IN THE West Bank, a Palestinian’s day does not begin from the door of his home, but from the Israeli checkpoint.
Hours are wasted in queues, a patient waits to reach the hospital, a student might miss his exam, a worker loses his day’s wage, and a merchant’s goods are delayed on the road.
As these details recur day after day, small humiliation turns into a heavy sense of oppression, and anger accumulates in cities and villages besieged by hundreds of checkpoints and gates.
In al-Khalil (Hebron), where the highest concentration of these checkpoints is focused, daily life seems like a series of closures controlling time, livelihood, and movement.
Farsh al-Hawa attack brings checkpoints back to the fore
Last week’s shooting attack at the Israeli checkpoint at the northwestern entrance to al-Khalil, in the Farsh al-Hawa area, has spotlighted the checkpoint system in the West Bank.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others injured, after which the occupation army closed all checkpoints at the entrances to the city.
A system expanding year after year
According to the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the number of Israeli checkpoints and obstacles in the West Bank stands at around 942, out of which 221 cut off all arteries to al-Khalil Governorate, the largest governorate in area and population. Up until last September 25th, 824 of them were permanent checkpoints and closure points.
These checkpoints are established at most entrances to cities, towns, and villages, and on the roads connecting them, taking various forms, from permanent military checkpoints where soldiers are stationed, to iron gates, most of which remain closed while some open for limited hours, in addition to berms, concrete barriers, closures, and dirt trenches.
Usually, occupation forces set up these checkpoints, but settlers have recently been seen placing dirt barriers with bulldozers and iron gates in some areas, as occurred in the towns of Um Safa and Kafr Ni’ma near Ramallah, aiming to prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands.
The numbers reveal an upward trend, according to the commission from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In 2003, at the peak of the Second Intifada (uprising), the number reached 757 checkpoints and barriers, including 464 dirt obstacles.
It then declined to 630 in 2008, before rising to 705 in 2018, with a greater number of permanent gates and checkpoints.
With the most recent wave, the number reached 793 in March 2024, then 925 in December 2025, reaching 942 as of September 25, 2026.
A city with six gates most of them closed
Settlement researcher Issa Amr says that the city of al-Khalil has six entrances, most of which are closed or restricted, and the Farsh al-Hawa entrance in the northwest, a main and vital entrance, opens and closes at specific hours.
He added that the Ras al-Jora entrance in the north, which is the main entrance to the city, has been closed since October 7th, 2023, while the Beit Einun entrance in the northeast remains completely closed.
The Industrial Zone entrance is located in the southeast, in the Jabal Juhar area, and is also closed, while the al-Fahs entrance in the south opens and closes at specific hours, and the southern entrance has been closed for many years.
Inside the city itself, Amr points out the existence of 32 checkpoints in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City, most of which are completely closed.
A vital artery under surveillance
The Farsh al-Hawa entrance is a vital artery for the movement of residents to and from al-Khalil, whether those heading to its northern villages or those travelling to the central and northern governorates of the West Bank and to Jordan. Palestinian commercial vehicles also pass through it from the city to its north and the rest of the governorates, as well as commercial trucks between al-Khalil and the Tarqumiya crossing.
Amr says that the site witnesses a permanent presence of the occupation army and is not a temporary checkpoint as the occupation claims, adding that it is repeatedly closed, and forces search citizens and obstruct their movement significantly, forming a long queue of cars.
He pointed to instances of abuse and humiliation occurring at the governorate’s checkpoints.
A divided map and a daily cost
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission believes that these checkpoints transform Palestinian geographical continuity into a network of controlled routes, practically re-dividing the West Bank into cantons and besieged enclaves that can be connected, separated, or closed at any time.
Thus, the role of the checkpoint is not limited to preventing passage, but extends to controlling access to work, education, medical treatment, agricultural land, and service centres, raising the cost of daily life, narrowing the prospects for stability and movement, and contributing to creating a repellent environment that makes the continuation of normal Palestinian life more difficult.
The checkpoints impact every detail of a Palestinian’s life, as reaching hospitals, universities, and work areas has become very heavily affected, and the citizen has come to fear leaving their city due to settler attacks taking place, according to him, without accountability and with the assistance of the occupation army.
Life suspended on
a gate
Between the Farsh al-Hawa attack and the subsequent comprehensive Israeli closure of the city’s entrances, a broader picture emerges beyond a specific event: a system of checkpoints expanding year after year, turning the road from a means of connection into a tool of control.
In al-Khalil, as in the rest of the West Bank’s cities and villages, checkpoints have become part of daily life, determining when a patient arrives, when a worker begins their day, and whether a student reaches the exam hall or goods reach the market.
Amidst all this, the scene on the ground remains the same: long queues, gates that open and close by a decision not owned by those waiting behind them, and a society paying the cost of this reality from its time, livelihood, and sense of security.
With every new Israeli closure, the question becomes increasingly urgent: for how long can a life suspended on a gate endure.
