JERUSALEM, September 9, 2026 (WAFA) - Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday evening tightened movement restrictions at the Jaba’ checkpoint, north of occupied Jerusalem.
The gun-toting soldiers beefed up measures at the checkpoint and closed Route 60, one of the largest colonist roads in the occupied West Bank that is meant to connect illegal colonies while fragmenting Palestinian land, stopping Palestinian-licensed vehicles, inspecting passengers’ ID cards and causing severe traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, the occupying forces conducted separate raids into the towns and villages of Mikhmas, Deir Dibwan, Kafr Malik, al-Mughayyir and Silwad, and deployed along several roads and surrounding areas.
In the meantime, the occupation forces rounded up three Palestinians near the Beitunia city, west of Ramallah.
The occupation forces have tightened military measures across the occupied West Bank hours after the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire went into effect on January 19, 2025. Such restrictions were further tightened under the pretext of and since the onset of the Israeli-Iranian war, dismembering and isolating cities and governorates from one another using military gates, barriers, and concrete blocks.
The Israeli military measures are in parallel with ongoing attacks by Israeli colonists across the West Bank to terrorize Palestinians and displace them from their lands to seize them and build illegal Jewish colonies that separate Palestinian communities.
Israel severely restricts Palestinians’ freedom of movement within the occupied West Bank through a complex combination of approximately 898 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 59-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.
