Israel cages Palestinian towns in West Bank with iron gates

"The gate is closed." This phrase is repeated several times a day among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, describing their lives under the ongoing Israeli closure of their towns and villages.

Israel has been increasingly installing iron gates at the entrances to Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank to prevent the movement of residents.

Israel started placing gates at the entrances of towns and villages during the Second Intifada in 2000, but it has doubled down on the practice, seen by Palestinians as collective punishment, especially since 7 October.

After the current war on Gaza started, Palestinians have recorded a huge jump in the number of these gates, with 28 installed in just one day at the entrances to villages close to the city of Ramallah.

The gates enable Israeli soldiers to control their opening and closing according to "security standards", as the military describes it.

Closing the gate may last for many days or even months, severely constricting the movement of Palestinians and forcing them to use alternative, bumpy dirt roads, resulting in hours of driving to arrive at their destinations.

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