Huwwara AM
HUWWARA, Tuesday 20 July 2004 AMObservers: Miriam S., Tal A., Etti P. (reporting) colour = red>08:10 — Huwwara South The vendors had been moved far away from the lanes, thus creating a wide empty expanse where vehicles are not allowed to park. There were seven detainees. Several vendors working at the checkpoint were cleaning the area alongside , on the orders of the commander, Sergeant R., who explained that “we also clean the area where we work”. About 40 men and women stood in line waiting to go through, and there were very few vehicles.08:30 — Huwwara North There were five detainees here [held pending security cross-checks on their ID details by the General Security Services (GSS, also known, from the Hebrew acronym, as the Shabak or Shin Bet), a process that can take some considerable time, especially if the checkpoint soldiers do not notify the GSS as each case comes through, but instead wait until they have several ID cards. During this time, the detainees, generally men between the ages of 16 and 30 or 35, are virtually prisoners at the checkpoints since the soldiers hold their ID cards until clearance comes through from the GSS]. The pedestrian line was very short and our acquaintance, A., was very helpful and we had no work. There were no confiscated taxis. A.. confessed that they were apparently elsewhere, but he didn’t know where.08:45 — Huwwara SouthA young man, with a Jordanian passport, living in Saudi Arabia and with an entry permit from the Allenby Bridge, nevertheless had to wait for a [security] check because “he’s a Palestinian, and we have to check who he is and what he wants…”09:00 — All the detainees were released and there were immediately seven new ones. A woman told us that her brother’s ID had been taken at the checkpoint 10 days ago (because of a dispute with the soldier about where he lived). We telephoned R. at the District Co-ordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that handles civilian matters and which usually has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] who promised to send an officer. A newly-wed young man had to change his ID card details from “bachelor” to “married” at the Ministry of the Interior in Nablus. The soldiers refused to acknowledge this need. A DCO officer arrived: we sent the woman to him and he promised to locate the ID and return it. As for the newly-wed, the DCO man said he should go to Solfit because the marriage had been registered there. When we told the young man this, he said he’d already been there and to Ramallah, but had been sent to Nablus because his ID card was issued there. We couldn’t contact R. but the DCO promised to deal with it through A.. Huwwara NorthOf the five detainees here, one was shackled in a concrete ditch on one side. A. said he was a wanted man and would soon be taken away.Huwwara South A bus-load of American tourists of Palestinian origin (most of them young) wanted to go into Nablus but hadn’t arranged entry permits as required. They conducted a loud argument with the checkpoint commander, Sergeant R., and made aggressive demands. When we tried to help, they were unenthusiastic and eventually turned back.The DCO officer arrived and finally enabled the young man who needed to alter his ID card details to go through to Nablus after he’d been kept waiting almost four hours in the sun.We asked 2nd Lieut. A. to deal with the case of an agitated young man whose mother had been taken by ambulance to hospital and he didn’t know how she was; we also sought his aid in the case of a young man who’d left Nablus to arrange to get a magnetic card [from the DCO; this is the first essential step in acquiring a “long-term” permit] — he wasn’t being allowed back because the card was dated two weeks ago. A. promised to clarify and said that after a routine check both would be able to go through.11:30 — The closure of Huwwara is lifted. There were eight detainees, including the two that A. had dealt with; one of the detainees was considered by the soldiers to have been lying because he claimed to be 15 and was in fact 18 , further, he’d arrived with a plastered limb but had then sold drinks at the checkpoint — he’d obviously annoyed them but they denied that they were punishing him and said it was a routine check.11:45 — We left after what was, on the whole, a quiet watch thanks to A. at Huwwara North and Sergeant R. who were cooperative and patient and created a relatively calm atmosphere. Again we found that mature conduct by the soldiers depends largely on their commanders.
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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