Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 16.7.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.05 Zeita. Some cars on both sides and the iron barrier is open.
Za'tara CP. 18 cars from Nablus.
14.22 Huwwara.
3 detainees and one of them has been there half an hour waiting for his ID, the other does not know why he is there.
The commander asks us how we are, our names, shakes our hand and explains to us why they are detained. One wants to go through to Jordan and has been waiting half an hour. He appears on the list, maybe "bingo." The other two have put up kiosks in the middle of the road for the past week.
3 checking areas and there is pressure.
At 14.20 the three detainees are freed and the one who wanted to go to Joran, H. D. has not yet got his ID and after a few minutes is put back in the isolation.
From the lines are heard shouts and the soldiers go past the turnstiles shouting for silence. A woman soldier shouting 'Yalla, all go back" chases them away. D. decides that only the middle turnstile will be activated. People pass slowly and at another stage another turnstile is activated. The passage of cars to Nablus is closed and each time a car arrives it is opened. Racheli is angry and rightly so. The men are in the shade and the women in the sun. She goes to the enclosure and tries to divide them into two, in other words one area for men and one for women. There is some progress through this feminist activity and the women come closer to the passage where we are and stand in the shade. A soldier sends away the people standing next to us in the direction of the enclosure and one of them explains to us that the shed is meant to give them shade and the enclosure is open to the sun.
At 14.50 Racheli phones the centre about H. D.
A Palestinian calls our attention to the fact that a new building is being developed to the east. The occupation is strengthening its hold. Racheli again tries to phone the humanitarian centre and gets an automatic response that it is impossible to phone this number. She asks D., the commander about H. and he says that he has been phoning every 10 minutes and has not been able to get a reply.
At 15.30 H. is given his ID and comes to shake hands with us and go on to Jordan.
16.00 Beit Furik.
4 cars in the direction of Nablus and one detainee. Few pedestrians. The detained man is from the village of Zebaba and he is not allowed to pass here. Has been here an hour and a half. The soldiers say they are waiting for the decision of the secret service. An argument ensues as to what is punishment and what is legal as we say that he is being punished and that this is not legal. The soldiers speak to the man who says he knows that he is not allowed to pass through here but that he hoped that he would be let through. Racheli explains to the soldiers that the sin is less than the punishment and that if he has asked to pass through then he is not wanted and has no intention of doing any harm.
On the cement blocks is written "Death to the Arabs." A weak attempt has been made to rub this out but it is still very clear.
16.40 Huwwara.
8 cars and few pedestrians. A man has been detained for half an hour as this is the first time his number has come up in the list. He is freed at 16.55 and joins his family going to a wedding. Now the dogtrainer is also present.
17.15 Za'tara. 18 cars in either direction.
At Huwwara a man came up to Racheli and started a discussion about Machsomwatch. More than he wants to listen he wants to be heard. His message sharpens the cruelty and frustration of the occupation. "What are you doing here. You just stand and look at how others suffer." No more needs to be said.
Beit Furik checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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)
-
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-
Za'tara (Tapuah)
See all reports for this place-
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
-