Huwwara
Huwwara 6.9 PMObservers: Ruth K, Macky S, Karin L, Ronny C and Anat D (reporting)The checking posts are being manned by a new paratroopers company, their first day at the checkpoint. Sparse pedestrian traffic, about 15 detainees coming and going every 20 minutes or so. The “women in blue and white” harass us with shouts and curses, and we try to ignore them.13.30: We arrive and split up into two groups – Huwwara south and north. As we walk from the car towards the checkpoint we identify from a distance a group of three people, two women and a man, think they may perhaps be from some other humanitarian organization, and smile at them. A short woman grimaces maliciously at us and hisses: “No, no…” The man photographs us as they pass us. We see badges on their shirts “ women in blue and white”. At the checkpoint there are only four familiar faces (three at the north and one at the south) – soldiers from the previous company who remained behind to hand over to the new arrivals.Huwwara north: Traffic is flowing, the detainees are released in groups every 25 minutes. Among them is a taxi driver who crossed the line and was caught, his keys and licences confiscated and he will apparently be detained as punishment till the evening. The “blue-white women” harass us continuously, the soldiers have been instructed not to intervene (even in the event of physical violence) but at a certain stage order them to move back.Huwwara southI go over to a familiar soldier, who explains that he is showing the new arrivals how to act towards the Palestinians so that the latter don’t try to cheat them. He is upset because of the terrorist attack in Beersheva, paces between the checking posts and the detainees’ area, with his rifle across his shoulder, hurls comments at us and orders the detainees to sit even when there is no room left. We try to placate him. One of the blue-white woman arrives, her eyes blazing, foaming at the mouth, shouting like a psychotic, curses us and screams at us. We ignore her. When we turn to talk to the checkpoint commander, she moves between us, trying to persuade him not to talk to us. After a time we stopped hearing her curses and hysterical screams. The soldiers tried to calm her down, explaining that their actions are not influenced by our comments. She seemed to be having an effect on them.A young man arrives with a passage permit. One of the soldiers assumes he is a taxi driver whose taxi is parked on the north side and refuses to let him through. I intervene and ask the soldier why the fact that he is or isn’t a taxi driver is relevant if he has a permit. He replies that the young man may cross over to his taxi and then cross the forbidden line and then they will have to chase him etc. etc. The young man insists he has no taxi and in the background the blue and white woman continues to scream. The commander comes over, lets the young man through and tells me not to approach the soldiers directly but to talk to him. I ask him why the detainees have to squat and he says that isn’t an important issue. We contact the humanitarian hotline and discover that it’s forbidden and that a complaint can be submitted. Dozens of people are crowded behind the iron gates while the soldiers change over shifts slowly and with deomonstrative lethargy. A quieter group of soldiers arrives, the commander unfriendly but efficient. A DCO representative also arrives. We continue our journey to Beit Iba.
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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