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Huwwara

Observers: Shalva K,Shoshana Z,Yardena T
Nov-30-2006
| Afternoon

Huwwara, Thursday 30.11.06 PMObservers and reporters : Shalva K, Shoshana Z, Yardena T.Jit junction. 20 cars from North to South – the checking is fast.14.20 Huwwara checkpoint. A long line of cars in the Nablus direction. One of the drivers claims he has waited for an hour.About 60 pedestrians are waiting, one checker, there is a big crush and high pressure, the line moves slowly. The humanitarian line is not operating due to a repair to the turnstile.. There is a lot of pressure, children crying, angry women. Many soldiers present and an infuriating lack of efficiency.. Following our request, the women are directed to the vehicle access road, which causes the cars to be held up and now the drivers are shouting.16.00 – A young man is suspected of trying to smuggle a pipe bomb through the checkpoint. Most of the soldiers leave the checkpoint and run. They push the young man into an open field (see photograph), with drawn guns as if they are about to shoot him. They tell him to undress. In the meantime, all the traffic is held up, including 3 buses carrying children.. Everyone is looking at the field, women are praying, the atmosphere is tense and very frightening (including abuse at us). The young man is taken to the detainees’ shed. The explosives experts arrive, operate a robot (unsuccessfully), and then explode the charge remotely with a fuse. The young man is handcuffed and taken to the prison cell.

  • 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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  • Jit Junction

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    • The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.

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