd made a mistake. The guy is really ok, and we shouldn't create unnecessary confrontations and hostility.
9:30 Someone is being detained. It turns out that he's on some list or other. A., the commander, as well as Z., check it out. He's released in about ten minutes.
Before we leave, someone else is detained. Same as before, but we didn't stay to see what happens to him.
10:00 Za'tara-Tapuach intersection.
About 50 cars waiting. The checkpoint commander told us that settlers entered Nablus this morning and so the checkpoint was closed, and the long line is the result of that (we certainly don't understand how the two things are connected). We asked drivers how long they've been waiting. The answers ranged from two hours to half an hour.
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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