Huwara checkpoint

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Israeli soldier faces Palestinians waiting at the Huwara checkpoint, at the entrance to Nablus, 12 June 2006

The Huwara checkpoint (Hebrew: מחסום חווארה; Arabic: حاجز حوارة) is a checkpoint operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at one of the four main exits of Nablus. Situated to the south of the city, it was named after the nearby town of Huwara. It was established in October 2000, during the Second Intifada, and was a major checkpoint until the October 7 attacks in 2023, after which it was closed to all Palestinians.

History

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See also: History of Huwara and Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Palestinians and an Israeli soldier at the Huwara checkpoint, 2005

In 2002, the checkpoint was open from morning to evening. Later, it remained open for 24 hours every day.[1] All vehicles were required to have special permits and be searched.

By 2004, there were reports of long lines and overcrowding, and the checkpoint was said to be "one of the busiest in the West Bank."[2]

In 2008, renovations were carried out to ease the overcrowding.[3]

Conditions at Hawara were relaxed in July 2009. The checkpoint was opened to allow pedestrians to cross freely without being searched.[4] Palestinian vehicles have sometimes faced random inspections.[1]

In 2011, Israeli newspapers reported that the checkpoint would be removed,[5] but according to the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, the checkpoint was still in use in 2014.[6]

Machsom Watch reported that after the February 2023 Huwara rampage, the IDF increased armed presence at all checkpoints and added a layer of gates to the Huwara checkpoint. They also paved a new bypass road reaching from Tapuach Junction to the Awarta checkpoint, intended for Israeli settlers wanting to avoid the Huwara checkpoint.[7] On 18 September 2023, Middle East Monitor reported that security measures at all checkpoints were tightened, and the Huwara checkpoint was among the checkpoints that were closed to residents.[8]

Huwara checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians after the attacks on 7 October 2023.[9][10] As of July 2025, has been blocked by barrier fence.[9] In order to enter Nablus, northbound travelers entering from Road 60 must travel north along the Huwara bypass and enter through the Awarta checkpoint.[11]

Issues and criticism

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See also: Criticism of Israeli checkpoints

Throughout the 2000s, accounts of the checkpoint described issues for travelers moving through the checkpoint, and for the soldiers manning the checkpoint. Travelers experienced long wait times, property damage, harassment, humiliation, delay or denial of access to medical services, mistreatment of women, and violence from the soldiers, including beatings and shootings.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The soldiers experienced untenable working conditions.[2][13]

One foreign national traveling with Médecins du Monde said in 2005 that an IDF Captain and spokesperson told her that "[t]he Qalandiya and Huwara checkpoints are the worst ones. Go to any other one, and they run smoothly.”[19] She also said, "As we passed through the Huwara checkpoint [...] the atmosphere changed; the tension was palpable."[19]

The checkpoint came under international scrutiny in 2004, when an IDF soldier was convicted in Israeli military court for "numerous instances of violent behavior toward Palestinians crossing at the checkpoint".[20] Soldiers stationed there said that the issues are systemic, not necessarily personal to any individual soldier, and that working conditions are a driving cause of violence and mistreatment of travelers.[2][20] In 2004, one soldier stationed there said, "Most soldiers prefer to be under fire than at those roadblocks."[2] Another said, "Everyone, no matter how moral, if he feels a commitment to the mission, will or could fall into violence. We're all told we shouldn't behave badly to civilians -- never hit them, never yell. But after eight hours in the sun, you're not so strong."[2] According to a third soldier, "Every day, the regulations were different. [...] One day, you can let everyone pass; on another, no one is able to come in. It's very difficult to explain. They don't care if someone in Nablus wants to explode himself in Israel. They just want to live their life. Regardless of how strong you are, dealing with these problems is too much."[2]

In 2004, one soldier said that the IDF did not teach very much Arabic to the soldiers deployed to the checkpoint. Most soldiers did not speak Arabic and many travelers passimg through Huwara did not speak Hebrew, so there was often a language barrier that exacerbated tensions at the checkpoint.[2]

Over the years, humanitarian groups like Machsom Watch, B'Tselem, and International Solidarity Movement have made efforts to improve conditions for Palestinians at the checkpoint. Some organizations are watchdogs, some share testimonies from people who experience mistreatment at the checkpoint, and some play more active roles by negotiating or coordinating with the IDF.[13]

Incidents

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2002

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A Palestinian woman named Maysoon al-Hayek[a] said that on 25 February 2002, she went into labour, so she, her husband, and her father-in-law began to drive from their home in Zeita-Jamma'in to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. At Huwara checkpoint, the soldiers took about an hour to search the car thoroughly, then told the group they were not allowed to pass through the checkpoint. Then the group informed the soldiers that al-Hayek needed to go to the hospital because she was in labour and in severe pain, and then al-Hayek complied when the soldiers requested to see her belly as proof. They were then allowed through the checkpoint, but about 600 meters away from the checkpoint Israeli soldiers began shooting at the car from the front.[21] The attack lasted for almost five minutes; the soldiers killed al-Hayek's husband, and injured both al-Hayek and her father-in law.[22] The soldiers stopped firing, then came to the car and pulled al-Hayek out of it. The soldiers then made her undress completely, one or two garments at a time, which they said was required to determine how pregnant she was; recalling this, al-Hayek referred to it as "humiliation", saying that she "was ready to go as far as that in order to get to the hospital before it was late."[21] After she was completely naked, the soldiers put her onto a stretcher and gave her intravenous glucose. They called separate ambulances for al-Hayek and her father-in-law, who were both left naked on stretchers for about 30 minutes as they were transported back to the checkpoint to wait for the ambulance. Eventually, after al-Hayek shouted at them, the soldiers gave her back the robe she had been wearing, so that she would not be cold. Ultimately, al-Hayek gave birth on the hospital elevator. Once she began to recover, al-Hayek filed a complaint against the IDF. Humanitarian groups have pointed to al-Hayek's story to show that Israeli soldiers at checkpoints sometimes cause undue harm to women.[21] For example, Amnesty International said that "the practice by Israeli soldiers of delaying or denying passage to women in labour at checkpoints, effectively denying them medical treatment when it is clearly necessary and urgent, constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."[22][23]

