Travel restrictions highlight Palestinians' conditional freedom

Arab News

2 days ago

https://arab.news/meunw
Restrictions on travel for Palestinians, inside their own country and on leaving and returning to their homes, have been a constant problem, with various degrees of excruciating trouble, humiliation and frustration. While Gazans, including those with medical emergencies, are not generally allowed to travel or return, the West Bank has seen an uptick in checkpoints, making travel between, say, Ramallah and Jenin or Hebron and Nablus a nightmare that sometimes ends with people being stuck for hours.
As well as such internal restrictions, Palestinians, especially those with families, also face nightmares when they must travel outside of Palestine and then return. Many Palestinians working in the Gulf or other countries often use the summer break to return home and spend time with friends and family, as well as take some downtime in their homeland.
The only airport in Palestine is in Gaza. US President Bill Clinton landed there in December 2018, but Israel has since bombed the airport and ended the free passage between the West Bank and Gaza it agreed to in the Oslo Accords. For the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, the King Hussein Bridge to Jordan is the only way to leave and return. Jerusalem's Palestinians are allowed to use the Lod (Ben Gurion) airport, but many choose to travel via Jordan.
Although travel on this only artery is supposed to be regulated by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian government, Tel Aviv has veto power, largely by deciding (i.e., restricting) its working hours. Whereas most border crossings worldwide are open 24/7, Israel applies much more restrictive hours, often insisting on closing it on Saturdays and keeping access limited despite the extreme heat in the Jordan Valley and the huge number of Palestinians using this sole crossing point.
Whereas most border crossings worldwide are open 24/7, Israel applies much more restrictive hours
Daoud Kuttab
Former US President Joe Biden pushed Israel hard to open the bridge 24/7 and, after a three-month trial in October 2022, Israel agreed to the round-the-clock opening. But this lasted less than a year. After the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks occurred, Israel returned to the much more limited opening hours. Its justification was that some staff had been called up for duty in Gaza. So, there is a limited number of staff, even though the Israelis collect a hefty 200 shekels ($59) fee per person, including children, for everyone leaving the bridge.
While many people had delayed traveling due to the war, this summer the number of people trying to cross the bridge has been much higher. Yet Israel has refused to extend the opening hours to accommodate the increase in travelers.
According to official sources, Israeli authorities are currently allowing only 2,500 passengers per day across the bridge — half the number that generally cross during the summer months and a fraction of the 13,000 to 18,000 that have been handled daily during Hajj and Umrah seasons in the past. Even though some people are willing to pay the high price of VIP transport ($121 per adult for a 3km ride), the numbers are restricted to 200 per day.
Desperate to manage the chaos, the authorities rolled out a digital reservation system. But the system quickly collapsed under its own poor design. Without requiring passport numbers at the time of purchase, the ticketing app became a goldmine for scalpers, who bought up passes under fake names and resold them at inflated prices.
One traveler, unaware of the new system and desperate to get home, paid 50 Jordanian dinars ($70) for a ticket with a face value of 7 dinars. The story went viral, prompting both Palestinian and Jordanian authorities to belatedly crack down on the black market. The government of Jordan has since dealt with this problem by insisting on passport numbers being attached to the tickets; however, the overcrowding has not eased.
For Palestinians, their freedom of movement is continually denied in the most routine and dehumanizing ways
Daoud Kuttab
The core issues remain unresolved: the hours are too short, the processing too slow and the demand far outstrips the artificial caps imposed by Israel. Suggestions of adding more Israeli staff and expanding the operating hours have fallen on deaf ears.
Freedom of movement is a basic human right, enshrined in international law. And yet, for Palestinians, that right is continually denied in the most routine and dehumanizing ways. The bridge has become a chokepoint as a result of Israel's occupation, meaning families miss weddings, students lose scholarships, patients forgo medical treatment and workers risk losing jobs — all because of arbitrary, politically motivated delays.
The current restrictions are not due to capacity, infrastructure or security. They are a political decision — an extension of a policy of control, meant to remind Palestinians that their freedom is conditional, fragile and subject to revocation at any moment.
Jordanian officials privately complain that the closures are meant to punish Amman for its outspoken opposition to the Gaza war and its pro-Palestinian stance. With no Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv and Israel's ambassador still absent from Amman, the diplomatic channels needed to resolve the crisis remain paralyzed.
King Hussein Bridge is more than just a road. It is a lifeline. Every day that access to it remains limited, it stands as a monument to how the world treats Palestinian lives — as expendable, as negotiable, as optional.