Central West Bank - Barriers non stop!

Place:

Sarra

'Awarta

Beit Furik

Deir Sharaf

Madama

Huwwara

Tags:

Delay in opening the checkpoint

Observers:

Roni P., Jude L., Fathiya A., Nina S.

Feb-29-2024

Morning

All the villages are blocked one way or another and it's difficult to find a way to get to towns – for medical care, doctors and food. The exit from Qalqiliya is open and there is a road from there to Nablus through Jit and Deir Sharaf. However, at Deir Sharaf where we visited, there is an open and manned checkpoint and may be closed at any time (probably closed that evening).

Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village

Photo:

Nina Seba

On the way from Izbat Tabib to Azzun there is a manned checkpoint and crossing involves inspection.

At the entrance to Azzun from the main road there are closed gates info-icon and a threatening fence around this entrance up to some dozen meters.

The entrance to Jinsafut is with gates, right now open.

At the entrance to Funduk there is a manned army post. Little action, many shops closed.'

We continued to road 60 in the direction of Deir Sharaf, and drove back on road 60 towards Huwarra. On our way, the entrance to Sara is blocked with a manned checkpoint, and possible entry is unclear.

The entrance to Madama is blocked by a gate. One can reach the village from Burin, but passage to Nablus – used by villagers from Madama, Asira Qibliya and Burin is impossible without passage to the main road through Tel village and controlled and often blocked, as we heard later in Burin from people who stand for hours until able to cross.

A woman who gave birth, back from Nablus, waited for hours with her newborn child, until she was enabled to get back home.

There is a point blocked by soldiers and the bus reaches it, the passengers walk to the bus coming from the other direction.

Huwarra: there are more shops ad restaurants open now than the last time we were there a week ago, but very few people and cars on the street. Settlers no longer pass here but rather take the giant new settlers road that passes the fields of Beita, Huwarra and Awarta. It is about 10 meters higher than its surroundings. Soldiers guard along the road in several places.

Huwara checkpoint - the gate is closed

Photo:

Nina Seba

The notorious Huwarra Checkpoint at the entrance to Nablus from road 50 is shut down.

We continued to Beit Furik.

Awarta - almond trees are blooming

Photo:

Nina Seba

Awarta - a long line of cars

Photo:

Nina Seba

Awarta - a view of the village

Photo:

Nina Seba

Awarta Checkpoint is a possible entrance way to Nablus if one comes from the northern side, through Awarta village, opened and controlled. A long line of waiting cars in both directions. On our way back we stopped but soldiers asked us to leave, claiming it was dangerous for us to stand there.

The Beit Furik Checkpoint is manned and every car is inspected. The waiting line is short.

We entered Beit Furik village. Most of the shops were closed – on strike. Last night, according to villagers with whom we talked, soldiers entered the village and the youngsters got mad and threw stones. Soldiers opened fire and a young man was killed. At the grocery there were children – no school because of the strike.

We drove back to Burin. Exit to road 60 is open now, but manned. It is unclear who is allowed through. Yesterday settlers came down to Burin from Yitzhar colony, threw stones and a stone-throwing fight ensued with the locals. Soldiers arrived and shot in the air, and the settlers withdrew.

The ride home went quickly, entrance to Sara from road 60 is now blocked.

How easy it is for us to move, whereas Palestinians are stopped at every step of the way.

In the evening we heard that exits/entrances to ALL the villages were blocked now.

Location Description

Deir Sharaf checkpoint

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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village

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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)

Madama

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Madama village

This village is situated in the Nablus district, about 5 kilometers south of the city of Nablus, at an altitude of 517 meters above sea level. Madama was founded 400 years ago and its villagers originate from the Arabian Peninsula. It numbered 1,728 inhabitants in 2007. 62% of the village area is categorized as Area B, and 38% as Area C.

Over the years, hundreds of dunams have been robbed of the village for the purpose of building settler-colonies, army bases, and paving roads:139 dunams were sequestered to found settler-colony Yitzhar south of the village, and the land was also confiscated for paving road 60. The road and its buffer zone (75 meters on each side) lined by barbed wire fences separate the village’s farmlands to the north and the village farmers are denied access to tend them. The road also separates Madama and Bourin, two villages with close neighborly ties, and now not able to access the road directly.

The settler-colony Yitzhar has become a daily threat to the village. The settler-colonists planted trees in fenced-in groves, steal crops, burn, uproot and vandalize Palestinians’ trees, and harm both holy sites and property. They also attack the Palestinian landowners in order to terrorize them and prevent them from accessing their lands.

For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Madama_vp_en.pdf

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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