North of West Bank / PNN / Story by Yara Mansour and Muna Amarna - 

Across the West Bank, Palestinians face daily hardship and delays due to a sprawling Israeli military infrastructure of over 1,000 permanent checkpoints and around 200 gates, which have turned cities, villages, and refugee camps into isolated pockets — what many describe as a "massive open-air prison."

These military checkpoints, scattered between towns and rural communities, have become a constant source of frustration and suffering. Palestinians endure lengthy waits — often for hours — whether entering or exiting cities. The scenes are routine: long queues, vehicle inspections, and frequent verbal or physical harassment by Israeli soldiers. In some cases, these encounters escalate to violence.

According to official statistics, Palestinians lose an estimated 60 million working hours each year due to delays caused by these checkpoints — a staggering economic burden on an already fragile economy.

To document the reality on the ground, PNN correspondent Yara Mansour produced a field report capturing the day-to-day struggles caused by Israel’s military barriers.

Delays That Ruin Livelihoods

Shadwan Abu Sneineh, a vegetable merchant from the southern city of Hebron, described the toll checkpoints take on his business.

“Transporting vegetables from the north to Hebron has become a nightmare,” he told PNN. “We often wait between one to four hours at checkpoints under the scorching sun. The delays ruin the quality of the produce. Sometimes it spoils completely, especially during the summer when it’s trapped in closed trucks for hours.”

He highlighted the particularly harsh conditions at Hamra checkpoint in the Jordan Valley, a route notorious for extreme temperatures and long delays that severely affect perishable goods.

Public Transport in Perpetual Gridlock

Public transport drivers, too, face mounting challenges. Abed Ahmad, who drives a public van between Nablus and Jenin, said the roadblocks have reshaped their entire routes and routines.

“Take the Deir Sharaf checkpoint, for example. It’s often closed or backed up with heavy traffic, forcing us to take long, unpaved detours,” he said. “Then there’s the newly reinstated Homesh checkpoint, which is frequently shut down. We’re left with no option but to climb over the rough terrain of the Bazariya hills to reach Nablus. It’s exhausting, costly, and time-consuming — for both us and our passengers.”

A Strategy of Fragmentation

These checkpoints, experts say, are not merely tactical installations — they are part of a broader, systematic Israeli policy aimed at fragmenting the West Bank, impeding Palestinian connectivity, and reinforcing de facto annexation.

Political analyst Fares Jaradat explained that the proliferation of barriers has effectively severed Palestinian cities from one another.

“Each city is now isolated. Jenin, Hebron, and Ramallah operate as disconnected enclaves,” he said. “It aligns with the strategic vision of Israeli orientalist Mordechai Kedar, who advocates turning Palestinian cities into eight separates ‘emirates,’ each self-contained and cut off from surrounding villages.”

Jaradat warned that the concept — once theoretical — is now being tested on the ground, facilitated by physical separation, military control, and legal maneuver's.

More Than Checkpoints — Instruments of Control

These are not just border checks, Palestinians say — they are tools of domination that suffocate daily life. For many, the military barriers mean missed work, interrupted education, delayed medical treatment, and an ever-present sense of fear and humiliation.

“Checkpoints don’t just block roads,” Jaradat added. “They block dreams, dignity, and the simple human right to move freely in one’s own land.”

With the West Bank carved into disconnected zones by a lattice of concrete, metal gates, and armed patrols, Palestinians say the space for normalcy is disappearing — one checkpoint at a time.