JERUSALEM, October 1, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday evening shut down the occupied West Bank city of East Jerusalem, citing Yom Kippur as a pretext, according to local sources.

They said that the occupying forces blocked dozens of traffic arteries in occupied East Jerusalem, restricting Palestinian movement to their neighborhoods and disrupting their lives, at a time when Israeli colonists were allowed to move freely in and outside the Old City.

They added that the occupation authorities deployed reinforcements across the city, setting up blocks around the Old City, Al-Amoud, and al-Khalil Gates, and sealing off roads leading to the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Musrara, and Wadi al-Joz.

They affirmed that the occupation authorities persisted in taking advantage of Jewish holidays as a pretext to impose tightened movement restrictions on Palestinians, in stark contrast to colonists who enjoy full freedom of movement.

Israel severely restricts Palestinians’ freedom of movement within the occupied West Bank through a complex combination of 1,200 fixed and flying checkpoints and gates, including 18 gates that have been installed since the start of 2025 and 146 others installed in the aftermath of October 7, 2023, settler-only roads, over 200 military bases, and various other physical obstructions.

Closures besides other measures, taken under the guise of security, are intended to entrench Israel’s 58-year-old military occupation of the West Bank and its settler colonial project, which it enforces with routine and frequently deadly violence against Palestinians.

K.F.