Burin has become the only way from which people can get to Nablus
13:30 – Habla
The Habla gate was closed, and many people were already waiting in the shed in blazing heat in an area where there were 2 soldiers who paid no attention. After a quarter of an hour, a vehicle approached with the officer Tamer and another soldier. He came over to us and said that, according to the regulations, there should be 4 soldiers and not 2, but he went in and closed the gate. At 13:30 another 2 soldiers arrived. Tamer went over to the people who were waiting in the shed and photographed their documents to make it easier for them to avoid waiting in line for the checking of ID’s.
In the opposite direction from Habla, there was a line of loaded trucks waiting, and every one who entered from the direction of Habla required an inspection.
Before we left, I started to photograph. The female soldiers approached and asked me to erase the photos. Of course, I did erase them, but I managed to photograph them before they opened the gate.
Sara checkpoint was closed and was not manned, but in the tower opposite there were lookouts, so I was not able to photograph.
Huwara – a few shops were open: a few groceries and a few garages on the main road; very few people in the streets.
The same in Beita. Everything was worn out and only a few shops remained open. We went into one of the shops and asked why it was so silent. They answered that people simply had no money for purchases.
In Beita they told us that some of the settlers from Eviatar returned to the settlement and every day they come down, accompanied by soldiers, to the residents’ houses nearby and harass them.
14:30 Huwara is still closed.
We continued to Awarta; the checkpoint was manned and had long lines of vehicles in both directions, to Nablus and back from Nablus.
14:35 Beit Furik A long line of vehicles in both directions, but more traffic among those from the directions of Nablus. We moved about 200 meters from the checkpoint and went down to photograph. Within seconds, a jeep and a military van arrived and the soldiers got out and began to interrogate us and took our names. They photographed us and threw us out.
15:30 Burin; because of the closure of the Huwara checkpoint for those who wanted to go to Nablus or return from it, the village of Burin has become the only way from which people can get to Nablus, so there is a lot of crowding of vehicles on the roads of Burin.
Out of curiosity, we wanted to see how this operates, so we rode behind the vehicles which were on their way to Nablus at the western exit between Burin and the village of Tell where there is a checkpoint with soldiers. So we travelled a long way around and suddenly realized that we had made a mistake and we were near the exit from the village Tell in the direction of Nablus. We had to go back to Burin because the way which goes to the main road was closed (the Yitzhar road in the direction to the Gilad farm).
Location Description
'Awarta
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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-29-2024Awarta: a long line of cars
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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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Beta
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Beta is a town of 12,000 people, high unemployment rate. Many work in Israel, others in agriculture. Neat ornamental system. Unemployment is high. Young people, even the educated, are forced to look for work in Israel. Medical services are available once a week.
Settlers from Yitzhar and Itamar harass residents frequently and prevent them from cultivating their fields: Permits are required from the DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL to go to work.
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Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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Habla
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Habla CP (1393)
The Habla checkpoint (1393) was established on the lands of the residents of Qalqilya, on the short road that
connected it for centuries to the nearby town of Habla. The separation barrier intersects this road twice and cut off the residents of Qalqilya from their lands in the seam zone.(between the fence and the green line).
There is a passage under Road 55 that connects Qalqilya to the sabotage This agricultural barrier is used by the farmers and nursery owners established along Road 55 from the Green Line and on both sides of the kurkar road leading to the checkpoint.
This agricultural checkpoint serves the residents of Arab a-Ramadin al-Janoubi (detached from the West Bank), who pass through it to the West Bank and back to their homes. The opening hours (3 times a day) of this agricultural checkpoint are longer than usual, about an hour (recently shortened to 45 minutes), and are coordinated with the transportation hours of a-Ramadin children studying in the occupied in the West Bank.Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-25-2025Habla Checkpoint: system of gates
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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 AkfaApr-25-2025Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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