Israeli occupation forces block main entrance of Abud near Ramallah

Israeli occupation forces blocked the entrance of Abud village northwest of Ramallah with a large cement block on Friday in order to prevent residents from coming in or out of the village, locals said. The move came after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a vehicle belonging to an Israeli settler late Thursday while it was passing the main road near the village. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Israeli forces block main entrance of Abud near Ramallah (Photo: Ma'an)

Israeli forces block main entrance of Abud near Ramallah (Photo: Ma’an)

As a result of the closure, villagers were forced to take other ways through near villages to get in or out of the area. Residents said that shutting the main entrance of the village was a form of collective punishment for the approximately four thousand villagers in Abud. Abud is located directly beside the Israeli settlements of Ofarim and Bet Arye, which have been built on land confiscated from the village.

According to Ma’an news agency “Israeli forces maintain severe restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the West Bank through a complex combination of fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, roads forbidden to Palestinians but open exclusively to Jewish settlers, and various other physical obstructions. At any given time there are about 100 permanent Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, while surprise flying checkpoints often number into the hundreds. The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.”