Description

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces closed off a street with cement blocks in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem early Friday, according to locals.

Member of a local committee in the village Rasem Ubeidat told Ma’an that Israeli authorities closed the al-Madares Street as a “collective punishment” against the village, after the authorities claimed that fireworks were fired from the village towards the Israeli Armon Hanatziv settlement.

According to Ubeidat, the street serves as one of the main streets in the village, as leads to the main entrance to the village, and that more than 5,000 students attend various schools located on the road.

Ubeidat added that Israeli authorities regularly subject residents of the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood to “collective punishments,” and impose strict restrictions of movement on the village.

An Israeli police spokesperson was not immediately available for comment on the closure.

The occupied West Bank has seen an increase in arbitrary military road closures since October 2015, when a wave of unrest first erupted across the West Bank and Israel, leading to periodic blockade of Palestinian villages, towns, checkpoints, and entire districts.

Israel’s response to alleged attacks -- both large and small -- such as punitive home demolitions, the sealing of entire villages, mass detention campaigns, and withholding the bodies of Palestinians slain while committing attacks, has been condemned by rights groups, who have said the measures amount to “collective punishment” and represent a clear violation of international law.