Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 21.11.07, Morning
Translation: Maureen A.
General Comments: It is very very cold at Huwwara. In contrast to other Wednesday mornings during the past few months, when there have only been a few people who wanted to leave Nablus, there are at least 50 people waiting in line at any given moment. The security examiners are intolerably slow.
7:20 Za'tara
There are no vehicles coming from the west.
There are 44 vehicles from the north, with more and more approaching as we drive by the line. Two security-check stations are open at this hour.
We called A. at the IDF Humanitarian Centre and asked that they take some action to relieve the pressure.
7:27 The checkpoints at the 57/60 junction are unmanned in every direction. It's the same on our way back.
7:30 Huwwara
4 security-check stations are working. Even so, but for one man who reported waiting only 10 minutes, all the others we spoke to – or those who spoke to us of their own initiative – reported waiting an hour.
The x-ray machine, which wasn't working when we arrived, is in use again after a while. There's a table standing nearby.
7:45 We saw that one man had been detained in the solitary confinement area in the back. His friends were waiting for him in the shed. They said he'd been detained for between 30 – 60 minutes. Besides being their friend, they were dependent on him, since he was their foreman on the job they were headed for in Dir Balut. After a while he told them to go back home; there wouldn't be any work today. This is just another way to 'contribute' to the destabilization of the Palestinian economy.
From the things the detainee says to the soldiers, we understand that he is detained on a daily basis and he doesn't understand why. His brothers are in jail. One of the soldiers explains the situation to him. First of all, he tells him, he knows why he is detained and secondly, he should know that he is suffering because of his brothers.
Before we call the Humanitarian Centre, since there is no DCO at this hour, we try our luck with the Checkpoint Commander (A.). He is waiting for an answer concerning the detainee. In our presence, he tries to find out what is going on.
Then we see 4 veiled women led by a female soldier, who is also accompanied by a male soldier, being led to the security booth where women are checked. Each of the women is checked separately. When the security check is over, the order "Imshi!" is heard, emphasized by a movement of the hand. While the women are being checked, the detainee is released from the adjoining booth.
8:00 The x-ray machine starts to work.
There are at least 10 cars in the line leaving Nablus. They are all also being checked slowly…checking the car itself, searching through the passengers' personal belongings, having the men lift up their shirts, checking the passengers' pants cuffs…all this standing around takes about 10 minutes, according to our clock.
One of the female soldiers doing the security check must have a piece of gum, so the work stops until they find her some gum.
It's not only that the security checking activities are fragmented – a man approaches the turnstile; first he hands over his documents; then he has to step back and, according to the rules, go back to the female security examiner; he then has to go through the magnometer; the magnometer starts flashing red; ah – it's his belt; he takes off his belt and goes through again; the magnometer starts beeping; he removes his watch; goes through again; he forgot to take a few coins out of his pocket; the magnometer starts beeping again; and on and on till the green light flashes that he is 'clean'. Then he has to show the contents of his packages – however, at times the security checks stop for no clear reason. Yes, this time it's that the Checkpoint Commander is busy straightening out the line and imposing discipline on the people in it. It's no wonder that no small number of those leaving Nablus are very upset and express it out loud (not in too loud a voice, and definitely not near the soldiers).
8:10 We called the Humanitarian Centre about the detainee.
8:30 The DCO representative, T., arrives together with their new DCO, S. We inform them about the detainee.
8:35 There's another detainee.
9:00 The first detainee is released and goes on his way.
9:30 We left Huwwara and asked T., the DCO, to take care of the second detainee.
9:37 Beit Furik
A few pedestrians arrive from time to time.
There's one vehicle entering Nablus.
There's an officers' patrol from the battalion at the Checkpoint.
9:55 We leave Beit Furik
10:00 Za'tara
There are 20 cars leaving Nablus. None from the west.
The owner of the little refreshments stand has opened shop during the morning. It seems that the stand can be folded up and moved from place to place.
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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