7 West Bank villages put under Israeli blockade

Israeli occupation forces have been imposing a tight blockade on seven northern West Bank neighbourhoods since Monday over claims that Palestinians have been throwing stones at settlers’ vehicles, Quds Press reported.

The Israeli occupation forces placed sand barriers and cement blocks at the entrances of Odla, Boreen, Ainaboose, Huwwarah, Awarta, Za’tara and Bita Al-Tahta, located in Nablus.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, the head of Bita Al-Tahta municipality Mu’ala Wasif said: “The Israeli occupation is punishing around 50,000 people living in these neighbourhoods under alleged pretexts that youths throw stones at settlers’ vehicles.”

He said that these areas are under Israeli security control, noting that if it is “unable to identify the identity of the stone throwers, it is unreasonable to punish all the residents and spoil their lives.”

In Bita Al-Tahta, Wasif said, there is a central vegetable market and all traders and farmers from all over the West Bank travel to it. “By blocking the neighbourhood,” he said, “the Israeli occupation paralyses the movement from and to this market and causes massive losses for traders and farmers.”

This is not the first time the Israeli occupation closed these areas. According to Wasif, at the beginning of this month, the Israeli occupation sealed off Bita Aal-Tahta and other neighbourhoods for nine consecutive days under the same pretexts.