Central Bank: the entrances to the Palestinian villages and towns are blocked and soldiers are on the hills and at the entrances

Place:

'Azzun

Beta

Burin (Yitzhar)

Habla

Qaddum

Huwwara

Tags:

Illegal settler-colonist outposts

Observers:

Shoshi A., Mustafa (driver) Judith Green (translator)

Mar-14-2024

Morning

First week of Ramadan

Habla - We visited 'A in the nursery. He had good news: Israel permitted him to engage 2 extra workers in addition to the 2 he originally employed. But, the failure to open the agricultural checkpoint of Habla makes it very difficult for the nursery owners. They are not allowed to bring plants and items that are used in the nurseries to the Qalqilya checkpoint. The only checkpoint through which they are permitted to bring merchandise has been closed since the beginning of the war.

Azzun - We met Z. at the entrance to Nebi Elias. The exit from Nebi Elias toward the main road is closed with a yellow checkpoint. I gave him the sum of money which had been collected by our friends and many packages. He isn't feeling well and, as long as the war continues, he cannot get to the hospital to meet the doctor who treats him.

Azzun: The entrance is closed and two soldiers are guarding it

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

We continue driving east on Route 55.

On the right is Havat Gilad. A huge flag is stretched over the entire building. Around the compound is a curly fence, to make it clear who is the owner of the house here.

We continue our way to the right, from highway 55 to highway 60.

Kfar Qaddum - We decided to observe the road which has been blocked for use by the residents of Kfar Qaddum on the side of Kedumim. In our tours and visits to Kfar Qaddum we saw the road from the side of the village where demonstrations were held on Fridays and Shabbat. This time, we wanted to see the other side of the road which is closed to the Palestinians but is used only by the residents of Kedumim.

Checkpoint and Israeli flag. An older soldier came over to check who we were and what we were looking for in the area. He didn't get answers, but a conversation developed. He lives in Kedumim and volunteers to guard the entrance. I asked him about his neighbors in Qaddum: "The army doesn't enter Kfar Qaddum as long as they don't make trouble. Whoever knows what is really happening on the ground could only gag. How many times have I seen soldiers with drawn weapons on the roofs of the houses and how many times have I seen grenades thrown into the village and the houses.?

We continued beyond the main road to Nablus which is closed to the Palestinians. We saw the final houses of Kfar Qaddum. Living here is a death trap.

Kdumim: checkpoint and an Israeli flag checkpoint and an Israeli flag

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Qadum: the houses on the edge of the village

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

The entrance to Burin is blocked.

On the ridge of the hill on the right there are 2 soldiers - there is no rest and no sleep for the protectors.

Burin: The entrance is closed

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Burin: Soldiers on the hillside

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

We reach Huwarra. Only a few vehicles on the main road; stores are open, but no one is there. We stop next to a small business that duplicates keys. The owners tell us that they have had no work since the beginning of the war. The lack of permits to work in Israel affects the whole city.

Huwara: the main road

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Beita

We turn left towards Beita. Mustafa calls his friends and asks them to join us for a tour of their city. After a short consultation between them, they decide not to join us, as they don't want to be seen. Fear rules everywhere. All during Friday demonstrations took place here because of the stealing of lands that took place when the settlers built Evyatar, without permission and with no interference from the authorities. Huge amounts of money were invested in preparing the area, putting up buildings and paving roads. Where did this money come from? Fund-raising project by an NGO registered in the US.

Even though they received orders to destroy, the criminal settlers continue to live there and to increase the building projects; it is well known that most of them have houses in a neighboring settlement. A long term dismissal of the government institutions when everyone knows who really gives the instructions.

Evyatar - A flag and a star of David and there is now a new illegal outpost. The outpost was built in 2021, after a terrorist attack at the Tapuach crossroads on the lands of Yitma and Beita.

Evyatar: Flag and Star of David

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Beita: Gate at the entrance to the park

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Once there was a park here for the enjoyment of the residents. Today, at the entrance to the park over the gate there are symbols of resistance.

Beita: prayer tent

Photo:

Shoshi Anbar

Every Friday there is a gathering in the tent for prayers for the people living in the surrounding villages. The army does not like this and arrives in large forces in order to scatter the gatherings violently leading to injuries and to death.

Location Description

'Azzun

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Azoun (updated February 2019)

A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),

on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.

Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.

Beta

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Beta is a town of 12,000 people, high unemployment rate. Many work in Israel, others in agriculture. Neat ornamental system. Unemployment is high. Young people, even the educated, are forced to look for work in Israel. Medical services are available once a week.
Settlers from Yitzhar and Itamar harass residents frequently and prevent them from cultivating their fields: Permits are required from the DCO to go to work.

Huwwara - the checkpoint and the township

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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 info-icon 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 today is free, but there is still a military presence in the guard tower and vehicle inspections are done from time to time.

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 info-icon 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)

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Huwara checkpoint - the gate is closed

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Burin (Yitzhar)

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Burin

This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.

There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.

The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.

Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others.
Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.

In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.

(updated for November 2023)

Qaddum

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updated: September 2019

The village of Qaddum dates back approximately 4,000 years. Today’s villagers mostly work in agriculture and cultivae olive groves. The hilly landscape is covered with olive trees and are dotted with patches of green fields.

Qaddum was attached to the district of Nablus until 1994 at which time it joined the Qalqiliya district. The village is home to 4,000 inhabitants (2013), with 22,000 dunams (5,400 acres) of which 11,000 dunam (2700 acres) are in Area C*. Access to Area C requires coordination with the Israeli army, which means that access is almost non-existent.

The settlement of Kedumim was founded in 1975 on lands belonging to the ancient the village of Qaddum. Since then, Kedumim has expanded to include 5 settlements. The Kedumim settlements separate Qaddum village from its lands and from access to the main road. The road connecting Qaddum village to Route 55 was closed to its residents in 2003. The short ride (1.5 km or less than a mile) between Qaddum and a neighboring village - Jit, turned into a 12 km (7.5 miles) bumpy ride on an unpaved gravely road. Since 2004, residents of the village of Qaddum have been submitting requests to the authorities to reopen the old road leading to Route 55.

On July 2011, the villagers began holding weekly demonstrations in protest of the road closure info-icon and of the theft of their lands. They march to the edge of the village and there they stop. There is a regular routine to the demonstration which always follows with a confrontation with the army when it enters the village at the end of the blocked road. The army reacts to the demonstrations with sharp weapons, rubber bullets, tear gas and lately also live ammunition. Villagers are injured and hurt each week and often, dozens are arrested by the army. Young people and children are intimidated by the army when they photos are posted in the village streets.

On 12/7/19 a 10 year old boy was criticaaly wounded after he was shot in the head by live ammunition while standing at the entrance to his home in Qaddum during a demonstration.

*Area C is an administrative division of the West Bank established by the Oslo II Accords in 1995. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and education services and Israel is responsible for infrastructure and administration.