Published: 7 November 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Residents say travelling between the two halves involves a drive of up to 40 minutes; Palestinians fear arrest if they voice sympathy for Gaza civilians
Normally, the businesses at the shopping centre in the Palestinian West Bank town of Hawara are alive with activity. For the past three weeks they’ve been closed. The vast majority of the roads leading to the inner neighbourhoods have been blocked.
The town is split in two by iron barriers and earthen mounds placed by the military.
Hawara began to resemble a ghost town even before the October 7 Hamas massacres in the south. Two days earlier, shots were fired at an Israeli vehicle on the main road in the area, Highway 60. In response, the military ordered the shops on the road to be closed, as they have remained since.
After the massacres, the two halves of the town were cut off from each other. Residents say travelling between them involves a circuitous drive that sometimes takes more than 40 minutes to find a clear route.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel’s leaders assured him they would confront the uptick in settler violence that is forcing Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank.
After meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, Blinken warned that failure to protect Palestinian civilians risks playing into the hands of Hamas.
“The protection of civilians must take place not just in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, where incitement and extremist violence against Palestinians must be stopped,” Blinken told reporters.
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Checkpoints, Closed Shops, Not Enough Medicine: Hawara Has Become a Ghost Town (Haaretz)
The Israeli military has set up roadblocks, cutting the West Bank Palestinian town in two, making it difficult to move or reach surrounding communities. Residents think twice about leaving the house for fear of settler attacks. The military says it has ordered troops to allow free pedestrian traffic
‘The reaction is extreme’: Palestinians fear arrest if they voice sympathy for Gaza civilians (CNN)
Dua Abu Sneineh was shocked when a group of police officers – between 10 and 15, she said – barged into her home in East Jerusalem early on October 23. “I was not even considering for a moment that they would be coming for me,” she told CNN.
Israeli Far-right Lawmaker Calls to Halt West Bank Olive Harvest (Haaretz)
Zvi Sukkot, who was recently appointed chairman of a Knesset subcommittee on West Bank issues, cited Palestinian workers who he said aided the Hamas attack
Blinken presses Israeli leaders on West Bank settler attacks
The top US diplomat said he received a "clear commitment" from Israel's leaders that they would condemn the extremist violence in the West Bank
Photo: Visitors at the Physicians for Human Rights clinic in Hawara, November 3 (Itay Ron)
