Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 25.1.09, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
Tapuach (Za'tara) Junction Checkpoint 14:55
About 150 vehicles waiting to be inspected – coming from around Nablus.
In the middle of the junction that also serves as a military compound – under the furled Border Patrol flag – 4 detainees half seated on the ground leaning against the container that serves as an army office/store room. They are blindfolded, hands shackled behind their backs. One of the detainees keeps shouting "Soldier! I'm ill! Please! I need to go to the toilet!"
A soldier stands guard, occasionally tightening their blindfolds, demonstrably ignoring the pleas. A junior officer stands smoking above them on the stairs next to the container, watching, listening, gloating.
We ask the soldier how long they've been here, he doesn't know. "They're here from the previous shift". Does not respond to their request to use the toilet.
We call the hotline. Another soldier 'informs' us that 'drugs and weapons were found in their car'.
2 dog trainers arrive with a sniffer-dog that is tied to the container just next to one of the detainees.
15:25 A jeep arrives, a captain smilingly greets us. Within minutes the detainees are released. The captain points to one of them, telling us in what almost sounds like a giggle: "See that one with the stripes? 7 years ago he laid an explosive charge and did time in jail." Concludes: this was a police detention. (??) Drugs and weapons seem to have wondrously evaporated.
Another soldier: "Did you film me? See? A Border Patrolman releasing Arabs!!"
IN the meantime, 5 cabs are being detained as well.
Huwwara Checkpoint 16:15
Border Patrol bosses the area. This morning they smashed the juice-vendor's little stand. And hit him as well, so the people tell us. The Checkpoint itself was closed for an hour-and-a-half before noon.
The side line for women and elderly is long and slow. Again, hundreds of people in the waiting lines.
Everything as usual: The MPwomen's bored/irritated/sniding/cross/ and especially inarticulate voices in the loudspeakers, 'One by one!" "Move back!!", the belts removed, the humiliation, the horrific crowding in the lines, the tears and shaking hands of the young woman-student who unfortunately forgot her ID at home in another purse and is not allowed to cross the checkpoint to go home to Huwwara after her day at the university (until she and the DCO and we and they somehow came up with the ingenious solution of calling her father on someone's cell phone so he can tell her the ID number to be told to the DCO who would check it against the army computers to be cleared and allowed to go).
What else? A novelty. For us, at least: A yellow metal gate lying open along the vehicle checking zone, to be closed at any time, thus blocking this exit/entry to the city of Nablus.
We left at 17:35, time to take our Shame and Nausea home to bed. Their proud father – Occupation – with his bald spots, paunch, ranks, various drawn firearms and existential angst – went on celebrating in the Territories.
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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