For more than two weeks the village of Madama south of Nablus has been effectively sealed off by Israeli forces. The army blocked all four entrances on October 11 citing security reasons but has not elaborated publicly. Residents say the military informed them that the restrictions would remain until Palestinian farmers stop tring to access their land near an illegal settler outpost in northern Madama.
Wail Qut a 42-year-old legal consultant who works in Ramallah told Al Jazeera he was stuck at home for days. Residents cleared a rough dirt track to exit but the army deployed a drone to monitor them and soldiers fired sound grenades and tear gas to force them back. The track was later blocked. Qut managed to leave when the northern entrance briefly opened on October 20 but it was soon closed again.
Rami Nassar head of Madama Village Council said the village spans about 340 hectars. He said Israel seized land in the 1980s for the Yithar settlement and later for settler-only Route 60 which restricts access to agricultural land. Last April settlers established an illegal pastoral settlement northwest of Madama and have since been siphoning electricity and water and destroying crops. In July under army protection settler bulldozers levelled about 57 hectars of land and uprooted hundreds of olive trees Nassar said. The current olive harvest season has been ruined with soldiers chasing farmers away and settlers stealing olives and equipment.
"Every year the harvest felt like a celebration now all we see is them bulldozing and uprooting our trees" Nassar said.
The closures have also disrupted education. Samer al-Jamal director general of education for southern Nablus district said three schools in Madama Burin and Asira switched to remote learning for three days. Students and teachers later had to cross earthen barriers on foot. Maryam Rayan principal of al-Fayha Kindergarten in Asira said 35 children from Madama attend her school. The journey that should take eight minutes now takes over an hour and a half. She had to help chidren climb over the barrier one by one. "From the moment I left my home until I returned I felt tense fearful and anxious" she said.
A resident who suffered a heart attack took two hours to reach hospital instead of 15 minutes. The delivery of cooking gas has also been blocked.
On Thursday Israel reopened the northern entrance but other checkpoints remain closed. On Friday after an attack in Hebron killed two soldiers Israel began imposing widespread restrictions across the West Bank with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering preparations for a complete lockdown and large-scale operation. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarain Affairs has identified 925 physical obstacles to movement across the territory.