Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 26.10.08, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
15:00 Tapuach Za'tara Junction Checkpoint rather empty as usual lately.
5 vehicles southbound waiting to be checked.
15:15 Huwwara Checkpoint
3 active checking posts, special side line for women children and elderly crowded and moving.
Active X-ray truck, as well as sniffer-dog and trainer. Concrete cubicle for detainees – empty.
DCO representative – Adam, most of the time out of our communication reach.
Checkpoint commander – Second lieutenant X, same.
From the ridiculous distance where we are allowed to stand vigil, everything looks rather quiet today, no special incidents transcending the monstrous routine. Screeching Dina the MPwoman is conspicuously absent and quiet prevails. Men report waiting between half an hour and an hour.
Vehicles entering Nablus are checked slowly but not turned back, Most of the time.***
We did not make it to Beit Furik Checkpoint, however, because in spite of the said "quiet", we had a special episode, and from here on dedicate our report to *** –
Laws, world order and chemotherapy.
Laws: Yellow (Israeli/East Jerusalem) license-plate bearing vehicle may never enter Nablus. Period.
World Order: District Coordinating Office/r between the law (Israeli army) and the Palestinians
Chemotherapy: Even in Palestine people sometime fall victim to cancer and are treated with chemotherapy in hospitals distant from their homes, requiring them to travel to and fro, in their severe condition.
Final Scene: Darkness falls, cold, a chilly wind blows and even we shiver, although less from cold and more at the sight of six cancer patients trying to stand, hardly able to, nearly tripping, in the middle of the road on the separation line between the entering and exiting lanes of vehicles being checked, waiting, waiting until an ambulance would arrive.
The Story: a van arrived bearing yellow license plates and six cancer patients returning to their homes in Nablus or to the hospital there (because their homes are further north), having had chemotherapy treatment in Augusta Victoria Hospital, East Jerusalem. The driver is refused in spite of showing the soldiers a medical certificate and telling them and us that he does this transport daily and without any problems. He leaves to try his luck in Awarta. No go. Comes back. Pulls to the side and turns to us.
The Checkpoint commander and DCO junior officer representative know of his presence but show no willingness to look into the matter or solve anything. From afar.
Time passes. We call the DCO senior officer in the area. Who also arrives. He is aware of the situation and announces that this driver is actually a felon time and again and has not arranged the paperwork as it should be done and that's that. This time he will learn his lesson. The cancer patients' suffering is on the driver's head. Let him know. This whole episode takes about an hour.
With all his good will, the senior DCO – known far and wide for his accessibility and readiness to solve problems – sticks to the letter of the "law", and summons a Nablus ambulance for the patients' further travel. Their driver who in the meantime has been presented as a con man decides he's had enough, orders the patients out of his car and leaves. The ambulance does not arrive, and luckily another ambulance arrives from the south, picks up the six miserable patients and proceeds into town. That's the whole of it.
Ah, yes. Can't part without some 'discipline' work: three boys are detained in the cubicle for having made merry in the waiting lines. The DCO appeals to the commander at our request, who in turn promises him to release them within 5 minutes. 10 minutes later, as we must leave, no one has yet been released to go anywhere. We report to world order accordingly.
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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