'Locked in like sheep in a pen': the West Bank's checkpoint labyrinth

The road to Atara from Ramallah winds through the hills and valleys of the occupied West Bank.

- By Jason Burke and Sufian Taha in Atara

To drive the nine miles to the village from the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority should take about half an hour, despite the potholes and traffic.

These days, the taxi drivers waiting for fares on Radio Street in the north of the city shrug when asked when they will arrive at their destination.

"Thirty minutes, one hour, half a day, it all depends on the checkpoints. If I could tell you, I would... but no one knows," said Ahmed Barghouti, 50, a driver for over 20 years.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza in January, life for the 2.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank has not become easier. Israel immediately launched a bloody major offensive in the north that has so far forced at least 40,000 people from their homes, the largest displacement since Israel's occupation began in 1967, and killed dozens, including children.

At the same time, Israeli authorities have been constructing new check- points and barriers. According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 119 "iron gates" have been set up since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, including many since January. These block access to villages and towns, cutting off entire communi- ties from major transport routes.

There are now close to 900 barriers in the West Bank, the PA said. The UN has recorded more than 800, a steep increase on the 645 in 2023.

Palestinian officials say this "local- ised system" of roadblocks is a change from a strategy merely to cut the West Bank into north, south and cen- tral sections. "It no longer controls movement alone, but also ... access to agricultural land, social and live- lihood opportunities, health, educa- tion and the economy, among other things," Amir Daoud, of the Authority's Colonisation and Wall Resistance Committee, told the Observer.