Palestinian movement between cities, towns, villages and agricultural land in the occupied West Bank is being restricted through a network of 942 checkpoints, gates and barriers. The system separates communities from one another while also making access to areas where daily life continues more difficult.
Of the network, 824 are fixed checkpoints and closure points, while 118 are linear barriers, including earth mounds, trenches and roadblocks. The barriers have a combined length of 107.7 kilometers.
Hebron has 221 fixed points
Hebron governorate has the largest number of fixed checkpoints and closure points. The governorate has 221 points, while Ramallah and al-Bireh have 160, Nablus 120, Bethlehem 78, Jerusalem 62, Qalqilya 41 and Salfit 40.
There are 27 checkpoints and closure points in Jericho and the Jordan Valley, 26 each in Jenin and Tulkarm, and 23 in Tubas. Thirteen new fixed checkpoints and gates were added over the past two months, 10 of them in Jenin governorate. The number of fixed closure points in Jenin consequently rose from 16 to 26.
The new points in Jenin were established in areas including al-Jalama, Arraba, the industrial zone, Deir Abu Daif, the entrance to Jenin city, Qabatiya, Umm al-Tut, the area around the Arab American University and the Zababdeh junction. New gates were also installed on the al-Jariyut road west of Ramallah and on rural roads in the western and northwestern parts of the governorate.
Gates and barriers cut off villages and agricultural roads
Movement restrictions are not limited to fixed checkpoints. Iron gates, earth mounds, trenches and roadblocks placed at town and village entrances and on agricultural roads cut across main and secondary routes.
This system controls Palestinian movement between cities, towns, workplaces, agricultural land and service centers. The closure of a single gate can force residents to take much longer alternative routes and separate villages from surrounding areas for hours or days.
The Palestinian Commission Against Colonization and Wall documented the installation of gates by Israeli settlers on Palestinian roads and land. The commission identified such gates in Wadi Hamad, belonging to Kafr Ni'ma, and east of Umm Safa, on a road leading to the home of a Palestinian family.
The spread of checkpoints and gates has divided movement within the West Bank into separate routes and areas. Travel between neighboring communities has become dependent on the opening and closing of specific gates and checkpoints, while distances between nearby areas are growing. Interconnected checkpoints, gates and closure points can turn a direct route into a longer journey passing through multiple checkpoints.
Number of barriers has risen since 2003
The number of barriers in the West Bank rose from approximately 757 in 2003 to 630 in 2008, 705 in 2018 and 793 in March 2024. According to data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the figure reached 925 in December 2025 and 942 in the latest figures.
The 2025 data recorded 89 checkpoints operating around the clock, 218 partially operating checkpoints, 232 road gates, 114 linear closures, 167 earth mounds and 105 roadblocks.
The data points to a shift in which temporary earth barriers are being replaced by more permanent gates and checkpoints. The expansion of the network affects Palestinians' access to agricultural land and livelihoods, as well as students' access to schools, patients' access to hospitals and workers' access to their workplaces.
