'Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Sun 14.12.08, Morning

Place:

'Awarta

Beit Furik

Za'tara (Tapuah)

Huwwara

Tags:

Detainees

Hitches at checkpoints

Observers:

Sharon V., and Ditza Y. (reporting)

Dec-14-2008

Morning

Translation: Suzanne O.

Zeita

7:45 a.m.

As usual: a roadblock of boulders.

Za'atra

7:55 a.m.

There are 6 cars from the west.

We go over to the northern roadblock. The roadblock commander comes towards us at a run and gives us a sheet of paper signed by Yitzik Bar, Brigade Commander, Shomron, ordering us not to cross the security line, the 'white line' at the roadblock. This is because of concern for our safety and to prevent any disruption to the soldiers' work. The sheet also states that anyone violating this order is committing an offence and may be charged and brought to court. Well done IDF for devoting so much of its valuable time on behalf of our safety, it has created a rectangle measuring 4 - 5 metres drawn magnificently and permits us to stand within it.

However, the vehicles crossing the roadblock are not inspected.

Beit Furik

8:10 a.m.

The landscape has changed completely. The yellow barrier is open in what was the car park, the area is completely deserted, there are no cars and the 'café' has also disappeared. The turnstiles are also empty, there are no pedestrians. Those crossing to and from Nablus are driven in taxis which are not inspected.

Awarta

8:20 a.m.

There is one lorry at the new roadblock, which has been moved south, its driver has alighted for inspection but immediately gets back aboard the vehicle and continues on his way. According to the soldiers there will be no more 'back to back' at the roadblock.

Huwwara

8:50 a.m.

There is one detainee at the roadblock; it is not possible to get near enough to talk to him.

The crossing to Nablus designated, according to the sign, for disabled is open, and those entering Nablus cross via it speedily. T., the DCO representative, draws our attention to a woman laughing because everyone is crossing via the disabled gate.

There are about 60 people at the turnstiles at the exit from Nablus. The soldiers inspecting sit above the queue, closed in, which gives the impression of alienation, inhuman.

The new turnstiles at the exit from the roadblock screech and are difficult to turn, and we find ourselves explaining to those crossing and who are finding it difficult to move them and trying to find a way of avoiding them to get out of the roadblock, that they have to use force.

T., the DCO representative, is proud of the new roadblock and is aware of the repairs and improvements that need to be made.

A., the commander, who comes over wants to talk to us, he is not satisfied with the new arrangement of less thorough inspections and is concerned about a terrorist attack. When we say we back thorough inspections, but only when entering Israel, he does not understand what we are talking about, what do we mean, that territory in which there are Jewish settlements does not belong to Israel?

9:10 a.m.

We move to the car crossing area. It is strange walking there through what was previously the 'humanitarian lane', and to cross freely all the forbidden lines.

Vehicles entering Nablus are not checked. Leaving Nablus they are checked and, occasionally, the boot is raised; one of the drivers has to bring some unidentified equipment from his car to the x-ray machine. The inspections are fast.

9:35 a.m.

We returned to the turnstiles. The detainee is no longer there.

The gate for the disabled going into Nablus is closed and about 40 people are crowded round the turnstile, now forced to cross through it. Why? For security reasons. It turns out that the gate is open up to 9:00 a.m. then it is closed. According to T., if more than 50 people crowd around it, it will be opened again.

A soldier sends another Palestinian to the cell, and he protests angrily, claiming that he is arrested every day for 3 - 4 hours, and he has done nothing. We could not get to him but his brother gave us his details. We asked T., from the DCO to go over to him, but T., claimed that he is being inspected, he will have to wait half an hour to an hour, no more. He behaved as if this is completely acceptable. As if to say: what's the problem, so he'll spend some time in the cell.

10:10 a.m.

We left the roadblock. At 1:00 p.m. I contacted the detainee. According to him he was released an hour ago.

Location Description

Checkpoint Beit Furik

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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)

Za'tara (Tapuah) Checkpoint

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Za'atara 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 Tapuach 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'atara 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.

Sep-28-2023

Shoshi Anbar

Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs

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Huwwara - the checkpoint and the township

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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 info-icon 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 today is free, but there is still a military presence in the guard tower and vehicle inspections are done from time to time.

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 info-icon 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)

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Huwara checkpoint - the gate is closed

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