Hawwara North
Huwwara north, tuesday, 11.1.2005, AM Observers: Lirit L, Yona A, Tal A, (reporting) When we arrived at 8.15, there were 3 detainees who said they’d been there an hour. The DCO officer said it was less and if no answers were received after an hour, they would be released. The detainees claimed they were not allowed to exit Nablus and work. One said he was from Balata and that was why he was being detained.8.15 – IDs were returned and they were sent back to Nablus although they pleaded to be allowed to go through, but he gave them advice: “Tell your neighbors at Balata to stop maing trouble,” or “Start selling clothes at the checkpoint”. They left for Nablus and we told the commander that if he’d let them through, there would be less frustration. He told us we’d never understand because we’re from Tel Aviv.The soldiers told us the easing of restriction were for entry into Nablus but not for those exiting. Anyone without a permit and undr 25 is sent back.A woman dog trainer is leading her dog which sniffs six large sacks of merchandise. When it barks, the sacks are torn open and emptied out. They contain dozens of pairs of jeans.A young man who wants to go to Ramallah to bring his passport on his way to Jordan is detained and sent back despite his permit since the woman soldier claims she recognizes him as having tried a different excuse yesterday.The 2nd lieutenant stands on the path between north and south and stops young men from the south who look suspicious. He calls over a young man from the Dir-el- Kabalia refugee camp and starts interrogating him as to whether he knows about some trouble yesterday. When the man denies it, he calls him a liar. I ask him to stop harassing him, which he does, but takes the young man’s ID for checking.We complain to the 2nd lieutenants that people are detained twice – at the north and the south, and A. says there are eased restrictions at the south so that he has the right to check anyone he chooses. We call the division to complain. A woman soldier who says she’s in charge of the military policemen also tries to tell A. that detaining the young man is unreasonable but the officer insists. He receives orders from the south checkpoint to detain a young woman who went through with an Israeli ID. The soldiers can’t identify her.He says: Never mind, we’ll catch her when she comes out of Nablus.
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-RamatiAug-24-2026Huwara: The school on the outskirts of town and an outpost hidden among the trees
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