Huwwara, Awarta and Beit Furiq
Huwwara, Awarta and Beit Furiq. 30 March 2006 a.m.Watchers: Tal B., and Nava A. (reporting)A normal day of warnings and ‘separation’ that make the crossing from Nablus to the villages in the area difficult for Palestinian people and vehicles. Red poppies have taken the place of the anemones.On the way army vehicles are parked at the entrances to dirt roads and roads leading to the villages in the area.Za’atra Junction7:30 a.m.The ‘separation’ continues; people between the ages of 16 – 30 from Tulkarm and Jenin are not permitted to cross. There are nine cars waiting to cross from the west and three from the north. From the direction of Nablus there are some fifty cars waiting but there are only two checking lanes functioning, “so that there is control and order”. A bus driver told us that he waited about half an hour to be checked.A group of Border Police arrives led by an energetic sub-Inspector who asks us to move our vehicle to the end of the parking lot so that we do not interfere with the force’s activities. He instructs all the Palestinians who have started an improvised third lane to go to the end of the queue because they are blocking the settlers’ way. According to him there are ‘hot’ warnings and he gets a soldier to check even cars, which have yellow number plates. He has no time to answer our questions because he is busy “guarding the security of the State”.8:00 a.m.At the exit from Huwwara we see two soldiers, without a vehicle, preparing to put up a roadblock at Yitzhar Junction. When we return there will already be twenty-five cars there.At Huwwara roadblock there is a long queue which diminishes after 8:30 a.m. There are two checkpoints near the first turnstiles but only one military policeman is at the computer that checks I.D.’s.A., the roadblock commander, tries to move the soldiers between the cars entering Nablus, those leaving and the pedestrians but there is always a jam in one of the directions. From time to time the soldiers cross to check those entering Nablus and the car inspections lengthen. The dog handler thoroughly and slowly checks cars leaving while the passengers are moved away so that they don’t see how the dog works. The x-ray machine is absent once again and parcels are checked on the floor.A young man is detained but is not willing to (can’t?) talk to us and no one tells us what his crime is. There is no DCO representative present.Awarta roadblock9:30 a.m. There are no cars waiting. In the back-to-back area there are a number of lorries unloading. The coffee vendors complain that there is little work: the people have no money. Suddenly the soldiers leave the checkpoints. An officer and two sergeants carry out some kind of exercise with them. The soldiers run and spread out over the whole site with weapons at the ready. The Palestinians watch them indifferently as if at an action film. Instead of popcorn they enjoy fresh, green almonds.Beit Furiq roadblock9:45 a.m. It opened this morning at 5:30 and there are half a dozen soldiers and very few going to and fro. One of the Palestinians tells Tal a horrible tale: “Yesterday (Wednesday) at 11:00 a.m. one of the taxi drivers went to the water tap at the side of the roadblock to drink. A soldier cursed him in Arabic and he got angry and cursed in return. In response the soldier got hold of him, beat him, put his weapon close to his head and even fired into the air. Finally soldiers separated them and made a kind of peace.” We told today’s shift the story but they did not appear to have heard about anything, therefore, no one reported the perpetrators. “They are just making it up and telling you stories”. Really?!Back to Huwwara10:30 a.m. The detainee has already gone on his way. There are about 30 people in the queue. There are two checkpoints for cars but the queue is long. From time to time ambulances flashing their lights interweave between the cars to get to the head of the queue.The DCO representative has arrived.Because of pressure of work we leave early. As we noted before the roadblock at Yitzhar Junction is already functioning and once again holding up all those who have already waited a long time at Huwwara.At Za’atra Junction there is no one waiting from the northerly direction and only five from the west. The Border Police, it appears, have already ensured the security of the State.
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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