Israeli Obstacles To Free Movement In Palestinian Territories Mount, UN Reports
New York, Oct 12 2006 3:00PM
Not only has there not been any significant improvement in Palestinian movement in recent months but the number of
Israeli checkpoints and other obstacles has actually increased, hindering access to essential services, according to the
latest United Nations update published today.
“The closure system is a primary cause of the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned. “It restricts Palestinian access not only to basic services such as health and education, but divῩdes
communities from their land and one another, places of work and sites of religious worship.
Obstacles include permanent and partially manned checkpoints, roadblocks consisting of rows of one-metre concrete
blocks, metal gates, earth mounds, earth walls, trenches, road barriers and an elaborate system of permits.
“The purpose of these obstacles, as the Israeli Government states, is to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian
militant attacks that have killed around 1,000 Israelis since September 2000,” OCHA noted.
The closures continue to carve up the West Bank, leading to the isolation of communities, in particular the cities of
Nablus, Jerusalem as well as the Jordan Valley.
As of 20 September, the West Bank closure system comprised 528 checkpoints and physical obstacles – an increase of
almost 2 per cent on the 518 obstacles reported in June, an 11 per cent rise since the start of 2006, and almost 40 per
cent since August 2005 when the total was 376.
Ends