‘Israel’ imposes full West Bank closure

• ‘Israeli’ authorities will impose a full military closure on the occupied West Bank and shut crossings from Sunday through Oct. 3, Palestinian sources said.
• The measures will tighten restrictions at checkpoints, roads and entrances to cities and towns, limiting Palestinian movement.
• The closures come as the number of military checkpoints and obstacles in the West Bank has risen to 942, according to Palestinian data.

‘Israeli’ authorities have imposed a full military closure on the occupied West Bank and crossings from Sunday through Oct. 3, citing security measures for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Palestinian sources said.

The closure will include tighter military measures at checkpoints, roads and entrances to cities and towns, restricting Palestinians’ movement between communities and access to their workplaces, land and holy sites.

The move comes as the latest data from the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission showed the number of military checkpoints and obstacles across the West Bank had risen to 942.

The measures include 824 fixed checkpoints and closure points, as well as 118 linear obstacles including earth mounds, trenches and roadblocks. The total length of the linear obstacles is about 107.7 km.

Jewish holiday closures

The restrictions coincide with the Jewish holiday season, which began with Rosh Hashanah on Sep. 12 and 13, followed by Yom Kippur on Sep. 21. Sukkot runs from Sep. 26 to Oct. 2, followed by Simchat Torah on Oct. 3.

During this period, restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank and Jerusalem have intensified alongside increased settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

On Sep. 13, 480 settlers entered the Aqsa compound under the protection of ‘Israeli’ forces, which also imposed age restrictions on Muslim worshippers entering the site and tightened security measures in Jerusalem’s Old City.

On Sep. 16, ‘Israeli’ forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to Muslim worshippers and tightened military measures around it, disrupting access for students and teachers to nearby schools, citing security arrangements for settler celebrations.

The Jerusalem Governorate has warned of attempts by ‘Israeli’ authorities and settlers to use the holiday season to establish new realities at Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying the period through early October has seen intensified calls for increased incursions and the performance of Jewish rituals inside the compound.

Official data from the governorate showed that 40,661 settlers entered the Al-Aqsa compound between the start of 2026 and the end of August, while orders barring Jerusalem residents from the mosque have also increased.

The sweeping closure comes amid continued settler attacks across the West Bank, as well as ongoing raids, incursions and military closures, further restricting Palestinians’ access to their land, livelihoods and civic services.

Read more: ‘Israeli’ forces uproot over 400 hundred olive trees in West Bank