Huwwara north & south
Huwwara Wednesday, 2/2/05 PMEdna K.,Daliah V.,Deborah L.An unbelievably rainy day at Huwwara. We arrived at 13:30 . We went straight to Huwwara North because as we drove by Huwwara South we noticed that there were no detainees and very little pedestrian or vehicle traffic. The North was also rather empty and there were 7 soldiers on duty, one of whom was the DCO representative, N. Two computers were in use to check IDs. Three detainees were waiting for a more thorough check from GSS. They were released within an hour. Through out the time we were there we found the DCO representative very responsive to our questions and requests and he was able to hurry things along in the South as well by phoning the soldiers there. We didn’t make any phone calls because all problems were solved through him or the officer on duty. The diffulty was in watching the women with very young infants bundled in thick blankets, small children, the handicapped, the sick,those with suitcases or packages, and the scantly dressed trying to make it through the pouring rain as fast as they could. Some slipped, some couldn’t avoid stepping into deep puddles or didn’t see where they were heading because of the strong rains. At Huwwara South the turnstiles were not working so the line had to form in the rain on the side. Luckily there was never a very long line. When the rain fell in torrents the soldiers did not step out to check cars (except for ambulances) so there were always 6 or 7 vehicles lined up. Suitcases were checked in the place where the detainees stay so as not to get the contents wet and dirty. There was a nineteen year old detainee at the South who was held because he had left his permission pass at home in Nablus. He had called his mother to bring it to him. When she finally made it after about an hour and a half, he saw her from the distance and wanted me to run to get the pass so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way. Like any mother she wanted to bring it herself and she waited at least another half hour until they checked his ID by phone to see with her own eyes that he was going to pass through. To see the anxious and concerned look on her face as she waited in the rain for her son was poignant. Just one of the many little stories of people just trying to live their daily lives regardless of the obstacles. At one point one of the biggest and most complete rainbows I’ve every seen formed in the direction of Nablus. The contrast between the suffering and the beauty seems to be especially sharp at checkpoints.We left at 15:30 . On the way to Huwwara and back again, Tapuach Intersection was almost empty and there were no surprise checkpoints.
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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