Huwwara, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Wed 22.12.10, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
16:00 We arrived at the Huwwara checkpoint. The pedestrian crossing is no longer in use and tall thistles now grow there. We hear a soldier calling from the tower: “Don’t approach.” No explanation. Cars go through the vehicle checkpoint completely freely. Four smiling soldiers welcome us. Everyone crosses freely. Why the checkpoint? “Sometimes we close it to inspect the vehicles.”
In the beginning was the explanation: The checkpoints are needed for security, and we can’t stint on them. For many months enormous sums were invested to prepare the large area, erect the long wire fences and construct the buildings. Thousands of people were detained on their daily trips. The wire fences are still there, as well as the empty buildings.
Like he said – approaching is forbidden.
17:15 We arrived at the Irtach checkpoint. No human control is visible: the “hidden” cameras operate above. The Ministry of Defense’s many yellow signs warn that photography is forbidden, even though thousands of Palestinians cross every morning and evening and see all its mysteries. They wait for some two hours at dawn before leaving for work to undergo a long, individual inspection by a limited number of staff (to save money) working at the privatized checkpoint. They already “miss” the army. In the afternoon the Palestinians cross the checkpoint on their way home.
In the beginning was the explanation: Security checks of the Palestinians are necessary only when they enter Israel. They aren’t necessary on their way home.
About 100 people on their way home are crammed in front of the revolving gate at the entrance, one of three they have to go through when returning to the village. They’re not inspected individually. The only representative of the Ministry of Defense was a janitor. A Palestinian. Only the cameras observe from above. The revolving gates opened and closed intermittently when we arrived. The congestion among those waiting increased. Then an unseen somebody must have pressed the required button and people began going through in an organized manner. All passed through the revolving gate, one-by-one. Cars continued to drop off more people.
This apparently happens again and again. We left.
“At first he adhered to the rebellious wisdom of fools, according to which something which must not exist does not, in fact, exist. But only at first…when no opposition to hostile authority appeared, surrender to it became utterly inevitable” (Jean Amery, At the Mind’s Limits)
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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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.
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