Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 5.11.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.30 Beit Furik.
8 cars leaving Nablus. One car tries to enter but must wait until those cars are checked. The one after it again has to wait a long time. Few pedestrians. We stand at the turnstiles. The commander comes up and tells us to go to the cement blocks at the back of the checkpoint. He says that it is an order and that this is a closed army area. We explain that it is not so. He makes some vague threats and goes back. We thought there might be a "stoppage of life" but this did not happen.
14.50 We left. The owner of the kiosk said that settlers in a black van had come to his kiosk towards morning, stopped next to the drivers who were praying, hooted, shouted and cursed but had not got out of their vehicle. The soldiers at the checkpoint which opens at 5.00 were not to be seen and did not react to the noise and shouts.
15.20 Huwwara.
Comparatively few people. A humanitarian and another not so long line. Two checking areas
A detainee, 10 minutes and not clear why he has been detained. The DCO representative does not even know that he is there never mind why. Turns out to be "bingo" (on the GSS lists) They are waiting for the reply of the secret service. The mother says that he is accompanying his father who is in a wheel chair to an operation in Jerusalem. The father cannot go on his own.
15.55 A freezing of life. A wanted man is caught and is handcuffed and blindfolded. To make things equal the commander handcuffs the detainee also . We cannot find out why there has been a stoppage of life. The commander ignores us and the DCO representative, A., does not speak to us and goes away saying that he is busy. It seems that there is a suspicious object which has been found at a busstop going up to Har Bracha. A robot is dealing with it. It is to be noted that none of the soldiers explain to the Palestinians why there is a stoppage of life. It is as if this is not their routine which has been interruped and that they have a right to know why they are being delayed. There is no explosion. (Maybe they are dealing with something one of the settlers has forgotten?)
16.10 The checkpoint is again working and of course there is pressure and pushing.
16.20 A third detainee is freed. A soldier says that he should not have been in the detainees' cell. (We did not see when he was detained, probably when we were sent away when there was a stoppage of life.
The mother of the detained man ( we are now not sure if it is the wanted man or bingo) says that he has a permit to enter Israel and lately has got a magnetic card. Only he can take his father to Jerusalem because he is the only one who can lift him and take him there. The father is handicapped and in a wheel chair. All this time the commander is saying that the man is a dangerous wanted man . The DCO representative ignores us and does not make eye contact with us.
16.40 Shai, the commander of the zone, says that the wanted man is just "bingo" and hopes to free him soon. T. says he has no permit of entry into Israel as the family states vehemently. Tom phones Z. a few times and asks him to see to it that the DCO representative takes notice of our questions. In the end A. says that the Secret service spoke to the man and summoned him for Wednesday and now he will be freed. He is not and we think that A. is just currying favour with us and the worried mother.
17.05 The detained man is brought out and the mother is happy but it seems in vain…he is taken to the toilet.
Two people try to go in with a newly bought car so as to have it registered in Nablus. The car is not allowed through because they do not have the right papers (it is new, etc.) Only half an hour later when the commander intervenes is it allowed to go in.
17.35 We leave, despairing and worried about the detainee. We left his uncle who is taking the family in his car our phone number so that he can let us know what happens.
17.40 As we leave the man is freed.
17.45 Za'tara. 25 cars in different directions.
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)
.Fathiya AkfaNov-05-2008Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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