occ. Palestinian terr.: West Bank under lockdown

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

"WEST BANK, 28 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - The number of roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank has risen by 40 per cent since the start of 2006, with 528 permanent and temporary checkpoints and physical roadblocks disrupting all aspects of Palestinian life, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem.

In addition to stifling Palestinians’ ability to work, these obstacles are causing increasing desperation among the population.

"My city is nothing more than a big prison," said Tamer Mohammed, a 26-year-old Nablus Municipality employee. Like every male between the ages of 16 and 35 carrying a Nablus identification card, Tamer is not allowed to travel south of Nablus, a city of 191,000 inhabitants in the north of the West Bank, to the central and southern areas of the West Bank. In theory, he is also banned from travelling north of Nablus, although he said soldiers at the northern checkpoint are more lenient and, depending on their mood, may let young Nablus men through.

The restriction on men such as Tamer is just one of an increasing number of limitations on Palestinian movement between different areas of the West Bank, the UN has warned.

"The ability to get to work or get goods to market is severely compromised. It’s a continuing shutting down and locking down of the Palestinian areas," said David Shearer, head of OCHA’s office in the occupied Palestinian territories."We are seeing an increasing fragmentation of the West Bank, which has been chopped into three areas – north, central and south – and it is increasingly difficult for Palestinians to move from one area to another. The whole fabric of life for Palestinians has been disrupted," he added.

However, they say Israeli soldiers have now adopted a shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy for anyone suspected of trying to get past checkpoints. In September, Israeli troops opened fire on a Palestinian car passing near Huwwara, killing one Palestinian civilian and wounding two others. "I used to just go around Huwwara but now the soldiers are shooting I won’t do it any more. It affects me. I have had to cancel meetings in Jericho as a result. I am trapped in this city [Nablus]," said Ashraf Al Salah, 27."