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Huwwara Beit Furik

Place: Huwwara Marda
Observers: Macky S.,Hagit P,Riva B.
Nov-06-2006
| Afternoon

Huwwara and Beit Furik6.11.06 Monday PMObservers: Macky S., Hagit P (video camera) Riva B. (reporting)Translation: Hanna K.A shift attending the occupation and its wrongs without any outstanding events…13:45 Marda and Zeita – the passages are open.14:07 The Tapuach-Settlement Junction (Zaatara): from the direction of the West there are 4 cars. For whatever reason the “Queue for Jews” too has to pass the checking procedure. The soldier confirms our feelings. From the direction of Nablus there are 25 cars.14:15 The Yitzhar (Burin) Settlement Road CP is not manned between Huwara and Nablus. From the direction of Yitzhar it is manned, and there is no queue.14:20 Huwara CP: In the regular queue a soldier is checking the men and in the second queue a military policewoman is checking the men who are asked to lift their garment items…T. the military policewoman commander says in reply to our question about this that “the Palestinians do not mind to undress, they are already used to that”. As a reaction to our remarks she added later on “that the matter is being dealt with”. Suddenly there is enough manpower? According to our estimate the queue lasts over an hour. The checking machine has, so it seems, been sent to be repaired, and this fact creates a longer car queue of vehicles leaving Nablus than usual and there are also unbearable events such as tens of winter pants intended for a shop in Huwara, which are thrown on the floor. It may be that as a result of our sheer amazement the next load is not thrown on the floor. In reply to our question in the matter the CP commander N. tells us that he complained at the brigade headquarters about this and we too call the humanitarian center at 15:20 to report and to ask for a reaction. (Sary promised to come back to us after checking the matter).At about 15:00 (we didn’t note when exactly he was put into the shed) there is a detainee – a young man with crutches, who is guarded by a soldier. The soldiers tells us that the young man gave himself up and therefore they are waiting for the security service investigation. The you man does not volunteer to make contact with us. 15:25 -Screams and shoving from the direction of the “young men”s queue”. At a certain moment there were four young men in the turnstile! This of course causes a noisy tongue lashing of one of the soldiers. The humanitarian queue is acceptable. M., the DCO representative is there.15:50 Awarta CP – everything flows.16:00 Beit Furik CP – quite thorough checks, including the IDs of all the passengers of the cars. A couple who try to bypass the turnstile and to talk to the commander arrive. The woman looks pale, with a yellow face, and is exhausted. The husband tries to explain to the commander that she is after an abortion at the hospital in Nablus, and asks that they be enabled to pass, without standing in the queue, to their home in Beit Dajan. The commander refuses to let the husband pass with his wife and in the end the commander, the wife and the husband agree that Macky will accompany the wife to the taxi. The husband passes on to the turnstiles to wait in the queue.16:35 back at the Huwara CP: The car which we noted at 14:39 in the queue for cars leaving Nablus (we don’t know at what time before that it arrived at the queue) is in the process of all its passengers being cheques. The detainee is still in the shed. It turns out that he was already questioned and was returned and is now waiting to be taken to the DCO??? because he is threatened. When we ask how he is he says he is alright.16:55 -when the twilights approaches the CP country’s number of passers and cars becomes depleted. At the Yitzhar settlement junction there are 4 cars from the direction of Burin and 3 military cars. The Tapuach junction is empty.

  • 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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      חווארה. בית הספר בפאתי העיירה ומאחז נחבא בין העצים
      Ronit Dahan-Ramati
      Aug-24-2026
      Huwara: The school on the outskirts of town and an outpost hidden among the trees
  • Marda

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    • Marda

      There are about 2500 inhabitants in the village. A large part of their lands was confiscated for the benefit of the settlement of Ariel, some of whose buildings are adjacent to the village.
      They often feel under siege. At both entrances to the village from the main road (505) there are checkpoints and the army does close the yellow arms from time to time. The inhabitants of Marda own olive groves behind a fence. Rarely are they allowed to cultivate their agricultural plots

      מרדה. עמדה צהלית על גג בית פלסטיני עם דגל משיח
      Ronit Dahan-Ramati
      Apr-14-2026
      Marda. IDF post on the roof of a Palestinian home with the Messiah flag
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