Israeli Forces Block Entrances to Yabad Town in Jenin with Earth Barriers

Israeli occupation forces sealed the entrances to Yabad, a Palestinian town located southwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank, using earth barriers and dirt mounds, according to local sources cited by Quds News Network. The closure restricts residents' movement in and out of the town, a tactic Israeli forces have repeatedly employed across the Jenin governorate in recent years.

Yabad, one of the larger towns in the Jenin district, has repeatedly been subjected to military raids, arrest campaigns and access restrictions since Israel intensified operations across the northern West Bank following the October 2023 escalation. The area has faced sustained pressure since Israel launched a large-scale military campaign in January 2025 across Jenin, Tulkarm and their refugee camps, an operation that displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of the Jenin refugee camp uninhabitable, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Earthen barriers, concrete blocks and iron gates at town entrances are a form of collective movement restriction that rights groups and the UN have documented extensively across the West Bank, arguing that such closures amount to collective punishment of civilian populations rather than targeted security measures, since they cut off entire communities from schools, hospitals, workplaces and markets.

Qatar has repeatedly condemned Israeli military actions restricting Palestinian civilian movement in the West Bank, and Doha has called for international intervention to halt settlement expansion and closures that undermine Palestinian daily life and any prospect of a two-state resolution.