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Al Mayadeen
6 days ago
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
IOF turn West Bank's Sinjil into 'big prison' amid ongoing aggression
A towering five-meter metal fence now slices through the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, reducing it to what residents call an open-air prison, Reuters reported on Friday. All but one route in and out of the town has been sealed by heavy gates and roadblocks, closely watched by Israeli soldiers. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven. He watched in despair as the fence was installed across his nursery, where he once grew and sold trees, his only source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," Shabaneh indicated. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Read more: Egypt condemns Israeli annexation calls, West Bank violations Walls, fences, and military checkpoints have long defined life for the nearly 3 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. But since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Palestinians say the number and intensity of these barriers have increased dramatically, leaving many towns under de facto siege. The fence around Sinjil is one of the most visible examples. The Israeli occupation military claims it was erected to protect the Ramallah-Nablus highway, citing "recurring terror incidents." Residents are now forced to traverse narrow, winding streets to the only permitted exit. Many walk past blockades on foot to reach parked cars. Bahaa Foqaa, Sinjil's deputy mayor, said 8,000 residents are confined to just 10 acres of space, fenced off from 2,000 acres of their privately owned land. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people," he said. "Israel" justifies these actions as protective measures for settlers in the occupied territory. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council overseeing 47 settlements in the region, alleged that Sinjil's residents had attacked Jewish vehicles, claiming that unrestricted access would "encourage the mass murder of Jews." Approximately 700,000 settlers now live in land occupied since 1967. Most of the international community considers these settlements illegal under international law. Since October 2023, "Israel" has intensified its military presence across the occupied West Bank. Overnight roadblocks of earth and stone appeared, followed by brightly painted metal gates. New permanent and flying checkpoints now dot the landscape. For many, this has severely disrupted daily life. Sana Alwan, a 52-year-old personal trainer in Sinjil, said her commute to Ramallah now takes up to three hours each way and unpredictable delays have caused her work to decline. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While spared the full-scale war seen on Gaza, life in the occupied West Bank has grown increasingly difficult. A ban on Palestinian workers entering the 1948-occupied Palestinian territories cut off livelihoods for tens of thousands. A crackdown on refugee camps displaced thousands earlier this year. Mohammad Jammous, who lives in Ramallah and grew up in Areeha, said he now visits his family only once a month, due to travel times stretching to several hours. "Israel" claims its measures are necessary due to the "complex security reality," justifying the placement and relocation of checkpoints to monitor threats. However, Palestinian Authority officials argue the increasing restrictions are intentional efforts to suppress the population and destabilize everyday life. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa warned, "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people." Read more: IOF demolish 1,000+ homes, turn West Bank camps into 'lifeless zones' Meanwhile, 11 Palestinians were injured early Friday morning following coordinated assaults by Israeli settlers and occupation forces in the village of Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, in a systematic escalation targeting Palestinian villages. BREAKING: Right now, at 1 a.m. Palestine time, Israeli settlers are attacking the village of Beita, Nablus—firing at civilian homes and defenseless Palestinians trying to push them have been reported, and ambulances are rushing to the scene. sources reported that a group of settlers attacked a home in the Qamas area, adjacent to Jabal Sbeih in Beita, attempted to set it on fire, and brutally assaulted three residents who tried to defend it. Shortly after, Israeli occupation forces stormed the village, firing live ammunition, toxic gas canisters, and sound grenades extensively, resulting in eight additional Palestinians suffering from suffocation due to gas inhalation. In a related development, settlers from the Yitzhar settlement cut down dozens of fruit-bearing trees on farmland in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, specifically targeting the village's southern outskirts. Israeli settler militias uproot olive trees from indigenous Palestinian land in the Burin town southern Nablus in the occupied West Bank. assault follows a similar attack just days earlier on the same house in Beita, where settlers threw stones at it and set up a tent nearby, as part of a broader pattern of violations aimed at intimidating Palestinian residents and imposing new settlement realities on the ground. On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces issued demolition notices for 104 homes and buildings in the Tulkarm refugee camp, citing 'military purposes'. Residents were given 72 hours to evacuate their belongings. Read more: 'Israel' establishes first civilian court in West Bank settlement
New Straits Times
05-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
West Bank town becomes a 'big prison'
A 5M-HIGH metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," he said. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly three million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. Many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege. The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to a sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. The fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land. After decades during which Israel paid lip service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on fighters in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he visits only once a month. Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said last month.
