Description

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shut down the road between Jaba and Nablus on Monday causing heavy traffic, witnesses said.

Israeli soldiers forced all vehicles with Palestinian plates to take the Jaba-Qalandiya road, which caused particularly bad congestion between Jaba village and the Qalandiya checkpoint.

Roads in the area have been regularly closed in the past.

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.