How Israeli West Bank Road Closures Transform Daily Commutes Into Life-Threatening Ordeals

Commuters wait in their vehicles at the Atara checkpoint on Route 465 near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 27, 2026. Mohammed Abu Hijleh still finds it hard to believe that his mother passed away just over a week ago; she had suffered from nothing more than diabetes. But the restrictions Israel imposes on various cities, towns, and villages in the occupied West Bank can alter a Palestinian’s life in an instant.

Zahriya Abu Hijleh, 66, was attending her niece’s wedding reception in her hometown of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit, on September 20, when she suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed. After she was taken to the town’s medical centre, the doctor immediately ordered her transfer to Salfit Governmental Hospital, a facility just an eight-minute drive from Deir Istiya. Mohammed requested an ambulance, but the vehicle could not enter the town because the iron gate operated by Israeli forces at the entrance was closed. Instead, an ambulance from the medical centre transported her to the gate, and from there, she was taken off the stretcher, carried past the gate on foot, and transferred to a second ambulance waiting on the other side.

It is a scenario that happens repeatedly in the occupied West Bank, Mohammed told Al Jazeera. “My mother was breathing her last; had the gate been open, we wouldn’t have lost her on the way,” he said. Medics later determined that Zahriya had suffered a pulmonary embolism and required urgent treatment, according to her family. “Sadly, she died due to the delay,” Mohammed said. “She had no prior health issues other than diabetes.”

The military checkpoints and iron gates erected by Israel in the West Bank have become a significant source of misery for Palestinians, disrupting daily life and posing a daily threat to the lives of the sick. Israel periodically imposes closures on the West Bank for various reasons, including Jewish holidays, with the current closure running from September 27 to October 3, coinciding with the Jewish festival of Sukkot.

While Israeli settlers move freely between West Bank cities, and even storm Palestinian villages and towns under Israeli army protection, Palestinians are forced to wait for hours at closed checkpoints. Ibtihal Mansour from Nablus endured such an ordeal while visiting her in-laws’ home in the village of al-Janiya, near Ramallah. The family left the village at 10am, hoping to reach Nablus within 45 minutes, but encountered closures at the Atara and Ein Siniya checkpoints north of Ramallah.

“We tried taking alternative routes west of Ramallah, but were surprised to find the road between Ramallah and Nablus blocked by settlers, with all vehicle traffic completely halted. We remained on the roads, trying to find any way through, until midnight, a span of more than 14 hours,” she told Al Jazeera. Her children were crying, exhausted after spending so long confined in the vehicle. Passing through one roadblock near Nablus, in an area called al-Lubban Asharqiya, a soldier forced Ibtihal to wake the children, and when her 11-year-old son did not wake up, she said that the soldier punched him in the head, causing him to jolt awake crying.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC) recorded 942 checkpoints, closure points, and obstacles across the occupied West Bank as of September 25, up from 793 in March 2024. The total length of the obstacles amounts to approximately 107.7km (70 miles), according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The CRRC says the closures effectively fragment Palestinian communities, making access to workplaces, schools, medical facilities, and agricultural land dependent on whether roads and crossings are open. Al Jazeera has reached out to Israeli authorities for comment on the road closures and allegations, but has yet to receive a response.

In Hebron, the Israeli army has closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians and tightened restrictions at checkpoints and gates leading to the site until Wednesday, all while securing access for settlers to celebrate Jewish holidays. Issa Amro, coordinator of the Youth Against Settlements group, told Al Jazeera that soldiers have closed checkpoints and imposed curfews in several city neighbourhoods. The situation in occupied East Jerusalem is also fraught, as Israel imposes strict restrictions on Palestinian movement and access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque while thousands of Israeli settlers enter the site unhindered under heavy security escort.