Huwwara
Huwwara, Saturday 14.1.2006, PMWatchers: Chava H., Vivi Z. (reporting) Yako, guest from Finland.Natanya translating.Congestion at Hawarra. Long lines with endless waiting. We also receive the brunt of the anger of those waiting to be checked. As is to be expected on the lat day of Eid El Adcha many people are waiting to leave Nablus. Pedestrians wait from one to four hours and the cars are not much better off. At the checkpoint are no dramatic events but just the same endless despairing wait in the bitter cold. The soldiers in the midst of this pressure are busy educating people.Young men who have already waited two hours and those under the ages of 16 who have their birth certificates with them are sent back to the young peoples line to wait another two hours. Bottles of deodoarant are checked against the light and cds whch are open are felt and prodded and checked in a computer. In the car line the wagons bearing suitcases are also checked while the cars of course wait and also the insides of these suitcases and parcels. Sometimes even on the road full of mud and rain. Our calls to D. at the DCO and the Humanitarian Centre bring a representative who does zilch!! The Palestinians are furious with us too. “So maybe you are good women,. But how much help are you. Everything is much worse than before and who bothers to read what you have written, who sees the video you made. And if it does appear in the newspapers it just proves that it is making the final point.”Residents of Tulkarm and Jenin are still not allowed to leave tulkarm from the checkpint and the army on purpose allows the residents of Nablus to bypass the checkpoint at Zatara east of the Akraba road. The way is long and expensive and all along there are rolling checkpoints to catch the infilitrators…that is the residents north of the occupied territories who are trying to go southwards.Za’atara, We stayed in the car, there were few vehicles which is not surprising in view of the cirucumstances, the only people allowed to pass are those who live in the area of the checkpoint, Who wants to go and come back after the order of segregation.Beit FUrik 16.30 We stopped for a few minutes to see the minute amount of people coming back from 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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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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