How Israeli Checkpoints and Mobility Restrictions Are Suffocating the West Bank Economy

Commuters wait in their vehicles at an Israeli checkpoint near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on January 22, 2025.

In the village of Rujeib, southeast of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian-owned dairy farm suffered a severe blow when a routine shipment of raw milk was delayed at an Israeli military checkpoint. Al-Kamel Dairy Factory, established in 2022, has two distribution trucks permanently parked in its yard due to a sharp decline in market demand and mobility issues.

The proliferation of military roadblocks across the occupied West Bank has heavily disrupted business operations. These checkpoints were established to maintain Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank and to guard Israeli settlements, coinciding with a wave of pogroms by Israeli settlers on Palestinian towns and villages.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC), there are about 925 checkpoints and military gates across the occupied West Bank, with 147 located in the Nablus governorate, which serves as Al-Kamel’s primary market. Transport movement in the region has dropped by more than 50 percent.

Al-Kamel has seen sales decline by 30 to 40 percent, forcing the company to lay off at least 12 workers due to inflated production and transport costs. Dweikat explained that a severe siege on Nablus has made transport extremely difficult, increasing prices and production costs that local factories struggle to absorb amidst a deteriorating economic situation.

Milk trucks now face hours of delays at checkpoints such as Awarta, resulting in significant spoilage and financial loss. A March 2025 study by the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) revealed that average delays for trips outside Nablus reach 42 minutes, resulting in daily losses of 191,146 working hours and costing the Palestinian economy roughly 2.8 million shekels ($764,600) per day.

Local merchants like Mansour Aliwi describe Nablus as a ghost town as shoppers from rural areas are prevented from arriving. Palestinian business journalist Jafar Sadaqa noted that the intensification of these checkpoints leads to company bankruptcies, rising unemployment, and the complete isolation of the West Bank from both Gaza and the outside world.