Huwwara, Beit Furiq
Huwwara, Beit Furik, Za’atara Junc., Monday 13.3.2006 PMObservers: Macky S. Riva B. Meirav A. (reporting)Visitors. Erez. a student from the USA and Silvan a reporter from France.Natanya translating.A quiet shift with little movement .13.20 Crossroads Za’atara. The two checking areas are empty.13.25 Kfar Beita No army at the entrance to the village. 13.30 Hawarra crossroads. The rolling checkpoint has passed to the road going towards Yizhar. There are soldiers with spikes on the road but no cars.13.40 Hawarra checkpoint. 9 cars waiting to enter Nablus. At the fence on the path leading to the checkpoint were women waiting for their men. There is one plastic chair. As every day in the last two weeks there are metal boards and wire mesh, building materials for the army which are being used to improve the checkpoint and to make the way more difficult for those passing by.At the centre of the checkpoint, parallel to the checking areas is a post to shield the soldiers. This way they can open and close the turnstiles and in the meantime the soldiers are trying out these turnstiles on themselves. It is built as a cage with orange grips which open to let someone in and then closes on them until the soldiers should open the turnstile again and they are the ones who are in charge. It is so frightening that when the soldiers ask a woman soldier to act as a guinea pig she lets out a yell of fright and this while this is still being done in a friendly atmosphere. The soldiers keep trying this out while one pretends to be the Palestinian and the other the soldier and turn about. In the end one of them is caught inside and his friend cannot open the turnstile. The trapped man is nervous and the other soldier scolds him and says “What is the matter? Just stand there.” and only after a while does he find the correct combination which allows him to free the soldier trapped inside. It is easy to imagine what will happen in the future and how many Palestinians will be trapped in this horrible contraption.Amongst the building materials one see big boards which look as if they are made of lead and which will evidently be used for some kind of x-ray.The order of things at the passing have again changed and now those entering Nablus have to pass on the right of the checkpoint and not the left. The Palestinians who do not have telepathic ability try to pass on the left and as usual are sent to the back of the line even if they are already half to way to Nablus. Second lieutenant R. is the commander and the entire time that we are there the line of women and sick opens and closes and there were no detainees. Those from Jenin and Tulkarm are sent back and told they can only pass through Beit Iba. R. claims that in opposition to the new orders there is no limitation of movement because of the holiday but it seems that because of the expectation of this those who have an option have decided to stay home.A man from Salfit wants to pass and in the beginning the soldiers do not allow this because of the closure. He does not speak Hebrew and someone stops to translate and he is allowed to pass. But the man who has acted as translator and only come to fetch something is forced to go back and pass through the checkpoint again and we cannot help.The dog trainer and dog are sniffing each car for a long time before allowing them to go on their way.15.00 -Riva and the visitors go to Beit Furik where the checkpoint is empty. The visitors want to see a settlement from inside and they go to Itamar but there the guard takes one look at the sign of Machsomwatch and will not allow us to enter. 15.10 -A truck which we saw an hour ago in the line eventually reaches the checkpoint. D. (DCO representative) explains to us that it is not the length of time that the truck waits which is important but how long it takes to check it. Depends on your point of view. To him the efficiency of the soldiers is important. To us the waiting time of the Palestinians. 16.20 Za’atara crossroads. Nothing from the north, 7 from the west.16.25 -Next to the new gate at the entrance to Marda is a military jeep and soldiers are checking. On the way back there was no army presence.
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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