Huwwara, Sun 8.2.09, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
Tapuach-Za'tara Junction Checkpoint 15:15
No detainees as we pass, 19 cars waiting to be checked, coming from Nablus area.
Huwwara Checkpoint 15:40
At the pedestrian checkpoint theater the usual program is on. One male voice of a Military Policeman booms out of one of the loudspeakers frequently ordering the men to move back, "One by one, go on, don't get on my nerves!" but there are relatively less screeches coming from the MPwomen this time.
One detainee in the concrete cubicle, his number having appeared on the Security Services lists.
Beyond the entry turnstile taxi drivers flock around pedestrians coming into town to struggle over potential fares, and the soldiers repeatedly come around and force them away.
At 16:15, three of these drivers are detained for 'educational' purposes, to be released an hour and a half later.
At the exiting vehicles checking post the situation is exhausting as usual, cars wait an hour and a quarter (average), checked on two lanes. The checks are slow, a sniffer-dog enters some of the cars. The soldiers send back to Awarta Checkpoint every single truck or commercial van even when obviously empty.
A halting dialogue is held by a MP and taxi passengers for close to 15 minutes, and only then does the soldier summon the DCO representative who solves the problem in two minutes and the taxi gets on its way.
Vendors tell us that before the Chief of Staff's visit a wild cleaning project was carried out in the taxi park – by soldiers, drivers and vendors alike – and now there's a kind of 'truce'…
18:00 The waiting lines dwindled and so did our energy, and we took to the road back to our parallel universe, our ears still echoing with the voice of a man who approached us to ask, angrily, why the soldiers crack up with laughter when he shows them his ID through the armored glass window of the checking booth.
Nausea. Homeward bound.
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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