Prohibitions, Blocks and Roads Forbidden to Palestinians
Study of the list of prohibitions, blocks and the roads within the West Bank that are forbidden to Palestinians, throws light on the consideration for the fabric of life of the Palestinians under the rule of the Occupation.
A MachsomWatch report, in January 2007:
Prohibitions, Blocks and Roads Forbidden to Palestinians
Compiled and written: Noah P, Naomi L, Hanna B
Prohibitions
A. Permanent prohibitions
1. Gazan Palestinians are forbidden to stay in the West Bank.
2. The entry of Palestinians into East Jerusalem is forbidden.
3. The entry of Palestinians resident in the West Bank to Gaza through Erez Crossing is forbidden.
4. Entry of Palestinians into the Jordan Rift Valley (one-third of the area of the West Bank) is forbidden.
5. Palestinians are forbidden entry to villages and lands, towns and suburbs in the Seam Zone at the west of the West Bank (10% of the area of the West Bank, including Palestinian East Bartaa and villages like Azun, Atma, Jubara).
6. Entry of Palestinians is forbidden into the villages of Beit Furiq and Beit Dejan in Nablus area (with the exception of residents) and Remadain in the Southern Hebron Hills.
7. Entry of Palestinians is forbidden into the areas of the settlements (even for those whose lands are within the built uop areas of the settlements.
8. Entry into Nablus by car is forbidden.
9. Jerusalemite Palestinians are forbidden to enter and stay in Area A (the Palestinian cities of the West Bank).
10. Residents of Gaza are forbidden entry into the West Bank through the Allenby Bridge [border with Jordan].
11. Palestinians are forbidden to travel through Ben Gurion International Airport.
12. Children under the age of 16 are forbidden to leave Nablus without an original birth certificate and the escort of a parent.
13. The exit of Palestinians (holding entry permits for Israel) is forbidden on roads and crossings that are permissible only to Israelis and tourists.
14. Gazans are forbidden to change their residence to the West Bank.
15. Residents of the West Bank are forbidden to change their residence to the Jordan Rift Valley, the communities of the Seam Zone and the villages of Beit Furiq and Beit Dejan.
16. Transfer of commodities and goods is forbidden through the internal checkpoints of the West Bank.
B. Periodic prohibitions
17. Quarantine: prohibition for residents of a particular area in the West Bank to travel to the other parts of the West Bank, from north to south, from west to east.
18. Sporadic: prohibition of a specific age group, mostly males between 16 and 30/35/40 to leave the particular area (for example, from Nablus and other West Bank towns).
19. Prohibition of crossing of private cars at Sawahre/Abu Dis checkpoint (which separates between north and south of the West Bank). The prohibition was first cancelled two weeks ago in the frame of “easements.”
Checkpoints/blocks
75 manned checkpoints within the West Bank, apart from seven checkpoints/ crossings on the Green Line [frontier between Israel and Palestine] as at January 2007
Some 150 rolling/moving checkpoints on average (as at September 2006).
446 various types of blocks between roads in the West Bank and Palestinian villages – concrete cubes, dirt excavations, locked iron gates
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88 iron gates at the exits of Palestinian villages to the main roads of the West Bank.
74 kilometers of fences along the main roads (Routes # 317, 505, 5, 443, 60 in the south).
83 locked iron gates along the separation barrier, to split owners off from their lands. Only 25 of the gates are opened for periods of time (officially three times a day).
Roads and Parts of Roads Forbidden to Palestinians – restricted to special permit holders, or with de facto prohibited entry effected by blocks.
- Route 90 (along the Jordan Rift Valley).
- Route 60 in its northern stretch (from Shavei Shomron military camp, to the west of Nablus, and northward).
- Route 585 alongside the settlements of Hormesh and Dotan.
- Route 557: west from Raibe/Tulkarm Junction (on the Green Line) to Anabta (with the exception of residents of Shufa); east from Huwwara Checkpoint (south of Nablus) to the settlement of Eilon Moreh.
- Route 505 from Zaatra (Nablus Junction) to Maalei Ephraim.
- Route 5 prohibited from Barkan to the entrance to Israel.
- Route 446 from Dir Balut Junction to Route 5 (the area of the settlements of Alei Zahav and Paduel).
- Routes 445 & 463 in the area of the settlements of Talmon, Dolev and Nahliel.
- Route 443 from Maccabim-Reut to Givat Zeev.
- Streets in the old city of Hebron.
- Route 60 from the settlement of Otniel southward.
- Route 317 (the area of the settlements in the South Hebron Hills).