Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 2.1.08, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
6:58 – we left road no. 5 and entered road no. 4765 which is again blocked since a few weeks. There are three heaps of earth, distanced from each other a few tens of meters and people descending from the vehicles which arrive from the direction of Dir Balut/the village of A Dick, Bruqin and people who wish to continue to the north east, are forced to descend when they reach these heaps and to climb on them until they reach the iron arm, where the cars from the opposite direction wait. The same goes for people coming from Bidia and Hares who wish to continue southwards (we have pictures of the place but at the moment I have no means to send them).
7:10 – We left.
7:25 – Za'tara:
There are no cars from the west and no cars coming from the north were detained.
7:35 – We left as there was no queue.
7:53 – Beit Furik:
A very long procession of vehicles wishing to leave the village. One of the drivers reports that he has been waiting for two hours in the queue. Another driver says that there was a vehicle of the DCO which took off. We reported to K. from the center who said that she knew about it, and that a DCO representative ought to be there. We approached the CP.
Another taxi driver who also reported that he has been waiting for two hours already, is now finally approaching the CP. He leaves the car and walks a few steps. A soldier signals to him with a movement of his finger to stop, lift his coat, turn around, hand the ID. The drives proceeds with the taxi. He stops at the checking post, opens the lid of the trunk, soldiers peep inside, hand him the ID, he enters the taxi and proceeds.
8:15 – the DCO representative arrives.
An elderly woman walks with difficulty, no on the turnstiles path. A soldier girl cries out: "what is the matter with her!" A man who supports the woman explains. They pass.
Drivers begin to advance. The CP commander begins to discipline the drivers. Now it becomes a power contest. The DCO representative joins the CP commander and immediately a soldier-girl arrives too. All are busy with order. After all order there must be! The girl soldier says: "The CP is closed".
A driver replies: "let it be shut down all my life".
The soldiers laughingly return to the checking posts. Is all this an entertainment for them?
The CP isn't closed after all (not yet) and they start letting two cars at a time pass.
8:47 – the checking is stopped. The soldiers are on a cigarette smoking break. The smoke at the checking posts.
8:52 – We complain to A. at the center and she agrees that "this really is not in order".
9:00 – They still do not let cars pass.
9:01 – They now let cars pass. How long does it take to smokek a cigarette?
9:05 – we left.
9:17 – Huwwara:
One of the people at the parking lot complains that there are times drivers are commanded to vacate the parking lot and they have to clean it "they treat us like animals" he says. And what about the toilets? And what about shed for protection against the rain in winter and the sun in summer? Drivers asked for this already in the past.
D. the CP commander asks us to refer to him if there is any problem.
9:38 – there are about 30 people in the pedestrians' queue.
There are 3 checking posts. An x-ray machine. A girl dog-trainer.
9:52 – A soldier tell us that we are not allowed to stand where we stand (under the shed, near the turnstiles). We sent him to the commander.
10:15 – we left.
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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