Huwwara PM
HUWWARA, Thursday 26 July 2004 PMObservers: Mecki S., Riva B., Keren R. and Anat D. (reporting) colour=red>Huwwara SouthPedestrian traffic was moving smoothly . The soldiers were trying to move people through the checkpoint efficiently. We know most of them but the commander wouldn’t give us his name, only his nickname. He didn’t dare sidestep procedures and displayed no resourcefulness or discretion in exceptional cases. The soldiers tried to release groups of up to 10 as fast as possible (relatively speaking). Several Palestinians (those who dared answer back) were detained as a punishment and forced to sit on the concrete floor in the blazing sun. An additional group of soldiers turned up at the checkpoint, apparently in order to practise the procedures in anticipation of their assignment there. One of them was particularly hostile and made childish and mean comments against us.A family of seven presented a special problem: there were the two parents and five children who’d all been living in Jordan for the past six years. The parents had Palestinian ID cards with passage permits for Nablus. But the oldest daughter (19) had no ID card and was not allowed through with the family, although their only home here is in Nablus. They were detained more than two hours. After unsuccessful negotiations with the checkpoint commander (there was no representative of the District Co-ordinating Office (DCO) on hand at the time) I telephoned all the DCO representatives that we know, but none of them answered [the DCO is the section of the army that handles civilian matters; it usually has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians]. Then I called the parliamentary assistant of Knesset [parliament] Member Roman Bronfman who confirmed that getting DCO approval was the only way to go. It was almost 16:30 and there was no possibility of reaching the local DCO in time although it’s in walking distance from the checkpoint. I managed to contact E. there, and he said he’d come at once and check how best he could help. But he didn’t come and he didn’t answer the phone. My appeals to the Israel army’s “humanitarian” hotline and to M. from the Physicians for Human Rights were the most effective and after half an hour the awaited approval arrived and the family went on their way.Huwwara NorthThe atmosphere here was tranquil and there were no special events. During our stay, the checkpoint operated efficiently, the detainees didn’t wait too long (i.e. not more than on any other “normal” day). But as we were about to leave there was an alert about a terrorist at one of the windows, or on a roof, near the checkpoint who was said to be aiming a weapon in that direction. The soldiers got uptight, but tried to stay calm, went on letting people through and also attempted to reduce the number of detainees.
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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