Israeli army imposes closure on occupied Palestinian territories

While Israeli citizens head to the polls, Palestinians are prevented from leaving the occupied territories on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Israeli army confirmed that all checkpoints and crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be closed for 24 hours on Tuesday during the election, with exceptions made for humanitarian and medical cases.

According to Palestinian Authority (PA) Civil Affairs spokesman Walid Wahdan, some 150,000 Palestinians with permits to work in Israel will be forced to stay home because of the closures.

With unemployment and poverty levels high in the occupied Palestinian territories, and Israel regularly withholding taxes it collects on behalf of the PA, economic journalist Jaafar Sadaqa told Middle East Eye that Palestinians working in Israel bring an estimated 10bn shekels ($2.8bn) in much-needed wages into the Palestinian economy.

“Even one day is important and economically influential,” Sadaqa said.