how Israel is gradually implementing its laws in areas officially under the control of the Palestinian Authority

For a week, residents of three Palestinian villages in the ill-defined region, between the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, had to show permission to return to their homes. The administrative constraints that further tighten Israel’s grip on this territory should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

With a tired attitude, Hossein Hababa rummaged through his wallet. He was issued a new and final residence card imposed on him by Israeli authorities. Without this sesame, valid for four years, it would be impossible to cross the Israeli barrier blocking the entrance to the village of Beit Iksa, which is located in an area with unclear contours, which territorially borders the territory occupied by the Hebrew State. “Our daughters, our in-laws, our relatives who are not from here, can no longer freely enter the village, except with coordination and supporting documents”he was desperate.

“We are treated as if we entered Israel, even though we are administratively dependent on the Palestinian Authority, not Israel,” observed Hossein Hababa. The situation is made more complicated as some Beit Iksa residents are currently being refused residence permits, for no apparent reason. “They refused to give the card to about a hundred people, and behind each of these people, there is a family. Where are they going to go?Hossein asked. They had to stay outside, sleeping somewhere else. This is very difficult.”

For the village mayor, Murad Kiswani, this new regime is very confusing because it can isolate his constituents. “Teachers, traders, workers need permission, he observed. No one can come or go except with this card. The number of residents will be limited to only those who are there and who enter with this card.”

Isolation from the rest of the West Bank serves a specific purpose, according to the mayor: “Of course, it is about annexing these lands and joining them with Jerusalem, into ‘Greater Jerusalem’.” A city of Jerusalem, annexed since 1967, and its lights shine only a few kilometers away, but access remains prohibited for the 1,500 residents of Beit Iksa, unless they obtain… special permission.