Freedom of movement is the right of every person to move freely and choose their place of residence in every state. At the same time, everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and the right to return to their country. This right is enshrined in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From this foundation, every country determines their laws and regulations for their own territory to define this liberty.

For Palestinians however, it is the Israeli government that controls and regulates their movements. Israel imposes restrictions on the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and travel between it and the Gaza Strip, Israel, and abroad.

These restrictions do not only apply to people, but also to goods and supplies. This has a significant impact on commercial development in Palestine, resulting in a highly unstable economy. At the same time, prohibitions on imports of medical supplies and food supplies have resulted in the need for significant support from international humanitarian aid agencies.

In 2002, Israel began construction of a barrier separating the West Bank from Israel. Israel began building the barrier following the Second Intifada, a violent period in the conflict where around 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians lost their lives. This structure, consisting mostly of militarised fencing and an 8-metre-high concrete wall, will be over 700km long on completion.

Israel, like all states, has a legitimate right to defend and protect its population. This includes the right to build a barrier along its borders. The route of the Barrier, however, was found to be illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004. This is because 85% of the Barrier does not run along the internationally recognised border between Israel and Palestine, known as the Green Line but instead deviates up to 18km inside the West Bank, annexing Palestinian land and many vital natural resources to Israel.

Checkpoints

According to UNOCHA, there are 140 checkpoints with permanent infrastructures which do not run along the Green Line. This includes 32 military guarded checkpoints along the Barrier, or on roads leading to Israel. The Israeli authorities also erected around 60 ad-hoc ‘flying’ checkpoints per week. These involve the deployment of Israeli military for several hours on a given road for the purpose of stopping and checking Palestinian drivers and vehicles, but without any permanent physical infrastructure on the ground.

Permits

The Israeli authorities use a system of permits to control the passage of Palestinians through the various checkpoints in and around the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as between the West Bank and Israel, whether it is to enter Israel to work, travel to the Gaza Strip, leave occupied Palestine to travel elsewhere in the world, or access their own agricultural land. The types of permit vary in duration and the specific limitations of access, from long-term permits to travel to Israel to work, or a single day’s entry for medical treatment. They can also specify the hours in which the person can cross the checkpoint.

Obtaining a permit to cross a checkpoint can take months. The bureaucratic system is complex and often arbitrary and opaque. Permits can be denied without justification or recourse to appeal and can also be revoked without explanation at any moment. People may be added to a ‘blacklist’, meaning they cannot apply for permits, for reasons of ‘security’, though they are not informed what these reasons are.

Whether through the incomprehensible permit system, large checkpoints with complicated infrastructure and soldiers managing them, an agricultural gate that opens at certain times of day, or because of an invisible barrier that nonetheless poses risks to Palestinians, this system constitutes a significant restriction on freedom of movement. It has grave and continually evolving implications for the Palestinian people seeking to build their businesses, families and lives in the context of the occupation.