Escalation since the “Al-Aqsa Flood”… Prohibiting movement is the latest form of Israeli “apartheid” in the West Bank | Policy

Nablus- Perhaps 200 meters does not seem like a long distance between the home of citizen Anan Al-Nasser and the entrance to his village of Deir Sharaf, near the city of Nablus (north of the West Bank), but it was enough to turn his and his family’s life into hell and make him confined to his home, after the practices of the Israeli occupation prevented him from being able to move within his village. And outside.

Less than two years ago, the occupation closed the western entrance to the village and its side roads with dirt barriers, followed that with a military barrier, and doubled the suffering by placing stone barriers made up of cement cubes. Then, less than a month ago, it returned and installed a military iron gate that it closed and opened with the push of a button whenever it wanted. The regions are separated from each other.

Israel was not content with separating Palestinian villages and cities through settlement and militarization of the streets; Rather, their suffering was exacerbated by the policy of collective punishment, in addition to the terrorism of soldiers and settlers – alike – against them while they were traveling on public roads.

Forced adaptation to isolation

The citizen Anan Al-Nasser (43 years old) and more than 100 people living in the western neighborhood of the village of Deir Sharaf have become completely isolated due to the occupation’s measures, and day by day their living conditions have narrowed, to the point that they are forced to adapt to the reality of isolation, closure, and the difficulty of movement, especially since the war. Israeli forces attacked the Gaza Strip on October 7.

In order for Anan and his three children to travel this distance to their school in the morning, they must – if the checkpoint is open – take a public transport vehicle back and forth, and if they are not lucky and the checkpoint is closed, they must cross the road on foot, and after returning in the evening they do not leave the house except for necessity. Extremely, they often don’t.

He tells Al Jazeera Net that he lives in tragic conditions in this small “canton” (isolated) in the western part of the village, which impose a new reality on him to deal with, especially with the start of the war on Gaza, as he stays at home most of the time and prepares for any settler attack or raid. occupation army.

“Fortunately, I do not have a vehicle to move around, despite my great need for it, but in light of the ongoing closure, walking – despite all its risks – seems better.”

While Anan remains confined to his home most of the time, the young man Abdul Aziz Hamdan – from one of the villages north of the city of Nablus – begins his day by inquiring about the clear roads of the city where his workplace is, in order to avoid closing the checkpoints and then waiting for long hours.

Although his town is only several kilometers away from Nablus, Abdel Aziz (26 years old) is now resorting to staying overnight where he works, in order to avoid traveling on the roads that have become lonely, with the presence of occupation checkpoints and the continued attacks of settlers. This is a situation faced by university employees and students, who were forced to perform their jobs or learn remotely (electronically).

Complete closure of streets and towns

Entire villages have begun to live in complete isolation, such as the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus, and the surrounding villages. The occupation has closed its main and vital street linking the north and south of the West Bank since the beginning of the war, preventing residents from moving there and shooting them.

The occupation also closes more than 300 economic establishments on Huwwara Street, deprives residents of the southern regions of movement through it, forces them to take other dangerous roads, and its soldiers and settlers inflict on them various types of punishment, including detention, searches, and direct assault.

Communication between the villages north of Nablus was cut off due to the closure, and they lacked their most basic needs of food and drink. Because securing it may cost the life of the citizen, as happened with Munib Shabib and his wife Ibtisam from the village of Burqa.

Munib told Al Jazeera Net that they were severely beaten, threatened with weapons, and had their vehicle destroyed by settlers who infiltrated from the nearby Homesh settlement, after they took advantage of the occupation soldiers closing the military gate at the entrance to the settlement, and obstructed the movement of Palestinian citizens and their vehicles.

Spatial and temporal division of mobility

For three main “cantons” (isolates) (north, center, and south), Israel divided the West Bank, and divided the parts, creating more than 200 mini-cantons, isolated from each other, through more than 750 military checkpoints.

Former Minister of the Wall and Settlement Affairs Authority, Walid Assaf, says that Israel declared a double war on Gaza and the West Bank, and that the aggression against Gaza generated the necessary “noise” to cover up the “cantons” and displacement plans in the West Bank. He continued, “Israel displaced 74 families consisting of 547 people from areas The Palestinian Jordan Valley, during the first week of the war only.”

Walid Assaf confirmed in his interview with Al Jazeera Net that the isolation and closure led to a spatial and temporal division of the streets through which the Palestinians move, as Israel imposed a security and military closure on some of them, and deprived the Palestinians of using them.

With this Israeli isolation, the Palestinians are experiencing, according to Walid, a “third catastrophe” in which they have lost their freedom of movement, and their cities are being closed at the push of a button.

De facto policy

Palestinian Justice Minister Muhammad Shalalda agrees with Walid Assaf that the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza are no different from its violations in the West Bank, and they are all in violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws.

Muhammad Shalalda told Al Jazeera Net that Israel imposes a de facto policy of isolating the Palestinians and restricting them to prevent them from obtaining their right to self-determination and return, and then establishing their state.

The minister added, “Through its policies, Israel does not obtain a right for the occupation and does not establish its sovereignty. Before the closure, it built settlements and the separation wall, and the world condemned that, rejected it, and considered it illegal, according to an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in 2004.”