Israeli army blocks West Bank town, cuts all access roads

The Israeli army sealed off the town of Sinjil in the central occupied West Bank on Wednesday after closing the last remaining road linking it to nearby villages, according to local officials.

Sinjil Mayor Moataz Tawafsha said Israeli forces blocked the town’s final access road with earth mounds, calling it an “unprecedented” move.

He said closures now extend beyond main entrances to secondary and agricultural roads, leaving Sinjil fully isolated.

According to Tawafsha, Israeli forces have closed six main entrances and 16 secondary and agricultural roads using iron gates, earth mounds and rock barriers as part of an intensified siege on the town.

“In Sinjil, the occupation has not only closed the roads; it is trying to shut access to livelihoods, life, healthcare and education,” he said.

He accused Israeli authorities of imposing “every form of collective punishment” on the town and said they were seeking to isolate and suffocate its residents.

“What is happening is not merely the closure of roads, but the complete strangulation of the town and an unprecedented escalation that is increasing residents’ suffering,” Tawafsha added.

He called on international humanitarian and human rights organizations to intervene urgently to halt Israel’s collective punishment policy in the town, located north of Ramallah.

In recent years, Israeli authorities have erected a wire fence along Sinjil’s eastern side adjacent to Route 60 and installed gates at its main entrances, cutting the town off from large areas of agricultural land.

Earlier Wednesday, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israel had seized about 115 acres of land belonging to Sinjil and declared it “state land” as part of plans to expand the Karmei Tzur illegal settlement outpost built on the town’s land.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli military operations across the occupied West Bank have killed 1,173 Palestinians, wounded 12,666 others and led to the arrest of about 23,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul