Israel has sealed off the occupied West Bank for a week, closing crossings and tightening restrictions on Palestinian movement during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the closure on Sunday following a recommendation from the military. The restrictions are expected to remain in place until Saturday.
The move has further limited Palestinians’ access to key religious sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Israeli forces have also blocked roads and entrances to several Palestinian towns, including Turmus Aya, Aboud, Nabi Saleh, Atara and Taybeh. Checkpoints were established in areas including Yabroud, Ein Siniya and Jaba, where soldiers searched vehicles and checked identification documents.
The restrictions also affect Palestinians who hold permits to work in Israel and Israeli settlements. Only workers classified as essential are currently being allowed into Israeli industrial zones in the West Bank.
More than 300 checkpoints across West Bank
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are more than 300 Israeli checkpoints across the occupied West Bank.
As of December, the checkpoints formed part of 925 movement obstacles restricting the movement of about 3.4 million Palestinians across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The obstacles include:
- 89 checkpoints staffed around the clock
- 218 partial checkpoints, which operate intermittently
- 232 road gates, 159 of which are frequently closed
- 114 linear closures, including earth walls, road barriers and trenches
- 167 earth mounds
- 105 roadblocks
The checkpoints and barriers restrict movement between Palestinian towns and major roads, forcing many Palestinians to take longer routes to work, schools and medical facilities.
Key checkpoints
Among the major checkpoints are Qalandiya, Checkpoint 300, Eyal, Taybeh and Tarqumiyah.
Qalandiya checkpoint is the main crossing between Ramallah and East Jerusalem and previously handled about one-third of movement between the West Bank and Israel.
Checkpoint 300 blocks the main route between Bethlehem and Jerusalem and is a major crossing for Palestinians working in East Jerusalem and other central Israeli cities.
Eyal checkpoint serves workers from Qalqilya and other parts of the northern West Bank.
Taybeh checkpoint is located south of the northern Palestinian city of Tulkarem, while Tarqumiyah checkpoint is located near Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Impact on Palestinian workers
Before the war in Gaza began in October 2023, about 160,000 Palestinians from the West Bank worked for Israeli employers, according to the Palestinian Institute for Economic Policy Research.
After Israel barred most Palestinian permit holders from entering, the number fell to about 27,300 by mid-2024.
Unemployment in the West Bank also increased from 12.9 percent in September 2023 to 30.7 percent a year later, according to the Israeli rights group Gisha.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in September 2024 calling on Israel to end what it described as its “unlawful” occupation within a year. Israel has continued military raids, settlement expansion and restrictions on Palestinian movement.
The latest weeklong closure has further intensified those restrictions across the occupied West Bank.
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