Israel has placed the occupied West Bank under lockdown, sealing the entrances of cities and villages with iron gates and concrete barriers, as its forces bomb Iran.
The Israeli siege continued for a third day on Sunday, as the military intensifies its operations in the Palestinian territory, where it has killed at least 943 Palestinians, more than 200 of them minors, according to the United Nations, since the war on Gaza started on October 7, 2023.
Palestinians in the West Bank say the Israeli actions are aimed at annexing their lands and expanding illegal settlements. An estimated three million Palestinians live under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.
Since January this year, there have been ongoing Israeli operations in three refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem areas of the West Bank. At least 137 Palestinians, including 27 children, have been killed this year in the West Bank, according to the UN.
But in recent days, as Israel strikes Iran and the latter retaliates, the West Bank is under a lockdown.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is Israel doing?
The Israeli military is applying a lockdown.
In addition to closing up cities and villages, it is severely restricting the movement of Palestinians by setting up checkpoints, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim, limiting entry and exit to areas.
The military has increased its presence in the West Bank cities like el-Bireh and Ramallah, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency. Strict checkpoints are also impeding movement in Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya, and the Jordan Valley, where the checkpoints have disrupted the work of farmers and the transport of their produce.
“The ongoing closures have paralysed daily life across the West Bank, severely limiting mobility, restricting access to essential services, and impacting economic activity,” Wafa reported.
Palestinians say attempts to approach the checkpoints have been met with live fire from Israeli soldiers in some places, while in others, stun grenades and tear gas were deployed.
There are numerous reports of injuries. In the Tulkarem refugee camp, for example, a 16-year-old was reportedly shot in the leg by Israeli forces. They have also conducted night raids in the West Bank, arresting at least 15 people, according to Wafa.
Ambulances are struggling to reach the wounded as their movement is also being impeded.
“Even when we are granted Israeli military permission to move, we are detained at checkpoints for three to four hours before being allowed through,” said Fayez Abdel Jabbar, an ambulance driver. “This [Saturday] morning, one woman stayed three hours at one checkpoint. The only way we can function now is by transferring patients from one ambulance to another at these checkpoints.”
Even before the recent Israeli action, pregnant Palestinian women reported that checkpoints could be a matter of “life and death”.
Meanwhile, in several areas across the West Bank, Israeli soldiers have also expelled dozens of families from their homes and turned them into military positions.
Why is the West Bank under siege?
Palestinians say it is being done to control them.
The Israeli government ramped up settlements and annexation of the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in 2024, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office in March this year.
An Israeli poster describes the lockdown as preemptive, saying movement will be restricted until further notice. It reads: “Terror only brings death and destruction.”
“Palestinians say they are the ones under attack,” Ibrahim reported.
Qassim Awwad of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) settlement unit said, since October 7, 2023, Israel has increased the checkpoints and barriers in the West Bank from 600 to 900. “Now they are using this time [war with Iran] to increase the lockdown on Palestinians, turning them into isolated cantons separated from one another,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday killed at least 23 people in Gaza, including 11 waiting to get aid. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 55,297 Palestinians and wounded 128,426 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
What about settler violence?
It goes on.
“Settlers continue attacking Palestinian homes and properties,” Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim reported. “Others exploit the siege to establish and expand new illegal settlement outposts.”
In the city of Sderot last Thursday, Israeli cabinet ministers and the government’s coalition partners held a conference where they pledged to annex the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media reports.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi spoke in favour of annexation, while Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu reportedly called out for the same in Syria and Lebanon as well.
“Do we want Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]? Do we want Syria? Do we want Lebanon? Do we want Gaza?” Eliyahu reportedly shouted to a crowd that responded in the affirmative.
Are Iran’s retaliatory attacks affecting Palestinians?
The night skies of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have been illuminated by the exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel since Friday.
As Israel tries to shoot down the Iranian missiles, some of their remnants have landed in the West Bank, where, unlike Israel, the residents have no access to bomb shelters or protection. Dozens of Palestinians in the territory have been wounded by intercepted missiles.
“Palestinians say they are caught between the Iranian projectiles and Israeli missiles intercepting them,” Ibrahim said.
What is the PLO doing?
“The Palestinian government says it is working to ensure the entry of food and fuel,” Ibrahim added. “With Israel controlling almost every aspect of their lives, Palestinians fear their governments’ ability to assist them is severely limited.”
Most of the global attention in the last few days has been on the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran.
But UNRWA, the UN agency focused on Palestinian refugees, said in a statement on Friday that the West Bank is “not a warzone”.
“It is governed by international standards and codes of conduct for law enforcement, which Israeli forces have an obligation to uphold. Law enforcement exists for the purpose of safeguarding human rights, not violating them. It should seek to protect the most vulnerable, not further victimise them. Above all, it should preserve human dignity and life,” Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, posted on X.
For the past months, the northern #WestBank has witnessed an uninterrupted stream of mass demolitions by Israeli Security Forces, and orders trying to justify them. On 9 June, yet another demolition order was issued: this time for Jenin Camp, where a similar order was announced…
— Roland Friedrich (@GRFriedrich) June 10, 2025
