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since israel is at war with Hamas Beginning more than two years ago, Israel has erected nearly 1,000 barriers in cities and towns across the occupied West Bank, further restricting movement. Palestinians And daily life is being disrupted, a local government body says.
While Israel’s military has long imposed barriers to movement and access since it captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, residents say the number of new barriers is unprecedented.
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, an official Palestinian government body, 916 gates, barriers and walls have been installed since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israeli military raids have also increased throughout the West Bank, killing or detaining Palestinians. Israel says it is trying to root out terrorism.
The new barriers include metal gates installed at the entrances to many villages and towns, and between cities, blocking movement in and out. Sometimes Israeli troops are stationed on them.
Palestinians say the opening hours of the gates are irregular, with some remaining closed for days. Some people sleep at the houses of friends or relatives or go around the gate on foot.
During the first two weeks of September, united nations Said to have documented the installation of 18 gates in the West Bank. It says gates and other barriers, such as large earthen mounds and concrete blocks, restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement and access to health care and education. Barriers are placed in the middle of roads to prevent cars from going around them.
The new gates, some of which block roads linking the northern and southern West Bank, force the area’s 3 million Palestinians to take long detours, with a 20-minute journey now taking more than an hour.
Israel’s military says the gates are not meant to restrict people, but for “management and surveillance”.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said its forces operate under a “complex security reality” in the West Bank, where terrorists have hidden themselves within the population and “accordingly, there are dynamic checkpoints and ongoing efforts to monitor movement in different areas.”
Residents say some gates have been equipped with cameras.
They also say that obstacles have a detrimental effect on their lives.
“Under the current circumstances, everything is cut off. Everything has stopped,” said Ezzedine al-Sayuri of Deir Dibwan village. The gates have stopped people from coming to his gym, he said, and he’s considering closing the business and leaving the country.
Residents of the village of Aboud say the entrances there are closed between 6 am and 9 am every day, preventing students from going to university and people from going to work.
Taxi driver Mohammed Shalatweh said it was all part of “the occupation’s strategy to destabilize people’s sense of security.”
Others worry that the additional barriers are a safety risk.
Iyad Jamil, a restaurant owner in the village of Sinjil, said that every time his son goes to the main city of Ramallah he is not sure he will return.
“They don’t always open them, they just close them and trap everyone,” he said.