2003–2005

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In April 2003, a group of Palestinians reported that IDF soldiers had written numbers in ink on the Palestinians' hands while they were waiting in line at Huwara checkpoint.[18] The military confirmed the event and said that a single soldier had done this on his own, without directions from superiors, and that he would be facing a disciplinary hearing.[18] However, the IDF continued the practice of writing tracking numbers on the bodies of Palestinians in other contexts, and this drew criticism–especially from Holocaust survivors, who compared the practice to the Nazis' practice of tattooing tracking numbers on concentration camp detainees, many of whom were Jewish.[24]

On 24 March 2004, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy known as Hussam Abdo tried to pass through the checkpoint while having an explosive belt strapped to his body for an attempted suicide attack.[25] However, he failed to do so and subsequently surrendered to Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint.

In May 2005, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was arrested at the checkpoint with two pipe bombs inside a black bag, apparently instructed to give them to someone in Israel.[26] In November 2007, two Palestinian teenagers were detained for interrogation after they were found to be carrying three bombs; an Israeli sapper detonated them without incident.[27] In September 2008, during Ramadan, a Palestinian woman threw acid at an Israeli soldier's face while she was passing through the checkpoint, leaving him blind in one eye.[3] She was subsequently captured and arrested after trying to flee from the checkpoint.[28][29][30]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Sometimes referred to as "Maysoun Saleh Nayef Hayek"

References

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  1. ^ a b "Behind the Headlines: Improving Palestinian quality of life". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel). Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Moore, Molly (29 November 2004). "Checkpoints Take Toll on Palestinians, Israeli Army". The Washington Post. Contributions from researcher Samuel Sockol. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b Renovations of notorious Hawara checkpoint meant to benefit soldiers and Palestinians
  4. ^ "Key IDF Checkpoint Neutralized". Israel National News. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  5. ^ IDF to remove major West Bank checkpoint to enable Palestinian movement. Chaim Levinson, Haaretz, 11 February 2011
  6. ^ Palestinians Suffer Ill-Treatment at Huwwara Checkpoint. Al-Haq, 12 December 2013
  7. ^ "Huwara, what was not burned - was closed". Machsom Watch. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Israel closes all checkpoints in Nablus, installs iron barriers". Middle East Monitor. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Hawara and Burin - The very fabric of life destroyed". Machsom Watch. 11 May 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Huwarah". B'Tselem. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Checkpoint tour at central West Bank". Machsom Watch. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  12. ^ Conover, Ted (1 March 2006). "The Checkpoint". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  13. ^ a b c "House of Commons - International Development - Written Evidence". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Testimony of Muhammad Ri'ad 'Issa Jabali". B'Tselem. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Settlers attack Palestinian shepherds in Hebron Hills". Mondoweiss. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Testimony: Soldier beats Mahmoud 'Awwad, fracturing his skull, Jan. '09". B'Tselem. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  17. ^ Hass, Amira (6 October 2005). "Settlers attack Palestinian shepherds in Hebron Hills". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  18. ^ a b c Daraghmeh, Mohammed (27 April 2003). "Palestinians Marked With Numbers". The Intelligencer. Edwardsville, Illinois, U.S. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  19. ^ a b Cohen, Deborah (26 February 2005). "My six day experience in the Middle East". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 330 (7489): 474. doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7489.474. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC 549667. PMID 15731150.
  20. ^ a b "Soldier jailed for attacking Palestinians". UPI. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  21. ^ a b c "ISRAEL'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW) IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (OPT)" (PDF). adalah.org. May 2005. p. 9. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  22. ^ a b "Israel: Conflict, occupation and patriarchy: Women carry the burden". Amnesty International. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  23. ^ "IDF shoots Palestinian woman in labor while on her way to hospital, February 2002". B'Tselem. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  24. ^ "Israeli Military Stops Controversial Marking of Palestinian Prisoners". Voice of America. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  25. ^ "Teen Bomber Stopped At West Bank". CBS News. CBS. 24 March 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  26. ^ Second teen caught with bombs this week at Hawara checkpoint
  27. ^ Youths with bombs stopped at Hawara
  28. ^ Weiss, Efrat (10 September 2008). "Palestinian woman throws acid on soldier at Hawara checkpoint". Ynetnews. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  29. ^ Weiss, Efrat (22 September 2008). "Palestinian woman pours acid on soldier". Ynetnews. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Palestinian sprays acid on face of IDF soldier at Hawara checkpoint". The Jerusalem Post. 10 September 2008. ISSN 0792-822X. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
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