AM
Huwwara Sunday morning, 1/02/2004 – first day of Id al-Adha MachsomWatchers: Hannah L., Donna B., Snait G. (reporting) 7.15, Zaatara. :Completely empty 7.30, Huwwara South :Due to a sudden and indefinite alert – no entry or exit in/out of Nablus except physicians and medical emergency cases.A group of about 20 men, ages between 16 and 45, all wishing to go into Nablus – either to their families or to sell/work etc. We did not succeed in getting them in – there was no answer at any of the DCO [Civilian Administration office] phones (the same on Thursday before noon). I finally reached Youval at the [IDF] Humanitarian Center. He was not in, but a woman soldier promised to check what could be done. She called back after quite a while, saying that nothing could be done. We did manage to pass through 2 pairs of women who had to go to hospital: one after a miscarriage (they allowed her husband to accompany her also), the other a recently discharged patient who felt extremely unwell and was accompanied by her daughter. The soldiers demonstrated their goodwill, but apparently the orders were very strict. Huwarra North :Completely empty. No cabs in either CP. The soldiers said that the sudden [security] encirclement order in effect on all entries/exits to Nablus. It was raining non-stop. 8.45. There was no point in going to Beit Furik, so we went to a small village after Bourin, called Madame, where Donna knew a person to whom we brought a lot of blankets, children’s warm clothing etc., which she organised through the Halonot organization.The road had been intentionally damaged by the IDF. The man told us that an army unit came the night before (the eve of the Id al-Adha holiday) and threw gas grenades in the village. He claimed that this is rather a common practice with them. Maybe this should be further investigated.We planned to go to Beit Iba, but due to a sudden, almost flat tire, we had to try and get to a place where it could be temporarily filled with air – the closest being [the Jewish settlers’ city of] Ariel.
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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