RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY — A day after International Quartet’s representative to the Middle East, Tony Blair, called on Israel to “remove all military checkpoints in order to establish a real peace,” Israeli forces increased the number of roadblocks in the northern West Bank, further restricting Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
Palestinian security sources said that Israeli forces closed the main roads leading to West Bank city of Tulkarm and prevented locals from traveling, especially in the Wadi Ash-Sha’er area, east of Tulkarm and the Ash-Sha’rawiyah area, north of the city.
The sources added that Israeli forces also blocked the main roads between link Nablus with Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya. The forces blocked the crossroads in the village of Bazaria that links Nablus with the neighboring northern villages.
Meanwhile, Palestinian lawyer Osama Al-Sa’di said that Israeli forces closed the sole road that links Biet Hanina neighborhood with East Jerusalem by installing barbed wires and cement blocks. Al-Sa’di demanded in a letter sent to Israeli Minister of Internal Security Avi Dechter and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to reopen the road.
He said that “the Israeli commander of the area claimed that the procedure was taken for security reasons and the barbed wires were installed on empty properties.” Al-Sa’di added that “this procedure is a severe violation of the residents’ properties and their rights; it restricts the freedom of movement for scores of Palestinian families that are living inside East Jerusalem.”
The residents of the neighborhood described the Israeli move as “unfair” and complained that the blocking of the road will isolate them between the separation wall and new checkpoints that are installed in the area, preventing them from reaching their relatives, medical centers and schools. Around 2,000 children will be prevented from reaching their schools in East Jerusalem in addition to employees.
Hatim Abdulqader, adviser of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that “this procedure is provocative and harsh and is part of tightening the siege on the residents of East Jerusalem and is detrimental to their lives.”
According to recent statistics of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories (OCHA), the number of roadblocks in the West Bank has reached more than 572. OCHA said that there are 476 unmanned roadblocks in the West Bank, consisting of concrete cubes, earthen embankments and other barricades blocking roads and exits from villages and towns.
Meanwhile, the deposed Hamas government in Gaza said yesterday that the proposal made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to mediate in order to reach a cease-fire in Gaza is a failed attempt to avoid his historic responsibility as president, and it gives the Israeli occupation an excuse to launch attacks and assassination against the Palestinian people.
In a statement sent to the press yesterday, Taher Al-Nunu, the spokesman of the government called on Abbas, “to stop all meetings with the Israeli side, which he described as ‘frivolous’, and to desist from statements condemning the resistance and incite against them.” He also called on the Arab states to shoulder their historical responsibility toward the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance groups continued firing rockets against Israeli targets. Al-Naser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for launching three missiles at Sderot in the early hours of yesterday. They also announced that they earlier targeted the same city with four homemade rockets, as well as attacking an Israeli military patrol.
Abu Abir, the spokesman of Al-Naser Brigades, said that the Brigades fighters were responding to Israeli massacres committed against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Separately, Al-Qods Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for shelling the Israeli town of Ashkelon yesterday morning.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas movement, also claimed responsibility for firing two projectiles at Sderot on Thursday night, confirming that they have fired 19 rockets in the last 24 hours toward Israeli towns and military posts.
