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Beit Iba, Sarra, Huwwara

Observers: Shlomit S,Maya S,Elinoar B
Oct-04-2005
| Morning

Beit Iba, Sarra, Huwwara, Tuesday, 4.10.05, AMObservers: Shlomit S, Maya S, Elinoar B (reporting)08:00-10:45Following a short stay in Jubara (separate report) and Beit Iba (It is quiet, the first day of Ramadan), we continue to Sarra where apparently there is a problem with the water supply to the village. We park at the foot of the hill, the entrance is barred by barbed wire, and walk up to meet Abu Ramzi, the man in charge of the water supply. At the entrance to village we find a group of people filling a water tanker from the pump across the road by a pipe (supplied by the army). The tanker cannot approach the pumps because the concrete barriers blocking the exit/entrance to the village by vehicles was moved from the road leading from Jit junction to Nablus to the very entrance to the village. According to the villagers this was done so as to enable army vehicles to move on this road.An army jeep appears, the lieutenant supplies extra information: apparently this road is going to replace Beit Iba as the western entrance to Nablus. Beit Iba, a health hazard to the soldiers because of its location inside a working quarry, is going to be closed down, as we all know. The original plan to move the checkpoint to Deir Sharaf is cancelled. Sarra (and Tell) is seen now as “a part of the encirclement of Nablus”. The poor village is besieged.Meanwhile we hear about the occurrence in Huwwara, a woman stabbed a soldier (female) and was shot by the soldiers. The checkpoint is closed down. We decide to go there and see what’s going on. As we approach Huwwara we see hundreds of people moving forth: the checkpoint has just opened. Obviously there are rumours: the woman didn’t carry a knife, the soldier just up and strangled her. The soldiers say the MP is seriously wounded and hospitalized. (Ynet reports light wounds, Inshalla). As in all Huwwara occurrences there is more than meets the eye.

  • 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.  
      Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
      Neta Efroni
      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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      חווארה: הבתים הישנים בשטח סי
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      Huwara: The old houses in Area C
  • Sarra

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    • Sarra
      The checkpoint is installed between the Palestinian village of Sera and the district city of Nablus,
      Since 2011, internal barriers Located among the West Bank Israeli settlements have somehow allowed, Palestinian residents to travel and move and reach various Palestinian cities.
      After the terrible massacre by the Hammas on October 7 upon Israelis in the communities around Gaza, internal checkpoints manned by the army were installed to prevent free passage for Palestinians.
      Many restrictions were imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank. The prevention of movement shuttered the possibility of making a living in Israel. The number of Palestinian attacks by Israeli extremist settlelers increased along with the radicalization of the army against the Palestinians.
      The conduct at the Sera checkpoint is one of the manifestations of the restrictions on all aspects of the Palestinians' lives.

       

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