Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Wed 6.5.09, Afternoon
14.00 Shomron crossing
We were stopped at the side and Hamdan was asked for his Id. Ours were not asked for of course.
14.30 Za'tara
8 cars from the direction of Nablus.
14.50 Huwwara
Two checking posts and a humanitarian one. The lines are not full and there are no detainees. About 15 cars wait at the exit from Nablus. A bus is checked. The passengers start to get in. At one side a car is detained and a dog and trainer are checking. The x-ray machine is also working.
At 15.00 a military police car arrives, two soldiers get out and the car goes on its way. We do not know how long the bus had been detained but now it goes on its way. The dog is still in the car. Two men stand at the side far off. The checking takes a long time and the dog checks again and again. In the end the dog gets out and the soldier also checks from the front seat to the back. The men are allowed to leave.
The car lane moves slowly. Today the drivers are not being bothered and they stand at the entrance to Nablus trying to find passengers.
15.30 When we left the checkpoint a soldier stands in front of the cars entering Nablus behind the cement blocks on which he leans his rifle in the direction of whoever is approaching.
16.00. Beit Furik
Cars are again being checked. 4 cars wait to enter Nablus and two at the exit. There is a new slogan here….."Na Nah Nahm Nahman Meumam" in silver and gold. The commander of the parachutists came up to ask and answered politely. He says that the checking of cars is random. The roof which has been at the pedestrian crossing has been taken off and the commander says that there are renovations so that the passage to Beit Furik should be straight with no slipping through. While we were there the checking was not really random. It seemed that every car was checked, both entering and exiting, at a level that was either careful checking or just looking at the driver. The commander praised us for our presence and actions and wished us a good day. Words that we don't usually receive and definitely not at Beit Furik.
16.50 Za'tara
16 cars in the direct ion of road 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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