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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israel on Wednesday said it would reopen the Sadit al-Harayiq road in the southern West Bank district of Hebron after a 12-year closure, a Palestinian Authority liaison official said.
Imad al-Natsheh said Israel would reopen the road on the first day of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting, which is due to begin on 9 July.
The road, which is located near the Beit Hagai settlement, links Hebron City and the villages of al-Samu, al-Dhahiriya and Dura.
The PA official said they had repeatedly asked Israel to open the road and al-Shuhada Street in Hebron's Old City -- a segregated street that Palestinians are not allowed access to, in favor of Israeli settlers in the area.
Al-Natsheh said the PA liaison office had also urged Israeli authorities to allow commercial stores in the Old City to reopen, which have all been forced to close in the wake of the Old City's segregation.
There remains several Palestinian areas in the Hebron district still under closer, including the entrances to the Qalqas and Qadi al-Gharous villages, al-Natsheh said, calling for their reopening.
Meanwhile, Israel's Civil Administration allowed a Palestinian to continue building his home in the Rass neighborhood near the Kiryat Arba settlement in the Hebron district, he said.
Bassam al-Jabari's construction was stopped by Israeli authorities due to its proximity to the religious Zionist settlement, which was Israel's first illegal settlement in the West Bank following the 1967 war.
The UN has described Israel's settlement policies as "an integral part of the ongoing fragmentation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem ... which undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
Part of the policy includes the closure of vital West Bank roads, the ban on Palestinians from the West Bank to travel on certain roads, and the erection of internal checkpoints.
In 2010, Israel's Supreme Court ordered that Israel grant access to Palestinians on Route 443, a main road between the West Bank and East Jerusalem that was only accessible to Israelis.
According to a UN report, the road policies and checkpoints which impede Palestinian movement within the West Bank "exist primarily to protect settlers and facilitate their movement, including to and from Israel."
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