Huwwara, Sun 15.2.09, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
15:15 Huwwara
Inactive x-ray truck, all pedestrian checking posts active.
The waiting lines are short, people do not wait very long, including the special side line for women and elderly.
The quiet – no yelling of soldiers and military policewomen – practically rang in our ears.
4 detainees spend over half an hour in the cubicle – taxi drivers ' out of line'.
A young Palestinian man passes by us, hissing : "This here produces terrorism".
Vehicle checking post –
cars wait for over an hour to be checked, exiting Nablus in a long long line.
Every single truck and van (even obviously empty ones) is turned back to go get inspected and enter Nablus through the Awarta Checkpoint.
The plastic barriers at the entry lane are very confusing for entering drivers.
A soldier yelling at a driver who dared argue with him: "Want the dog? Go on, split!"
A bus is inspected for 30 minutes: thorough sniffer-dog check, and as there is no active x-ray truck, all personal belongings are opened and tirelessly checked.
The porter with the push cart carries a computer: a soldier grips it and shakes it in the air, vigorously. Advanced security check…
The checkpoint commander takes the trouble to approach us and explain that a special police order forbids us to stand north of the electricity poles.
The DCO representative remains inaccessible to us throughout our shift.
At 17:30 the pedestrian lines are empty, while cars are still lined up for exit,
and a freezing wind chases us off.
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-