Huwwara
Huwwara 24 February 2006 Watchers: Orit, Nili N., Ofra T., Michal V. (reporting)8:50 a.m.Snap roadblock at Yitzhar Junction.Huwwara RoadblockThe traffic was light as usual on Friday. In front of the roadblock, in the middle of the road on which there is a left turn in the direction of the settlement Bracha, the length and width of the left side of the road, a concrete wall about 50 metres long, has been built.A youth of about 14 from Borin called Ahmed Omer came over to us and told us that he had spoken to Suzie of MachsomWatch, and she had promised to help his brother who is a deaf mute and who is the father of two children. He did not know Suzie’s surname. His telephone number is 09 298 9881. Since the youth only spoke a few words of Hebrew we were unable to find out what kind of help he had requested.Between the turnstiles we discovered a new concrete position for the soldiers. There were new red turnstiles which had been installed by ‘Keshet Systems’.A girl soldier was using a sensor of the kind used to check those entering shopping malls.9:15 a.m.A car with two dentists on their way from Ramallah to Nablus was stopped and held up for 10 minutes until one of the soldiers said that it was not necessary to check them on entering.One of the soldiers had a conspicuous sign on his helmet reading “If someone tries to kill you make sure you kill him first” with a blue ‘magen david’. Later on the soldier wearing this helmet turned to a young Palestinian who was standing some distance from him and threatened to detain him for two hours if he came near.9:30 a.m.We encountered a father and his daughter who were trying to get to Kfar Rif to visit their sick sister. The father was allowed through as, according to his ID card. he lives in Nablus. The daughter was not as she is registered as a resident of Balata. Both the father and daughter insisted that there had been a mistake when the address was entered as she is unmarried and lives with her father.We asked the lieutenant on the spot if he had checked this with the DCO. At first the officer asserted that he himself was the DCO representative but after a few minutes he admitted that this was not the case, however he claimed that Balata was under closure and she could not be permitted to cross. We contacted the DCO and the Brigade spokesperson. We were told that the curfew had apparently been lifted and the matter would be clarified. We advised the father and daughter to wait until the matter was sorted out, but they decided not to. The daughter returned home and the father continued to Kfar Rif on his own. After a few minutes we found out that the curfew had been lifted before the father and daughter had tried to cross the roadblock. The Brigade had not bothered to pass the information on in time.A few minutes later, in a conversation with a taxi driver who appeared to be on friendly terms with the soldiers, they were actually prepared to contact the DCO to find out if he could cross the roadblock.Two women from Jenin were not permitted to cross under the pretext that the roadblock was not for Jenin residents so they would have to cross via a different roadblock. The soldiers had no information as to the roadblock via which Jenin residents are allowed to cross.Tapuach Junction9:30 a.m.13 cars were held up at the junction and there was just one soldier checking them.
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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