Central West Bank: The gates at the entrance to the Palestinian towns are closed and the roads are congested
We drove to Duma to deliver clothes, shoes and blankets to the local Bedouins. They are in an extremely harsh state. Following settlers violence, they have no livelihood and remain in the area especially to protect their women and children. One should note the activity of activists who are there permanently, supplying protective presence.
Qusra – the entrance to the village is closed with a gate ever since October 7, 2023. We walked in to the grocery behind the gate. The owner told us that settlers from Esh Qodesh setttlement enter the village daily on horseback. He said that when they run into a child on the way they beat him up and damage the vehicles parked near the road.
He also said that every day, morning and evening, there is a manned checkpoint in front of the closed gate. The soldiers inspect the people walking into the village as they leave their vehicles outside. Livelihood, according to him, has received a fatal blow. People out of the village (including settlers from Migdalim settlement) who used to shop here can no longer enter with their vehicles.
On our way, we passed the junction entering Evyatar colonist outpost, the road to which has already been regulated and paved.
Beta – entrance is open. We spoke on the phone with Hamed (who was in Ramallah at the time). Most businesses in Beta are closed down.
From Awarta, the waiting line toward Nablus is relatively short.
In Beit Furik, on the other hand, a long traffic jam awaits us from the village toward the junction leading to Nablus through the checkpoint. Vehicles are inspected one by one. They wait in line to cross the road and advance toward the checkpoint on the other side. Only the driver signaled to enter the checkpoint does this and is inspected, and it takes a long time, especially where cabs are concerned. When we left, the traffic jam was gone and soldiers had left the checkpoint.
Sarra checkpoint – a huge traffic jam for people leaving Nablus because of inspections.
On the way back, no jam from Awarta toward Nablus, but in the opposite direction – back from Nablus – the line waits.
We stopped in Burin, had tea and coffee and received thyme and sage…
Continuing back home, we encountered a traffic jam at the junction with Sarra. At the exit from the village was a checkpoint manned by soldiers inspecting the drivers coming from Nablus and Sarra. The line was very long, whereas the opposite line was light.
Funduk 16:30 – the military posts are manned. Soldiers standing near the gate inspect the vehicles coming from the west to the main road.
Location Description
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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Duma
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Duma
A village in the Nablus governorate, with 3,000 residents. They owned some 18,000 dunams, 500 dunams of which the village itself was built. However, after the settlement of Migdaleim annexed a large part of their land, their area was reduced to only 2,000 dunams.On July 31, 2015, two houses in the town were torched with petrol bombs. Sa'ad and Riham Dawabsha, and their infant, Ali Sa'ad Dawabsha, were burned to death. Another son was seriously injured. "Revenge" and "King Messiah" were spray painted on the walls of the house. The trial of the arsonist, the settler Amiram Ben Uliel, is still underway (2019), and a plea bargain was signed in May 2018 with the minor who participated in the planning of the arson.
The closure imposed by the army, the poor roads that they are forced use due to the lack of paving permits from the Civil Administration, along with the lack of public transportation, all these difficulties cut off the village from nearby Nablus and Ramallah.
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Qusra
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Qusra
This village is located in the Nablus district, about 28 kilometers south-east of the city. Its population numbers 4,310 as of 2007 (according to the Palestinian census). After the Oslo Accords, 50% - most of the village’s built-up area – was categorized Area B, and about 70 homes as well as the rest of its land are inside Area C.
In 1983, 177 dunams of the village lands were confiscated by Israel to build a ‘Nahal’ stronghold, turned civilian in 1985 and named Migdalim settler-colony, east of the village itself. To the north-east is a gas station and a leather plant, as well as a studio producing wood ware, all of which are a branch of the settler-colony. Dozens of additional farmland were confiscated from Qussra and Jaloud in order to erect the settler-colonies Esh Qodesh and Ahiya.
“The villagers point to the settler-colonists of Esh Qodesh as the source of their problem. Qussra villagers were forbidden to tend their lands located a kilometer away from the Esh Qodesh fence, and about 20 meters from the area declared military zone. What about the ‘legitimate’ plots? Their crops are regularly destroyed by the settler-colonists. Fires break out in wheat fields, olive trees are cut down, wells are destroyed – these have all become routine events. In spite of all of this, the head of the local council sees the Israeli army as the main source. He says that the settler-colonists could not have harassed the villagers without the army backing them up…”
(From a MW report, August 3, 2015)
In 2001, the Israeli army evacuated its intelligence base “Kida”. In 2003, the settler outpost Kida was established, a quick attempt was made to evict the newcomers, but they were eventually allowed to remain.
For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Qusra_vp_en.pdf
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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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