Huwara: Settlers prefer to drive through the village and not on the bypass road

Place:

'Awarta

'Azzun

Beit Furik checkpoint

Huwwara

Sarra

Tags:

Settlers, Settlements

vandalism

Observers:

Sarah (new member), Fathiya A. (reporting), Judith G. (translating)

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Jul-25-2024

Afternoon

13:15 'Azzun. A large group of soldiers and border guard plus some vehicles at the entrance to 'Azzun.

13:45 Sara checkpoint. The checkpoint is open. The soldiers are making inspections. After this, we continued by way of the new settlement south of Gil'ad Farm which is called Gil'ad Farm South. Work is continuing and caravans are being added.

Huwara. Most of the shops are closed but there is some movement of traffic on the main road. Most of the vehicles have Israeli license plates. I asked a passerby what this means. The answer was these were the settlers' cars which refuse to travel on the road bypassing Huwara since the whole land belongs to them, including Huwara.

Huwara checkpoint. Still closed. There is construction going on in front of the entrance.

Huwara: The hill east of Givat Ronen is burnt

Photo:

Fathiya Akfa

The area before the Huwara checkpoint from the south the whole hill east of Givat Ronen is charred. Only two sections within the blackened area were not burned and remain green. Those two sections belong to the settlers and the green color belongs to their vineyard..

'Awarta checkpoint. Open. Crowded in both directions, for those going to Nablus and those returning from Nablus, because of the strict inspections.

Beir Furik. Open and crowded because of the inspections.

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.

Beit Furik checkpoint

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One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west.
The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.

Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages.
Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)

'Awarta

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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus.
It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Awarta - almond trees are blooming

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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 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 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 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)

Jul-24-2024

Fathiya Akfa

Huwara: The hill east of Givat Ronen is burnt

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Sarra

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Sarra
The checkpoint is installed between the Palestinian village of Sera and the district city of Nablus,
Since 2011, internal barriers Located among the West Bank Israeli settlements have somehow allowed, Palestinian residents to travel and move and reach various Palestinian cities.
After the terrible massacre by the Hammas on October 7 upon Israelis in the communities around Gaza, internal checkpoints manned by the army were installed to prevent free passage for Palestinians.
Many restrictions were imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank. The prevention of movement shuttered the possibility of making a living in Israel. The number of Palestinian attacks by Israeli extremist settlelers increased along with the radicalization of the army against the Palestinians.
The conduct at the Sera checkpoint is one of the manifestations of the restrictions on all aspects of the Palestinians' lives.