Atara, Huwwara and Beit Furik
Atara, Huwwara dn Beit Furik 1 July 2006 Watchers: Ruti A., Chava H., Vivi T., Noga K., and Chana B. (reporting)“They will get used to it” or maybe they have already “got used to it”.General: Compared to other times the traffic is light both of pedestrians and vehicles. Conversations with those going to and fro only accentuate the despair, the frustration and the rising tide of anger.The age limitation (15 – 25) is in force. The villages of Chirbet el Akrabania, Ein Shibli, Chirbet Beit Chasan and Nasaria are still closed. The Ein el Bidan roadblock is closed, the Chamra roadblock is closed to the residents of the above villages and at Beit Furiq they are not allowed to cross to get to Nablus – all of this on the basis of annexation of the Jordan Bik’aa. The ‘donkey track’ in Marka is still open from time to time – and the danger to the large lorries travelling along it is very real.Atara:Again, as in our visit on last week’s shift, we were met with amazement by the soldiers and with obvious pleasure by the drivers. On our arrival there were 47 cars in the queue to enter Ramallah and from the direction of Atara ten cars. Some of the passengers left the cars and crossed on foot in order to shorten the waiting time. They all noted that from the moment we arrived the ‘roadblock began to move’. It is very important that this roadblock is included in our regular shift rota, particularly in the early hours of the morning (6:00 a.m.) and during the afternoon from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.) There is no problem in getting there by car.The roadblock is staffed by the Border Police reinforced by soldiers. There were nine soldiers there. A young man is detained by the police and the Shabak (and this in the occupied territories?). When we sat down with him to take his details he was released immediately. He told us that he is detained on a daily basis.The drivers report that on days when settlers use the road the roadblock functions quickly – we come on a Shabbat when the settlers are keeping their day of rest.Snap roadblock: It is near ‘our’ petrol station in Loven Sharkia. There are hard words with the soldiers.Tapuach Junction: There are no cars on our way north or on our way south, nor from west to east or from north or south.Huwwara: Light traffic to and from Nablus. Female soldiers are once again checking men and male soldiers checking women. Another complaint was sent. The ‘waltz’ continues – shirts are raised and trousers undone. The crossing time is about 15 minutes. A young woman is detained and it turns out that she was in prison until a month ago. (Forbidden to move around the territories – why?) Her relatives ask us to intervene but it soon becomes obvious that she is not in need of our help. She was assertive and negotiated, apparently successfully, with the soldiers.15 – 30 year olds are not allowed to cross. We heard about the events during Friday night/Saturday morning which ended with the killing of a 19 year old man. According to the Palestinians there was a ‘neighbour procedure’. Adhalla are dealing with it. The behaviour of the soldiers at the roadblock shifts between apathy and impudence. A female soldier screams at an elderly man: “don’t tell him what to say to me – otherwise I will deal with you…”Beit Furiq: The traffic is light. Residents of the Bik’aa are not permitted to cross the roadblock. What are the ‘blue’ police doing in Nablus – territory A? While we were at the roadblock an Israeli police jeep crossed the roadblock in the direction of Nablus.
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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