AM
HUWWARA, BEIT FURIK, BEIT IBA, Wednesday 14 April 2004 AM Observers: Shalva K., Michal P.S., Michal M., Shirley P., Keren S., Hanna A. (reporting) cloour=red>p>Beit Iba07:50 –- At this time of morning, there are more people waiting at the entrance to Nablus than are leaving it. The line to Nablus is constantly growing. We ask that more soldiers be sent to man the checkpoint.Wednesday is the “students’ day” [the Palestinian students’ week runs from Saturday to Wednesday, and by an arrangement between an-Najah University in Nablus and the army students are permitted to go to and from the university on these days] – a soldier says the university is closed and so there were no students today. Nonetheless, some students do arrive. Then, the army version was fine-tuned, and we were told that the university would only be open until 15:00. Because of that, one student was denied passage through the checkpoint. He pointed to his lecturers who were waiting at the checkpoint and crossing without problems. Later, the soldier claimed the student couldn’t cross today because apparently he had once crossed the checkpoint on a day when he was not allowed to, and in that case he had crossed by evading the checkpoint, and that being so, he would be forbidden to cross now. After we intervened, it was announced that studies were taking place and that crossing was permitted. The soldier who had delayed the student “explains” the kind gesture he’s making by ultimately letting him cross.While we were there, there was a single detainee – a lawyer in an independent Palestinian civil rights organization, who was allowed through the checkpoint after an hour.Huwwara09:00 – Traffic moved uninterruptedly, but an hour later a group of 20 men at the entrance to Nablus were ordered to turn back because they had no permits. A man bringing money to pay for his father’s medical treatment was also forbidden to go through. Eventually, following Michal M.’s intervention, he was allowed to proceed. Another incident: a woman and a man, both Palestinian citizens of Israel, waited for a long time before they were allowed to pass through.Beit Furik10:40 – We drove to Beit Furik since we heard that people have been waiting there for four hours to go through the checkpoint. One of them was an old man who regularly transports gas cylinders from Nablus to Beit Furik. Our attempts to intervene didn’t help. He remained at the checkpoint, and we had to go. Two detainees were quickly processed after we contacted the soldier in charge at the checkpoint. Even so, one was forced to return to Beit Furik village.
Beit Iba
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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.
Jun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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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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