AM
Beit-Iba, Huwwara Watchers: Nurit L., Rachel A.,Michal S.,Vivi S. (reporting) Beit-Iba. Short queus on both directions of the checkpoint since the passage is accorded to all women and to men who are over 35 and for special authorizations, thus waiting at the checkpoint young men trying their luck again and also a group of young men who are serving at the Palestinian police. Until today the Palestinian police workers passed according to a name list or with some identfiying card, but no more. Starting from today they must obtain special permit that is due to arrive. The commander soldier confirmed this information. At the beginning of our shift only three soldiers were dealing with all checking, including checking of pedestarians going into and coming out of Nablus, checking the vehicles (also ambulances and trucks) and checking pedestarians and vehicles arriving from the village Kutsin, eastern to the checpoint. This is obviously a small stuff, especially when the commander had to close the southern post to go and solve problems at the northen side. When more soldiers arrived passage proceeded smoothly and calmly. We witnessed no special events or met any humanitarian cases except the case of the Yellow Taxi confiscating. Taxi confiscating: At the cp a young taxi driver asked our help after his yellow taxi was confiscated and taken to Shave Shomron a short time earlier on one of roads leading to Dir Sharaf. He had a valid permit from the DCO of Qalqilia for free movement on the roads connecting the inner checkpoints. At our questioning officer Adi explained that this permit is good and valid except for the Nablus region, as it was issued in Qalqilia DCO. From the meeting between Machsomwatch representives and B.G Eizencott we learned that taxi’s confiscating is illegel and should not be implemented, we will ask for further explanation from Eizencott headquarter. As for the poor driver, the only answer we could offer him from few phone calls we made is that there is nothing to do. His taxi was confiscated until the end of his permit, which was isssued for one month. What is this if not an additional spin for additional suffering imposed on the Palestinians trying to make living? Huwwara. On both directions of Huwwara checkpoint quick passage for all women, men over 35 and for special authorizations. As in Beit Iba cp, only some young men waiting for their turn to try again persuade the soldiers. Detainees: About 20 detainees waiting for GSS clearance, some of them waiting over an hour. Among the detainees some had valid passage permit, and most of them were allowed to go to Nablus after the GSS answer. This issue is repeated in Huwwara, where IDs are taken for GSS checking even when the owner have passage permit or when his only crime was to arrive to the checking post without permit. It seems that the soldiers obey orders given from above so as to add further suffering of the population. We talked to the soldiers and demanded explanations, but they offered none.
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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