Gulf Today
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in
A five-metre-high metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," he said. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly 3 million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. But many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege. The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The Israeli military says it erected it to protect the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway. "In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order, thereby safeguarding the security of civilians in the region," it said in a statement. Because residents are still permitted to enter and exit through the single remaining entrance, the policy is deemed to allow "free access" to the town, the military said. CUT OFF FROM LAND The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to the sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. He said the fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Israel says its fences and barriers in the West Bank are necessary to protect Jewish settlers who have moved there since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which governs the 47 Israeli settlements in the part of the West Bank where Sinjil is located, said the town's fence was needed because its residents had thrown stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the nearby highway, solely because the occupants were Jewish. "A carte blanche lifting of the restrictions on Arab Palestinians would encourage the mass murder of Jews," he told Reuters. Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land; Israel says the settlements are lawful and justified by historic and biblical Jewish ties to the land. After decades during which Israel paid lip-service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. HALF OUR LIFE IS ON THE ROADS Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to reach Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on militants in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he is now usually able to visit only once a month. The Israeli military said its forces operate in a "complex security reality", and checkpoints must be regularly relocated and set up at new locations to monitor movement and respond to threats originating from Palestinian communities. Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. They say it could backfire against Israel by driving more youths to sympathise with militants. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told reporters last month. Reuters
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in
West Bank -A five-metre-high metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil , a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," he said. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly 3 million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. But many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege. The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The Israeli military says it erected it to protect the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway. Live Events "In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order, thereby safeguarding the security of civilians in the region," it said in a statement. Because residents are still permitted to enter and exit through the single remaining entrance, the policy is deemed to allow "free access" to the town, the military said. CUT OFF FROM LAND The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to the sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. He said the fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Israel says its fences and barriers in the West Bank are necessary to protect Jewish settlers who have moved there since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which governs the 47 Israeli settlements in the part of the West Bank where Sinjil is located, said the town's fence was needed because its residents had thrown stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the nearby highway, solely because the occupants were Jewish. "A carte blanche lifting of the restrictions on Arab Palestinians would encourage the mass murder of Jews," he told Reuters. Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land; Israel says the settlements are lawful and justified by historic and biblical Jewish ties to the land. After decades during which Israel paid lip-service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. HALF OUR LIFE IS ON THE ROADS Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to reach Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on militants in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he is now usually able to visit only once a month. The Israeli military said its forces operate in a "complex security reality", and checkpoints must be regularly relocated and set up at new locations to monitor movement and respond to threats originating from Palestinian communities. Officials in the Palestinian Authority , which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. They say it could backfire against Israel by driving more youths to sympathise with militants. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told reporters last month. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
AsiaOne
04-07-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in, World News
SINJIL, West Bank — A five-metre-high metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," he said. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly three million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. But many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege. The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The Israeli military says it erected it to protect the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway. "In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order, thereby safeguarding the security of civilians in the region," it said in a statement. Because residents are still permitted to enter and exit through the single remaining entrance, the policy is deemed to allow "free access" to the town, the military said. Cut off from land The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to the sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. He said the fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Israel says its fences and barriers in the West Bank are necessary to protect Jewish settlers who have moved there since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which governs the 47 Israeli settlements in the part of the West Bank where Sinjil is located, said the town's fence was needed because its residents had thrown stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the nearby highway, solely because the occupants were Jewish. "A carte blanche lifting of the restrictions on Arab Palestinians would encourage the mass murder of Jews," he told Reuters. Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land; Israel says the settlements are lawful and justified by historic and biblical Jewish ties to the land. After decades during which Israel paid lip-service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. Half our life is on the roads Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to reach Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on militants in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he is now usually able to visit only once a month. The Israeli military said its forces operate in a "complex security reality", and checkpoints must be regularly relocated and set up at new locations to monitor movement and respond to threats originating from Palestinian communities. Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. They say it could backfire against Israel by driving more youths to sympathise with militants. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told reporters last month. [[nid:719808]]
