Huwwara
Huwwara 12 July 2005 Watchers: Biria L., Yael P.On the way to Huwwara there are, surprisingly, no snap roadblocks.The roadblock functions quietly and efficiently. It seems that A., the roadblock officer, influences the soldiers under his command and they all speak respectfully to those crossing the roadblock.There is no blind insistence on rules and the officer and the D.C.O. officer are open, flexible and sensitive towards the Palestinians and detain no one during the whole of the shift.Some roadblocks where military policemen served has been closed (unfortunately I realised it too late to find out details) so there is a surplus of personnel. The men and women checking behind the turnstiles seem very bored.A., opened a line for cars leaving Nablus in order to accelerate the operation and in order to make use of his extra soldiers.We visit Beit Furiq. As usual, the soldiers there are very hostile (are they specially selected?) and the traffic is light.A group of Koreans arrives at the roadblock. They speak practically no English and it is difficult to understand their explanations. Two young men from Nablus have come to get them and we understand from them that a Korean Culture Open Day has been organised in Nablus. The boys are utterly devastated that they do not have a permit to enter. A French girl who is responsible for the whole event arrives and tries to sort out the problems. She is surprised that a permit is needed and, for some reason, does not want our help. A., has misgivings about letting them in without a permit because there is shooting at this moment in Nablus and he is not prepared to take responsibility for their safety.I suggest to one of them, the one who speaks a little English, that I contact the Korean Embassy on his behalf, but for some reason he does not particularly want to speak to his embassy. The difference between the French woman and the Koreans and the Palestinians is marked and, in my opinion, makes the small difference between the Palestinians and us more obvious, between us communication is relatively successful and we understand each other.11:15 a.m.We leave the roadblock. The Koreans, we are sorry to say, are still there.
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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