Israel Tightens Access Restrictions in an Increasingly Locked-down West Bank

Since the recent military exchanges between Israel and Iran began, Israel has placed the occupied West Bank under a sweeping lockdown. Towns and villages have been sealed off with iron gates and concrete barriers, and movement is choked by a growing network of military checkpoints. The Israeli army has intensified its presence in areas like Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya, and the Jordan Valley – severely disrupting daily life, including farming, commerce and access to essential services.

This latest crackdown builds on a longer trajectory of deepening repression. Since Israel’s far-right government came to power in late December 2022, the West Bank has seen a steady and alarming erosion of freedom and safety, a process that accelerated dramatically with the outbreak of war in Gaza more than 20 months ago. Today, Palestinian communities across the West Bank are locked behind some 800 gates and roadblocks.

Military raids have become near-daily occurrences, particularly intense in refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem. Since the Gaza war began, Israeli forces have killed more than 940 Palestinians in the West Bank – including 137 since the start of 2025 – according to the United Nations. There is also an uptick in demolitions in the West Bank mainly Tulkarm, Jenin and Masafer Yatta

At the same time, settler violence has surged. Palestinian farmers, families, and aid workers have been harassed, assaulted, and displaced. Roads are blocked, vehicles attacked, and entire neighborhoods terrorized – often under the protection or passive watch of the Israeli military.

Conditions on the ground are already dire. And yet, they could grow even worse. We must be prepared.

Aid Obstructed, Lives at Risk

This hostile environment has made it nearly impossible to deliver aid. Road closures, surprise checkpoint shutdowns and airstrikes make travel unpredictable and dangerous. Humanitarian convoys have been targeted. Warehouses have been raided. Palestinian aid workers are risking their lives simply by doing their jobs.

The consequences are immediate and devastating.

Farmers in the north are being forced to destroy their harvests because they can’t transport them to markets. This loss of income is compounded by rising prices, as basic food items become scarce across the West Bank.

Medical supplies are similarly stuck. Most pharmaceutical warehouses are located in the north, but restrictions on truck movement mean that hospitals in the south, especially in Hebron, are no longer receiving critical medicines. On June 15, one of Hebron’s main hospitals called Anera in desperation: their anesthesia supply had run out, and all surgeries had to be canceled. Patients are being turned away..

The shutdown of regional airports has further choked supply lines, threatening future access to essential items. Anera’s trusted vendors are warning of an impending collapse in availability of basic medical supplies and medicines.

What is Anera is currently doing in the West Bank?

Anera continues to deliver impactful programs that support women entrepreneurs in building small businesses, build the capacity of families to grow their own food, improve learning conditions for preschoolers, and deliver much-needed aid in the form of food, medicines and other necessities. But the tightening constraints make our work increasingly difficult to carry out.

How is Anera responding to the challenges of delivering aid in the West Bank?

In addition to the challenges in moving aid supplies, Anera’s staff often are unable to visit program sites with regularity, due to closures. They are often forced to conduct their activities remotely. Anera has a trusted network of partners and vendors in local communities that mean our work can continue, but our West Bank professionals are hands-on with training, mentoring and monitoring programmatic progress – work that is always best done in person.

In the face of this growing crisis, Anera is taking urgent steps:

• Hiring a full-time safety and security officer to protect our team and partners as they continue their life-saving work under extreme risk.
• Compiling real-time updates from the field to understand the evolving needs of our communities and track the most urgently required supplies.
• Mobilizing donors and procurement channels to begin immediate purchasing of essential medicines and supplies to restock shelves and support overstretched hospitals.

You Can Help

What’s happening in the West Bank is not only a political crisis. It is escalating into a humanitarian emergency. Every delay in access, every missed delivery, every canceled surgery means another life is being put at risk.

We need your support to act now.

Your donation today will help us purchase medical supplies for cash-strapped hospitals, support farmers and families under siege, and ensure our teams can operate safely. Together, we can stand with Palestinian communities in the West Bank and bring relief amid lockdown and loss.

👉 Donate now to support the West Bank.