Afternoon
MachsomWatchers: H.A., A.C., Y.A.Huwwara had been placed under “encirclement” [*keter*, cordoned off] since Tuesday, and all shops and businesses were closed. There was hardly anybody on the streets.13:30, Huwwara South checkpoint: some 30 people were in the queue at the checkpoint, and there were two being held for questioning .Between the two checkpoints:Three members of the ICM had been arrested by the soldiers in Area A. They claimed to have been hit brutally by the soldiers. A policeman who arrived at the checkpoint also checked our IDs, asked that we move aside and explained politely that as members of MachsomWatch we could only stand at a checkpoint itself, and not in-between the two checkpoints. When we insisted on getting some logical explanation for this request, he explained that he was releasing the ICM people, and asked that we move off and turn aside. And indeed they were released in Area A.Huwwara South checkpoint:There were some 50 people standing in line at the checkpoint. The atmosphere was edgy as there were apparently warnings afoot of threatened terrorist action. The checkpoint was being run quietly and correctly. Five detainees had been held for the past two hours.All Al-Najah University students were being allowed to go through.Students from Al-Quds University were held up, the explanation being that Al-Najah University had an agreement with the DCO, while this is not true for the Al-Quds University.A group of 25 taxi drivers arrived from the southern checkpoint after having had their licenses confiscated. The soldiers’ explanation : there is an agreement to permit parking for only 15 taxis (the number used to be nine, but in consideration of the hard-up situation of the drivers, the IDF had made a concession to them). Today, 40 of them had parked. Twenty-five of them had thus broken the law. Conclusion: we met them halfway but they have abused the privilege. Parking outside the designated area is punishable by a fine of NIS 500. When we left, they were still being held by the IDF.15:40, Beit Furik checkpoint: We were allowed to stand at a distance of 30 meters from the checkpoint, and were not permitted to talk to anyone. After a few minutes, the officer in command turned up and really went out of his way to be nice to us. He revealed to us the secret intelligence information that there was a very specific terrorist warning emanating from Nablus and that the IDF would be launching an operation. That was enough. We left before it grew dark.
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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Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-24-2026Huwara: The school on the outskirts of town and an outpost hidden among the trees
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