RAMALLAH, September 28, 2017 (WAFA) – the Israeli military siege imposed against more than a dozen Palestinian villages northwest of Jerusalem continued Thursday for the third day in a row, drawing condemnation from the Ministry of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs which said it critically affects daily life of some 70,000 civilians.

Israel imposed a siege on the villages in retaliation for the shooting and killing of an Israeli border policeman and two security men by a Palestinian from Beit Surik, one of 16 area villages affected by the army siege.

Local sources told WAFA that Israeli soldiers maintained presence at checkpoints set up at the entrances to villages that lead to a number of area villages, banning people from leaving the area or entering it. The army also erected metal gates at the roads leading to these villages.

Residents were forced to use alternative unpaved roads to reach their workplace or health and education facilities.

The Foreign ministry said in a statement that the Israeli siege affects all aspects of life in the villages, including closure of more than 50 schools while preventing people from getting their necessities such as medicine.

It said the nightly Israeli army raids on the villages terrorize children and the local unarmed civilian population, in addition to damaging private property, describing them as “collective punishment in violation of international law and a blatant violation of basic human rights.”

M.N./M.K.