'Awarta, Beit Furik, Beit Iba, Eyal Crossing, Habla, Huwwara, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Za'tara (Tapuah), Sun 26.12.10, Morning

Place:

Beit Iba

'Awarta

Beit Furik

Za'tara (Tapuah)

Huwwara

Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

Eyal Crossing

Habla

Observers:

Aviva, Antia, Ruthie (reporting), Translator: Judith G.

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Dec-26-2010

Morning

Not exactly a shift, but more of an additional tour for Aviva and Antia, who are joining Machsomwatch.

07:15 Irtach When we arrived, we saw workers still going out on foot in the direction of Taybeh, as well as taxis waiting for passengers within the checkpoint parking lot. Very few people in the area of the turnstiles, no hurry, the turnstiles were open.

07:35 Eyal We parked in the lot and entered in order to make acquaintance with this passage. Although I explained how to get here, it seemed irrelevant to me in the present situation when they do not allow us to see the crossing point and the director of the checkpoint wants us to "co-ordinate" with him (at 04:00?) since, if we don't, there are snipers around who might shoot at us. This same director ran towards us very energetically, crying out "Who are you, what are you doing here?" (We were in the plaza, for those who know the place, right at the entrance; to our right, Palestinians in holiday dress waiting for transport - visiting prisoners? To our left, there are the last of the workers going out to work). When he gets closer and identifies us, he continues to shout "I have an arrangement with you, don't I?" With such depressing violence we simply turned around and went back to the car. Case closed. On the outside gate, we saw, next to the "Do Not Photograph" sign, an additional, new blue sign on which was written: "Entrance by permit only". I photographed the sign. And then, we couldn't believe our eyes: 3 real Rambo types ran so fast in our direction that I thought a raging lion was attacking a child behind us! But they stopped next to us, with drawn weapons, calling out "She photographed!" etc. Two minutes later, and a lot more shouting on the walkie-talkie, without saying a word to us, they left.

08:25 Habla, agricultural gate. No Palestinians. About 8 soldiers, probably reserve, and a jeep.

08:30 Lock up, exactly on time. Sweep the path under the gate, leave. Aviva and Antia were in Beit Iba a month ago and there was a checkpoint on highway #60, in the direction of Sebastiya. Today we went by there and there was no checkpoint. We traveled a bit within Sebastiya; we saw a women sweeping and cleaning the dust from the street, across from her house, with total dedication and love.

10:15 Hawarra checkpoint. No delays in traffic. We learned something new today: the piece of the road from the checkpoint in the direction of the DCO and all the way to Awarta is open for Palestinian cars. A taxi driver explained that it is allowed to travel up to the turnoff to Awarta only. The rest is forbidden for Palestinian travel. For example, Beit Furik to Awarta is closed. The Awarta checkpoint is closed.

10:30 Beit Furik checkpoint. To our surprise, there were soldiers on the road who checked cars very carefully at the exit and entrance in the direction of Nablus. Cars opened their hoods, and they checked a tractor from every direction. A short line of vehicles, only one lane open for inspection, either entering or exiting.

11:30 Tapuach checkpoint. A lot of vehicles, no delays. 2 soldiers look at the vehicles, but don't stop them, during the time we were there. We continued toward the village of Tapuach to see the road. Up to Tapuach, the road is nice, 2 lanes and well marked. One meter after the turnoff to Tapuach, the road ends. For all of the Palestinian villages from there on - Yasuf, Iskaka, and the large Salfit - there is an altogether different sort of road.

Location Description

Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel.
Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners.
One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays.
As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007.
We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel.

In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation.
Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m.

In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.

Eyal

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Eyal Checkpoint is intended for pedestrians and Palestinians only.
This is the main barrier for workers to cross from the center of the West Bank. Workers with a work permit to enter Israel can pass through it for trade, medicine, and visiting prisoners.
The checkpoint was built on the Green Line north of Qalqilya in the separation barrier that surrounds the city. The checkpoint began operating in 2004 by the military.
Opening hours on weekdays from 04:00 to 19:00. We started holding shifts there in 2007. We arrived at the checkpoint before it opened at 4 in the morning. We reported on the difficult conditions and the long and cramped queues of workers who must continue their journey by commuting to work throughout Israel. At the end of June 2009, the checkpoint was operated by a civil security company, The transit time has been gradually shortened, today it is faster, but the Palestinians still have to arrive very early to make it to the transportation.
Usually, about 15,000 people pass through.

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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Beit Iba

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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints info-icon closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank.
From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.