Beit Iba checkpoint: the soldiers open and close the checkpoint as they please - machsomwatch
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Beit Iba checkpoint: the soldiers open and close the checkpoint as they please

Observers: Ronit Dahan-Ramati, Fathiya Akefa (reporting), Judith Green (translating)
Feb-27-2025
| Afternoon

We travelled through the Te’enim checkpoint next to Jubara – only Israeli vehicles go through, mainly settlers from the settlements of Einav and Avnei Hefetz, next to Tulkarem.

Anabta checkpoint (Einav) was closed.  There were soldiers in the tower next to the checkpoint.

Beit Iba checkpoint at the western entrance of Nablus.  A very long line of vehicles in both directions.  We waited in a traffic jam for 40 minutes.  The owner of a business next to the checkpoint said that the checkpoint had just opened an hour ago and that is why there was still such a crowd.  This has become the usual situation: they open and close whenever they feel like it.

13:45 Jit junction Sarra checkpoint was open only for those leaving Nablus. Heavy traffic because of the inspections; the soldiers were inspecting every vehicle that passed through. The station on the hill next to the Sarra-Jit junction was manned.  A new military outpost next to Havat Gil’ad  overlooks the village of Sarra.

13:55   The military outpost opposite the school in Burin is manned; a few soldiers are sunbathing.

14:00 Huwara   most of the shops are closed, almost no one on the streets.

14:10 Awarta checkpoint  traffic jams in both directions because of the detailed inspections by the soldiers.

Beit Furik   Here there is also a huge traffic jam, particularly for those returning to Nablus.

On our way back we went into Burin.  We travelled with our friend, Doha, in order to find out what is happening at the checkpoint between Burin and Til where thousands of people pass through on the way into and out of Nablus.  A very narrow and twisted road; a long line of people who are going to Nablus;  people coming back from Nablus are not allowed to go through and they are forced to go through the hills on foot and there are people taking a chance and going up in their cars.  We waited for half an hour and not a single vehicle was inspected or allowed through.  We asked one of the drivers what was going on and he said that this happens every day.  The soldiers are playing cards on the computer and whenever they feel like it, they start working.  Of course, we are forbidden to get closer…

 

Location Description

  • 'Anabta CP

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    • 'Anabta CP The checkpoint is located south of the village of 'Anabta, at the intersection of Road 60 (leading to Nablus at the entrance to Area A), with Road (57, 557, 5576) facing west towards the Einav settlement and the checkpoint at the exit from the West Bank - Figs checkpoint. Until 2010 we used to watch the intersection and report the long columns created due to a slow inspection of the vehicles in both directions.  
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
      Oct-28-2011
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
  • 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)
  • Beit Iba

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    • A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.  
      Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
      Neta Efroni
      Jun-4-2014
      Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
  • 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)

      .
      Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
      Fathiya Akfa
      Jun-4-2014
      Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
  • Sarra

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    • Sarra
      The checkpoint is installed between the Palestinian village of Sera and the district city of Nablus,
      Since 2011, internal barriers Located among the West Bank Israeli settlements have somehow allowed, Palestinian residents to travel and move and reach various Palestinian cities.
      After the terrible massacre by the Hammas on October 7 upon Israelis in the communities around Gaza, internal checkpoints manned by the army were installed to prevent free passage for Palestinians.
      Many restrictions were imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank. The prevention of movement shuttered the possibility of making a living in Israel. The number of Palestinian attacks by Israeli extremist settlelers increased along with the radicalization of the army against the Palestinians.
      The conduct at the Sera checkpoint is one of the manifestations of the restrictions on all aspects of the Palestinians' lives.

       

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