In the West Bank town of Sinjil, a five-metre-high metal fence now cuts across the community’s eastern side, enclosing the town and leaving just one entrance and exit. Israeli soldiers monitor the gates and guard posts surrounding the roadblocks that have transformed daily life for the town’s 8,000 Palestinian residents.
“Sinjil is now a big prison,” said Mousa Shabaneh, a 52-year-old father of seven, speaking to Reuters as he watched workers erect the barrier through the nursery where he once cultivated trees to support his family. “Of course, we’re now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost. In the end, they cut off our livelihood.”
Palestinians walk behind a closed gate at the entrance of Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Military Says Security Justifies Barriers
Walls, checkpoints, and fences have long been part of life in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but residents say restrictions have worsened dramatically since the outbreak of war in Gaza in late 2023. The Israeli military said the Sinjil fence was installed to secure the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway following repeated incidents.
“In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order,” the military said. It added that access to Sinjil remained available via one entry point.
A Palestinian man stands near a closed gate at the entrance of Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Despite this, residents now have to navigate narrow streets and cross closed roads on foot just to reach vehicles parked outside town. “This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people,” said Bahaa Foqaa, the town’s deputy mayor.
Foqaa said the fence effectively confines 8,000 residents to a space of just 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of privately owned farmland.
Settler Violence And Security Fears Cited
Israeli officials maintain that such measures are necessary for protecting Jewish settlers. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, which oversees 47 settlements in the area, claimed that residents of Sinjil had hurled stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the highway.
A Palestinian boy looks on as foreign diplomats visit Palestinian village Kafr Malik after Israeli settler attacks near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 30, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank, territory Israel has occupied since the 1967 war. While most of the international community considers these settlements illegal under the Geneva Conventions, Israel disputes that view, citing historical and religious claims to the land.
Checkpoints And Closures Reshape Daily Life
Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, Israel intensified its military presence across the West Bank. Checkpoints multiplied. Roads were blocked by earth mounds and boulders. Metal gates and flying checkpoints — sudden and temporary — became commonplace.
The effect on daily life has been stark. Sana Alwan, a personal trainer from Sinjil, said to Reuters that her short commute to Ramallah now takes up to three hours. She has lost clients who could no longer rely on her to arrive on time.
Impact On Economy And Social Fabric
The West Bank has not faced the same scale of military assault as Gaza, but residents say the situation is becoming untenable. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have lost access to jobs in Israel due to new entry bans. In the north, an Israeli crackdown in Jenin earlier this year displaced tens of thousands more.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa suggested the deteriorating conditions are part of a broader strategy. “They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people,” he said. Palestinian officials warn that economic suffocation and daily indignities could push more young people toward militant activity.
Israel’s military said it operates under a “complex security reality” and that checkpoints must be flexible in order to respond to emerging threats. But for Sinjil residents, the outcome is clear.
“Every part of our lives is now controlled by a fence,” said one resident. “And the gate only opens when someone else decides it should.”
