Huwwara
Huwwara and Beit Furiq 1 June 2005 Watchers: Tushka K., Nina S. (reporting)Everything takes place on calm waters. The usual occupation without anything in particular going on. When we ask the soldiers whether the roadblock is open from 4:30 a.m., the answer is in Huwwara yes, there are soldiers present all the time and it is possible to cross, but in Beit Furiq the roadblock opens officially at 6:00 a.m. If workers arrive before then, the patrol is called by the pillbox and takes them across.The taxi drivers claim that it does not exactly work that way and the crossing is from 6:00 a.m.HuwwaraOn the concrete block beside the soldier on the eastern concrete wall who is furthest on the right, there is a laminated, hand written notice whose heading reads: ‘Women Watch’. The notice, which is written in the form of a letter, instructs the soldiers not to talk to us, not to give us information, to enable us to observe the roadblock from the sidelines and to report on what happens at the roadblock. We did not manage to see who the signatory was, and it was also very difficult to read the letter because of the distance.Tapuach Junction7:45 a.m.Two queues in a southerly direction, a bit disorderly, but the crossing is quick. There are 22 cars in the queue. We stayed for about 20 minutes and continued on our way.8:10 a.m.At the northern exit from Huwwara village, before going up to Yitzhar, there is a snap roadblock in a southerly direction. There are detainees being checked (they have already crossed at Huwwara North – released within about 10 minutes, and others who have come from Beit Iba who waited over 30 minutes). We asked for the process to be hurried up and they were indeed released immediately, I don’t think it was because of us, but it’s always worth asking.8:20 a.m.There are no stalls except for the date drink seller. The roadblock officer, A., is a decent person and the soldiers also behave quietly and without fuss. There are very few people and they cross quickly via the roadblock and it is only towards the end of the shift that there is a build up and a delay, this is also because there are fewer soldiers at the roadblock as they had gone to eat breakfast.When we arrived we found a number of women having an argument/ discussion with A. They had tried to take sacks of sage and hyssop, which they had picked in the field, across and this is not allowed. The plants are protected. Their sacks were confiscated and kept for the Palestinian Authority inspector. They tried to get A., to give them back, and he was very polite, patient and repeated himself but did not give in. At one point only an old woman remained, she was not prepared to give up and continued arguing. A.’s suggestion that she take a small amount for her personal use was not acceptable to her and, when A., had his back turned, she took the sack and marched off in a southerly direction. A., realised what she had done and followed her to the southern roadblock and took the sack back. We were torn between nature protection and the poor woman who hoped to earn her daily bread.A man arrived with his brother’s documents. His brother, according to him, was in Ramalla with his documents. Although he argued for about half an hour, it did not help him. He was not allowed to cross, but it all happened quietly and no one forced him back into Nablus. In the end we gave him a telephone and he called and asked for his documents to be brought to him.Beit Furiq9:00 a.m.The roadblock is managed quietly, very few people cross. A soldier who claims that they are guarding a border is put right by us and is astounded. He did not know the exact position of the border.10:50 a.m.We left. At Tapuach Junction there were four cars and at Huwwara the snap roadblock has been moved to the north. There are three cars and no detainees.
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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