Huwwara south
Huwwara South Thursday PM, 10.2.05Observers: Ofra T., Nili P. (reporting)Guest: Carmel, from “Shvil Zahav (the Golden Way)”14:00The turnstiles are not operating. A short line of Palestinians wanting to cross. A holiday. New soldiers from a paratroopers unit are manning the checkpoint for the past 2 days. The checkpoint commander, Sargeant A., is very involved with everything that is happening, and the soldiers turn to him every moment that something is not clear to them. One inspection station is operating. According to the checkpoint commander, there is a lack of manpower. 2 soldiers are checking the cars in their lane, and they are also the ones inspecting the contents of packages and suitcases borne on the wagons by the “rickshot”. There is an iron gate attached to the detention shed, which is blocking its exit. Something new. The gate is not locked, but, during our shift, I overheard a soldier say to a detainee that he would close the gate.Only a few women ask to cross through the checkpoint today. All the men are checked in the passage, but the few women pass through without inspection, except for those whose traditional costume arouses the suspicion of the soldiers. For example, I was asked to peek under the veil of 2 women in order to verify that they were in fact women. Of course, I wouldn’t have considered really checking them, not even pretending to. They passed. There were no female soldiers to do the inspection.Something else that we haven’t seen for a long time, in our shifts, was the soldiers’ ordering the Palestinians to open their coats. Maybe since the youth with the explosives belt, they are more sensitive to this. It is upsetting to see this. (It happened twice during our shift).14:303 detainees. Two of them are released almost immediately. The soldiers pass the ID right away for inspection, and don’t keep them any longer than that. Once in a while a line forms of 15-20 people. But it is finished in a few minutes.14:45An elderly woman, accompanied by her adult son reaches the checkpoint. She doesn’t feel well and leans on the cement wall – after her inspection. They are waiting for their suitcases which are in the rickshaw wagon being inspected. Because of the lack of manpower, the soldiers don’t have time for that. There is always need of 2 soldiers, one to guard. At our request, the commander takes one soldier away from the car inspection line to do the suitcase check and then they leave the checkpoint.14:55A Palestinian man approaches from the line of cars, with a girl in his arms. He asks to speed up his passage. He says that the girl is sick and needs a bathroom. The commander sends him to the bathroom there, but the father refuses and says that it is too dirty. We explain to the checkpoint commander that all he wants it to speed up the inspection of his car; he agrees. During the inspection, it turns out that he doesn’t have the proper permit for his car. The checkpoint commander orders the soldiers to tell him to take a taxi. The man approaches the commander and argues with him. He has a press pass. The commander checks on the telephone and then lets them through.15:105 detainees, 4 of them are quickly released.16:00We leave the checkpoint.
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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