West Bank closures
The West Bank closures are a system of obstacles, including permanent and partially staffed checkpoints, concrete roadblocks and barriers, metal gates, earth mounds, tunnels, trenches, and an elaborate set of permit restrictions that controls and restricts Palestinian freedom of movement. Severe closures began following the outbreak of the First intifada in the late 1980s, when travel restrictions were tightened in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Israel began requiring Gazan workers to hold permits workers from Gaza.