Israeli Forces Set up Metal Gate at Entrance to West Bank Villages

Salfit, MINA – Israeli forces on Sunday set up a metal gate on a road leading to seven villages and towns in the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to local sources.

Wafa reported Israeli forces set up the gate without any prior notice, obstructing residents’ movement.

Sources said that any future closure of the gate by Israeli forces would tighten the noose around residents’ movement between seven villages in Salfit, and force them to take alternative and longer routes to reach their destination.

The area has recently been a scene of daily clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli forces.

Restricting movement is one of the main tools that Israel employs to enforce its regime of occupation over the Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories.

Israel restricts the movement of Palestinians within the Occupied Territories, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, into Israel, and abroad. Only Palestinians are restricted in this manner, while settlers and other civilians, Israeli and foreign are free to travel,” said the Israeli information center for human rights in occupied territories, (B’Tselem).

“Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the Occupied Territories lies completely at the mercy of the state’s whims, the instructions given to soldiers at the local (DCO), and the way in which they implement them,” said B’Tselem. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)