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Transcript/ScriptWEST BANK HAWARA
HEAD: Palestinians Not Allowed on Main Street of West Bank Town
SUBHEAD: As violence escalates, Israeli forces allow only locals in inner part of Hawara, a town surrounded by Jewish settlements
PUBLISHED AT: 11/8/2023, 3:31p
BYLINE: Yan Boechat
DATELINE: Hawara, West Bank
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yan Boechat
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: DJ (bal), Reifenrath, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO
TRT: 2:21
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) Surrounded by Jewish settlements, the West Bank town of Hawara has been a focus of violence since the beginning of the year, with both Palestinians and Israeli settlers being killed. Now, with violence escalating, Israeli forces decided to shut down the entire central area of the town, not allowing Palestinians to work, drive or walk on its main street. Yan Boechat has the story.
((NARRATOR))
For those just driving by, Hawara seems like a ghost town. On its main street, there are no people. All shops are closed. Garbage piles up. Only Israeli soldiers walk around.
((NARRATOR:))
Since the beginning of the war, Palestinians have been forbidden to work, walk or drive on the main street of this Arab town in the West Bank.
[[For radio: Moeen Dmeidi, the mayor of Hawara, says Palestinians cannot even reach a medical center. He says we do not have access to any shops, hospitals or ambulances. He says they are completely shut down of any livelihood on this road.]]
((Moeen Dmeidi,, Mayor of Hawara (MALE, ARABIC)))
“We cannot even reach a medical center. We cannot have access to any shops. We cannot have access to hospitals. We cannot have access to ambulances. We are shut completely down of any livelihood in this road.”
((NARRATOR:))
Hawara has been a focus of violence in the West Bank. The town is cut off by the main road that crosses the West Bank from North to South, linking important cities like Ramallah and Nablus. It is also surrounded by many Jewish settlements.
Before the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, confrontations between settlers and Palestinians were common here, with deaths on both sides.
[[radio: Samy Sosa owns a business in Hawara.]]
((Samy Sosa, Business Owner (MALE, English)))
"The soldiers and the settlers, they come to the streets of Hawara, and they start throwing rocks, start throwing bombs to us. They make us close. We cannot have our business. We cannot open it."
((NARRATOR))
With the escalation of violence, Israeli forces now are preventing Palestinians from crossing from one side of Harawa to the other by car. Almost all the streets that link to the inner parts of town have been blocked off.
((NARRATOR))
There’s only one point in the central part of the town where residents can cross on foot.
[[radio: Hawara resident Sheeren Odeh says the town is now divided into sections. The upper part has some capabilities, some supermarkets. The municipality is on one side, so people are able to survive. But the side she lives on is suffering. She says, "We don't have shops or clinics."]]
((VOA VIDEO:)) HAWARA INTERVIEWS MP4 - 7:27 - 7:55
((Sheeren Odeh, Hawara Resident (female, Arabic)))
"Hawara is now divided into sections. The upper part has some capabilities, has some supermarkets. The municipality is on that side, so people can survive. Our side is really suffering. We don’t have shops, clinics.”
The Israeli government built a new road to bypass the main street of Hawara. But so far, the Israeli cars keep flowing through the middle of the town.
((Yan Boechat, VOA News, Hawara, West Bank
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Hawara, West Bank
Embargo DateNovember 8, 2023 16:16 EST
Byline
Yan Boechat, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
