A major Israeli military checkpoint in the northern West Bank district of Nablus will be shut for designated hours every day starting Wednesday, Palestinian officials said.
Osama Mansour, head of the Palestinian military liaison in Nablus, told Ma'an that the Israeli authorities notified the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday that the Huwwara checkpoint would be closed to south-bound traffic leaving Nablus during the morning and evening rush hours.
North-bound traffic traveling into the district via the checkpoint would still be permitted, Mansour said.
He said the restrictions would apply to vehicles crossing through Huwwara between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. as well as between 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Orta checkpoint will be opened during the designated times to provide an alternate route for those travelling out of Nablus, Mansour told Ma'an, adding that the restrictions would remain in place until further notice.
An Israeli army spokesperson had no immediate comment.
The Huwwara checkpoint is a major thoroughfare for both Palestinians as well as Israelis living in illegal settlements, and has been site to frequent confrontation between local Palestinians and Israeli military and settlers in recent months.
Israeli settlers late Monday reportedly threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near the checkpoint while Israeli soldiers stood by and watched, locals told Ma’an at the time.
Medical sources said that several Palestinians were injured when a checkpoint gate was suddenly closed, shattering the glass of a Palestinian vehicle.
Israeli forces on Sunday shot and killed 21-year-old Wissam Marwan Qasrawa after he reportedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier stationed nearby the Huwwara checkpoint.
He is one of at last eight Palestinians to be killed near Huwwara since unrest increased in the occupied Palestinian territory in October.
The new restrictions beginning Wednesday are likely to affect a number of the over 200,000 Palestinians living in the Nablus district for whom the Huwwara checkpoint is one of just four checkpoints through which residents may travel.
