RAMALLAH, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel is restricting Palestinian movement in the West Bank by deploying nearly 900 checkpoints and iron gates, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said Tuesday.
The barriers, not for maintaining security but for "oppressing" Palestinians, "severely impact the daily life of the Palestinians by restricting their movement within towns, villages, and refugee camps," and create fragmentation across the West Bank, turning it into a large prison with hundreds of isolated areas, the ministry said in a press statement.
They are "the ugliest form of collective punishment" imposed on Palestinian families, particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and are a systematic tool for escalating violence and undermining regional and international efforts to achieve calm and a ceasefire, it said, urging immediate action from the international community.
Last week, Israeli media reported that out of concern for potential unrest linked to the release of Palestinian prisoners under an exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli army was ordered to add dozens more checkpoints along roads leading to Palestinian cities. ■
