By Aysar Alais and Mohammad Sio
RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli authorities have required the Palestinians living in two villages and a neighborhood to obtain special permits to enter and exit their communities, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The agency said that residents of the al-Khalayleh neighborhood and the villages of Beit Iksa and Nabi Samuel, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, will be barred from crossing the military checkpoint if they are found to be without permits.
The three communities, home to about 3,000 people, already suffer near-total isolation due to the separation wall, military checkpoints, and gates surrounding them.
Residents are barred from expanding housing or bringing in essential supplies, while nearby Israeli settlements block their urban growth.
The decision came as Israel accelerates settlement projects in Jerusalem and the West Bank. On Sept. 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an agreement with the Maale Adumim settlement council to expand it under the “E1” plan, which aims to link the settlement directly to Jerusalem and sever it from Palestinian areas.
Earlier, on Sept. 3, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank, stressing the need to prevent a Palestinian state.
Since October 2023, at least 1,042 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.