Huwwara, Awarta and Beit Furiq
Huwwara, Awarta and Beit Furiq 18 May 2006 Watchers: Tal B., and Nava A. (reporting)A quiet day at the roadblocks, little traffic, more earth works at Huwwara, the institutionalization of the ‘snap roadblock’ at Yitzhar Junction. In the Revisionist Movement they would have said that silence is muck, this is also true about our day at the roadblock.On the way to the Junction army jeeps suddenly appear from remote lanes leading, apparently, to dangerous villages.Za’atra Junction8:00 a.m. The ‘blue’ police have a new position dominating everyone. What is it for, we asked the policeman, and he sent us to the roadblock commander. He, in his Golani way, refuses to converse with us. “You are interfering with my work, don’t stand here”, is the most I heard from him.Eight cars are queuing from the west and twenty from the direction of Nablus. Each driver stops about ten metres away from the checkpoint, leaves his vehicle, goes to the checkpoint with his I.D. (papers) and only then returns to his vehicle and crosses – if he is not aged between 15 and 30. This process makes the inspection time much longer. We approached the soldier carrying out the checks and he answered: “it is a more secure way and you are interfering with my work”.On the way to Huwwara we see that a mound of earth blocks the entrance to Beita. The local cars create a dirt “Burma” road. Huwwara Roadblock8:20 a.m.There are no more than 50 people at the roadblock and they are checked quickly. There are a lot of soldiers and also an x-ray machine. There is no queue of cars either from the north or the south.A teacher under the age of 30, hurrying to Bir Zeit University for an examination is not permitted to cross and is turned back to Nablus. When he persists he is sent to the roadblock commander. At the same time we contact the DCO representative and the humanitarian centre. (We almost missed the man because the soldiers do not permit us to stand close to the checkpoint and those who are refused permission to cross do not get to the end of the lane.) The commander arrives, holds a round of consultations and the man is on his way to the examination.A large military tractor flattens a lane north of the roadblock near the taxi car park and shifts stones from there to the southern area.Awarta9:00 a.m. It is quiet but malodorous. The Palestinians who have been required to clean up the area are burning piles of plastic and the smoke drives everyone away. The roadblock commander claims that he is only responsible for the crossing and not for the area as a whole and it is not within his remit to order the Palestinians to remove the plastic or to burn it.Beit Furiq9:20 a.m. A dog dozes in the shade. Taxis are still not allowed to cross. The inspection continues of those entering on foot.Huwwara9:30 a.m. The traffic is still light. A van driver who crossed the imaginary ‘line’ (from the) north of the roadblock is detained for inspection after he deposits his keys and his licence.9:50 a.m.A military lorry at Yitzhar Junction unloads massive roadblock triangles; they appear to set up the snap roadblock.At the entrance to the town we observe a military vehicle guarding a row of school students with their backs to the wall. According to the sergeant a Dan bus reported that it had been stoned. The vehicle, which had been in the area, went over and they saw students on their way back from school who all denied any connection with stone throwing. The sergeant called in his Company CO to interrogate them. Opposite them the garage owners stand and stare. Among them is one of the fathers, shattered by anxiety and anger. According to him the soldiers talked to him contemptuously.The commander arrived, inquired into the matter, and told the sergeant to release them. However, it appears that he was the wrong officer. In spite of this he went over to the anxious father and tried to calm him. The right officer arrived in short order and all the brass engage in consultation, they assure us that the youngsters will soon be released.Za’atra Junction10:30 a.m. There are 33 cars from the direction of Nablus. We get a telephone call from the father from Huwwara who thanks us for helping to release the boys.
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-