Israeli occupation forces have tightened their siege of the Bethlehem Governorate in the southern occupied West Bank, dismembering and isolating the governorate using 89 military gates, barriers and concrete blocks.
As a result, Palestinians are forced to use a small and limited number of roads to exit or enter the governorate passing through military checkpoints where the Israeli occupation forces search their cars and check citizens’ identities and detain civilians. The new limitations further rapture the daily lives of Palestinians.
The Israeli army’s measures are in parallel with ongoing attacks by settlers in the southern, western and eastern areas of the governorate, with the aim of terrorising Palestinians and displacing them from their lands to seize them and build illegal Jewish settlements that separate Palestinian communities.
Hassan Breijieh, a researcher in the field of settlements, said the Israeli occupation forces have installed 53 military gates in the Bethlehem governorate since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza on 7 October 2023, most of them are permanently closed so Palestinians cannot pass through them. Cement blocks have been placed on some 36 other roads.
These closures, in addition to the difficult economic conditions in the governorate, and the surge in the number of families who have fallen below the poverty line to 36 per cent, have made the living conditions in the governorate extremely difficult in terms of movement and the ability to secure daily needs, according to the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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