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Beit Iba

Observers: Adina,Elath
Jul-08-2006
| Morning

Beit Iba, Saturday, 8.7.06 AMObservers: Adina, Elath (reporting)Beit Iba 09:02 – vehicles: from west to east – 13, average waiting time 20 minutes; east to west – average waiting time half an hour.Pedestrians: from west to east about 200, mainly young men waiting; from east to west – individuals.Detainees – three.A young man with his small brother, maybe 7 years old, detained.09:14 – more detainees being put in the compound all the time, presently nine.09:18 – the line waiting to enter is down to 15. Adult men and women without inspection.One detainee released.09:20 – a military policeman facing the detention hut, with a radio and a pile of Ids with lists, releases detainees all the time, but his industrious comrades each send new ones in. The detainee with the child is released. Twelve now detained.09:28 – four detainees.Vehicles – in both directions half an hour.09:39 – only one detainee. The pedestrian line very thin.We left because we thought we would manage to get to Huwwara, which ultimately did not happen.Jit Junction 10:05 – block from north and from east to west. 21 vehicles in line. Two soldiers checking. Two ambulances pass without lining up. No detainees.Taxis: the driver who reaches the head of the line gets out with his ID and walks to the soldiers. After they approve, all the passengers get out and walk through the inspection. Only after that is the taxi allowed to proceed to inspection. This process slows down the whole line. Average wait per vehicle one hour. Many taxi drivers “steal” through in front of the heavy trucks, which is unfair to the “honest” ones who wait patiently…10:23 – phone call to the Centre. I.: “We have no ability to intervene in considerations, but will check and get back to you.” I left my phone number with a driver and asked him to report when he gets through, but that hasn’t yet happened.I. from the Centre phoned me at 11:38 to ask whether there was any improvement… Well, in my garden which I was watering at that moment there was improvement, but at Jit Junction I couldn’t say…

  • Beit Iba

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.  
      Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
      Jun-4-2014
      Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
  • 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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      Ronit Dahan-Ramati
      Aug-24-2026
      Huwara: The school on the outskirts of town and an outpost hidden among the trees
  • Jit Junction

    See all reports for this place
    • The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.

      כביש יצהר צומת ג'ית: פקק תנועה
      Anat Polak
      Jul-17-2025
      Yitzhar Road, Jit Junction: traffic jam
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