Palestinians Rely on Radio and Chats Amid Road Closures

Palestinians in the West Bank now rely heavily on radio broadcasts to navigate a landscape defined by sudden road closures and violent attacks. They know better than anyone what it feels like to never truly know if a loved one will make it home safely from their daily commute. Accurate timing is impossible because a short drive that used to take minutes can stretch into hours or vanish completely due to military checkpoints. Before even starting their engines, drivers scan dedicated WhatsApp and Telegram groups for critical updates on road conditions. These chats do not cover standard traffic jams but instead report which Israeli military barriers are open, which roads remain strictly off-limits to Palestinians, and whether settler mobs are launching attacks against passing vehicles. Sometimes digital pins flash across screens to warn people driving near towns where Israeli forces are actively conducting raids without warning. If there is no moment to check these groups, then Basma FM serves as the constant voice of hope and information. This Palestinian radio station operates out of Rawabi near Ramallah and delivers three distinct traffic updates every single hour. The channel began broadcasting on October 2, 2023, just days before the Hamas-led assault on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza that has turned into a pogrom against Palestinians in the occupied territory. Fatima Barqawi, the station's news and traffic director, explained that their original idea was simply to target young people with entertainment and culture news. However, she said five days later they realized they could not do that while families lived in constant fear. Her team had initially planned these updates as a small part of their programming so parents picking up children from school would know where delays occurred. But after the war on Gaza started, they had to shift focus immediately to survival information. Her department employs seven staff members who verify every piece of data with local sources before providing updates on roadblocks that appear and disappear instantly. Things change each second because Israeli soldiers might decide to reopen a closed checkpoint or slam it shut again without notice. The danger for Palestinians driving through the West Bank goes far beyond being late for an appointment or getting held up in line. It is an inherent threat to life while traveling in occupied territory where white-plated vehicles mark them as easy targets compared to yellow-plated cars driven by Israeli settlers. Israeli soldiers have killed Palestinians near checkpoints after falsely claiming they were conducting ramming attacks, and settlers often attack Palestinian cars or block access to certain highways entirely. These assaults are increasing rapidly as illegal Israeli settlements grow at a record pace across the region. It is impossible to miss the massive infrastructure projects Israel is implementing right now, expanding highways to connect settlements together and link them directly to Israel proper. This expansion ends up isolating Palestinian communities, often forcing Palestinians onto poorly paved roads or dangerous mountainous routes just to avoid settler violence and roadblocks. One young woman who asked not to be named told Al Jazeera that her journey is now defined by fear and constant anxiety. She used to blast music while driving with a carefree spirit but now stays on high alert because she is always walking on edge. She recounted how Israeli soldiers assaulted her fiancé near a checkpoint in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, because they mistakenly thought he had passed without stopping for inspection. A year later, she said a soldier pointed his rifle directly at her and shouted orders while the sun blocked her view of what was happening around her.

I saw the green beam from the gun and thought that was the end," she said.

Attacks at checkpoints continue to plague daily life for many Palestinians who report being assaulted, humiliated, and sometimes arrested at these roadblocks. Israel has long imposed strict movement restrictions on Palestinians, controlling the entire road system and limiting access to the wider world. Since the war on Gaza began, however, these controls have intensified dramatically.

As of December 2025, the United Nations documented 925 barriers across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem. This figure represents a 43 percent increase over the 20-year annual average of 647, according to OCHA, the UN's humanitarian affairs agency. Almost all villages and cities in the West Bank now have iron gates at their entrances, which Israeli forces close arbitrarily. Some gates open only during specific hours, trapping residents inside or outside depending on the whim of military orders.

A new report by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem claims these restrictions are designed to deliberately fragment Palestinian life. Roadblocks and military checkpoints cut people off from their work, schools, hospitals, and one another. The report, titled The Elimination Project, states there is a broad, rapid, and systematic Israeli assault in the West Bank that aims to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian existence. Road closures are just one tool in this strategy.

Heba Erkat prepared her notes before heading into the studio for Basma FM's Wednesday afternoon bulletin. She knew the information about to be read out could change rapidly. Her colleague read the news, and then Erkat started listing updates at 61 checkpoints across the West Bank. It was a relatively good day: only 12 of the checkpoints were either closed or had long queues. But, as Erkat noted at the end of the segment, "the situation changes by the minute".