Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 14.5.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.25 Jamaiem-Zeita and Marda where nothing has changed and the entrance is still blocked with cement slabs and an iron gate.
At Za'tara there are 50 cars waiting to leave Nablus, private cars, taxis and trucks.
14.40 The village of Huwwara. There is a checkpoint at the entrance to the village in the direction of Nablus. One lane of the road has been blocked and 20 cars wait to leave Nablus.
Huwwara CP
Three checking posts and about 30 people in each line. The soldier in the middle is very vocal and one wonders what she is trying to prove. It seems the women are not less aggressive than the men.
Cars are checked in the usual way with the passengers alighting and the car itself checked over a long period. There is also a dog trainer for the cars and a taxi which has been checked for quite a while.
At about 15.05 the right checking post is closed and Karin says those in line wait 15-20 minutes.
A man comes through and says that he has iron in his shoes….the holes for the laces and he had to take them off.
Now at the exit from Nablus are two lines of cars which take about 10 minutes to check (each one). It seems taxis take longer than other cars to be checked.
T. of the DCO says that probably because of the closure there are less people.
15.45 Beit Furik.
8 cars in either direction and few people. The police are also here. Two policemen and their car park on top of the checkpoint and they take the car of a man with whom there may be a problem. After a few minutes he is freed.
People coming through told us that there is a taxi near the checkpoint in the direction of Nablus and there is a problem. Karin goes towards the checkpoint to check out the problem and a soldier speaking in a disgusting manner says to her "Lady get away"
When she says that there is a problem with a taxi he replies "If the commander wants to he will come to you." When he did not come we began to go towards the man with the problem and the commander towards us. When we got closer the soldiers and the commander turned to us and we explained that there was someone who wanted our help. The commander said that if we would wait he would come to us in two minutes. We showed who the man was and asked what the problem was. The commander said that the man is not from the villages in the area and therefore he knew that he could not pass here and in the meantime he said that while he spoke to us he would not open the checkpoint. We realized that there was no way that we could help the man.
16.34 Huwwara.
Nava phoned and said that there was a mess at the checkpoint but when we got there we saw nothing. We asked people if there had been a problem and they said no. Only a few people passing today. We stood there a while and the soldiers sent the Palestinians standing near us away and also wanted to do the same with H., N'.s son who was our driver. When we said that he was with us they let him remain.
Za'tara 20 cars coming from Nablus and 13 from route 5.
כ- 20 רכבים מכיוון שכם ו-13 רכבים מכיוון כביש 5.
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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