RAMALLAH – The Israeli forces have been closing all entrances that lead to the West Bank town of Ya'bad and the surrounding villages, to the southwest of Jenin, for the seventh “for security reasons.”
Talal Dwaikat, the Jenin's Governor, said that the Israeli soldiers closed all the entrances that lead to the Ya'bad area and declared it a closed military zone. He added that the forces prevented residents from entering or leaving the town and the villages. The Ya'bad area is home to some 40,000 Palestinian residents. Dwaikat said that the residents were obliged to use alternative roads to reach their universities, businesses and work places in various West Bank cities. He added that the Israeli forces carry raids in the area in search for “wanted Palestinian activists.” The official said that the 65-year-old Adel Mohamed Amarneh died on Sunday after he was delayed at an Israeli military checkpoint at the entrance of the town. He added that the Israeli soldier did not allow the vehicle carrying the man to pass into nearby city of Jenin for treatment. The Israeli army spokesman's unit said that the soldiers closed the entrances following increasingly stone-throwing attacks at Israeli vehicles and the nearby settlement of Mevo Dotan. No arrests were reported. The Ya'bad area is surrounded by the Israeli separation wall and several Jewish settlements. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that it documented and mapped a total of 500 obstacles (roadblocks, checkpoints, and other physical obstacles) impede Palestinian movement within the West Bank in since 2011. OCHA added that the obstacles exist primarily to protect Jewish settlers and facilitate their movement, including to and from Israel. According to OCHA, Israel has established about 150 settlements (residential and others) since 1967 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in addition to some 100 “outposts” erected by settlers without official authorization from Israeli government. The international aid agency Oxfam said recently that a system of checkpoints and other restrictions on Palestinian movement and trade has divided Palestinian families and decimated the economy. In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, there are more than 800,000 Jewish settlers who live with some 3.5 million Palestinians. The Palestinians want the two areas as part of their independent state. Tension has been always on between the two sides that usually turn into violence.
