UN says Israel’s 942 checkpoints, barriers in occupied West Bank restrict Palestinian movement

An extensive network of Israeli military checkpoints, gates and barriers stretches across the occupied West Bank, restricting Palestinian movement between cities, towns and villages, and separating communities from one another and their agricultural land, Anadolu reports.

The network has reached 942 checkpoints, closure points and other barriers, according to updated data from the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The system includes 824 fixed checkpoints and closure points, as well as 118 linear barriers, including earth mounds, trenches and roadblocks, spanning a combined 107.7 kilometers (70 miles).

Hebron tops list

The Hebron governorate has the highest number of fixed checkpoints and closure points at 221, followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh 160, Nablus 120, Bethlehem 78, Jerusalem 62, Qalqilya 41 and Salfit 40.

Jericho and the Jordan Valley have 27 checkpoints and closure points, while Jenin and Tulkarem each have 26, and Tubas 23.

Thirteen new fixed checkpoints and gates were added in the last two months, including 10 in the Jenin governorate, raising the number of fixed closure points there from 16 to 26.

The new locations in Jenin include gates and checkpoints at Al-Jalama, Arrana, the industrial zone, Deir Abu Daif, the entrance to Jenin city, Qabatiya, Umm al-Tut, the area surrounding the Arab American University, and the Zababdeh junction, among others.

A new gate was also installed on Al-Jariyout road west of Ramallah, along with gates on rural roads west and northwest of the governorate, further restricting residents’ movement between villages and surrounding areas.

Network of closures

The system is not limited to checkpoints and fixed barriers, but includes iron gates blocking entrances to towns and villages and agricultural roads, as well as earth mounds, trenches and roadblocks cutting off major and secondary routes.

The network allows Israeli forces to control Palestinian movement between cities, towns, workplaces, agricultural land and service centers.

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The closure of a single gate can force residents to take much longer alternative routes or isolate villages and areas from their surroundings for hours or days.

As the network of barriers has expanded, Palestinian movement within the West Bank has become divided into separate routes and areas resembling “cantons,” with travel between neighboring communities dependent on the opening and closing of specific gates and checkpoints.

Israeli forces are not the only ones establishing barriers.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented cases in which Israeli occupiers installed gates on Palestinian roads and land, including one in Wadi Hamad on land belonging to Kafr Ni’ma and another east of Umm Safa on a road leading to a Palestinian family’s home, restricting the family’s access to the area.

Continued increase

The data shows that the system represents an expansion of a network that began developing more than two decades ago.

Around 757 barriers were recorded across the West Bank in 2003, including 464 earth mounds. The number stood at 630 in 2008 and 705 in 2018.

OCHA recorded 793 barriers in March 2024, before the number rose to 925 in December 2025 and reached 942 in the latest figures.

The barriers at the time included 89 checkpoints operating around the clock, 218 partial checkpoints, 232 road gates, 114 linear closures, 167 earth mounds and 105 roadblocks, according to OCHA data for 2025.

The figures indicate a gradual shift from temporary earth barriers toward more permanent gates and checkpoints, increasing Israeli forces’ ability to control Palestinian movement.

The restrictions affect Palestinians’ access to agricultural land and livelihoods, as well as the ability of students, patients and workers to reach schools, hospitals and workplaces, depending on the location, duration and nature of the closure.

As the checkpoint and gate network expands, military restrictions increasingly intersect with the Palestinian road network, lengthening travel distances between geographically close communities and deepening their separation.

The data indicates that the barriers do not operate independently but as part of an interconnected network of checkpoints, gates and closures capable of isolating one area from another or turning a direct route between two towns into a longer journey through several control points.

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