Akram Saleh, a Palestinian from a small town near Ramallah, lives with his children under the same roof, yet they only communicate online. The reason behind this painful separation? Israel. This is his story.
Akram Saleh now spends eight hours commuting from his workplace in Ramallah to his home in the town of Aboud, a journey that takes only a few minutes under normal circumstances.
Israel, in conjunction with its military campaign in Jenin and the possibility of expanding it to include other cities, has tightened its grip on Palestinians by closing the military checkpoints it has set up between cities, villages, and towns across the West Bank.
In addition, new barriers have been erected, and iron gates placed at the entrances to towns and villages, turning the West Bank into cages where Palestinians are controlled by the Israeli army.
According to observers, this is not solely linked to the military operation. The aim is to confine Palestinians to their cities and villages and keep them away from main roads used by illegal Jewish settlers. The latter, unlike Palestinians, can move freely in the area.
Another goal, observers suggest, is to distance Palestinians from much of the geography of the West Bank to facilitate the annexation process promised to Israel by former US President Donald Trump.
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Saleh leaves home for work early every day, but for over a week, his return journey has taken more than seven hours.
Under the new measures, Israeli soldiers stationed at the Atara checkpoint, north of Ramallah, meticulously search vehicles and deliberately delay their passage, causing traffic jams that last for hours.
“I return home in the middle of the night, sometimes even later, instead of at 5 p.m. I spend most of my day in my car, enduring unprecedented humiliation,” Saleh told the Palestine Chronicle.
For the past week, he has returned home only to find his children already asleep, and in the morning, he leaves before they wake. Instead of seeing them, he talks to them over the internet—a deeply painful situation considering how close they are geographically.
“What we are experiencing is tragic. One soldier, who controls the lives of tens of thousands every day, may suddenly decide to close the checkpoint for vehicle searches simply because he wants to take a break, have a snack, or joke with his fellow soldiers,” Saleh told us.
The humiliation and harsh measures don’t end there. Israeli soldiers sometimes fire stun grenades and tear gas at vehicles waiting in line, putting passengers, especially children, the elderly, and the sick, at serious risk.
Last Wednesday, Iman Jaradat, 45, died after suffering a heart attack. Her family rushed her to the hospital, but she was held up for hours at a checkpoint in front of her town, Sa’ir, east of Hebron (Al-Khalil), where she ultimately passed away.
Several women have also given birth in vehicles while waiting at checkpoints that even ambulances cannot pass without inspection.
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In response to these obstructions, some mosques and community centers have opened their doors to stranded travelers, allowing them to spend the night in nearby villages. Palestinians have also organized initiatives to provide food to those stuck at checkpoints.
Meanwhile, some schools and educational institutions, such as Birzeit University, have shifted to remote learning due to the closures preventing students and staff from reaching campus.
Hundreds of Barriers
According to data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, there are currently 898 military checkpoints in the West Bank, including 18 that were installed since the beginning of this year.
Amir Daoud, Director General of Publication and Documentation at the Commission, explained to the Palestine Chronicle that Israel has intensified its policy of oppression in the West Bank by enforcing strict closures and enabling settler militias to target Palestinian villages and towns.
“Israel is tightening its grip on Palestinians by closing roads while, at the same time, granting settlers unrestricted movement to carry out attacks. This demonstrates a clear functional exchange between settlers and the army in the Palestinian territories,” Daoud said.
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“Since the start of 2025, we have documented the installation of 18 new checkpoints, adding to the hundreds that have been in place since 1967,” he added.
Through this new, more intensive closure system, Israel aims to create a fragmented geography of densely populated areas separated into isolated cantons under its control. This approach moves beyond restricting movement to establishing a system of complete domination.
“The checkpoints vary in design, from dirt mounds to electronic gates equipped with surveillance cameras and automated firing systems, turning them into instruments of torture,” Daoud said.
Israel is investing billions to enforce this system of subjugation.
The closure of checkpoints and the resulting congestion in Palestinian cities have coincided with an increase in illegal Jewish settlers’ attacks on various areas, including targeted assaults on Palestinians and their vehicles near these barriers.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Fayha’ Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
