War Minister Israel Katz has ordered a general closure of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip on October 5 and 7, the days surrounding the third anniversary of the October 7 attack, sealing Palestinians inside their territory and cutting off the crossing with Jordan on the pretext of security during Israeli commemoration events.
Under the order, no Palestinians will be permitted to enter Israel from the West Bank during those two days, with narrow exceptions for what Katz described as "essential workers in the healthcare sector" and Palestinians whose entry is required under commitments Israel has made to the High Court of Justice. Any additional exceptions may be granted by COGAT on a case-by-case basis, giving Israeli military bureaucrats complete discretion over who can and cannot cross. No aid will enter Gaza on those days, though Israel's COGAT said the collection of aid already in Gaza on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing "will continue as usual," and claimed the closure would have no impact on the humanitarian situation in a territory where hospitals are running on failing generators and 87 percent of households have no proper access to sanitation.
The closure does not apply to Israelis. Settlers and Israeli citizens using West Bank checkpoints face no restrictions and may move freely throughout the territory during the same period. Palestinians, who are the occupied population in whose land the events are taking place, are the ones sealed in.
Israel imposes closures on the occupied West Bank regularly, routinely citing Jewish holidays, military events, and security situations as grounds for sealing Palestinians inside their own territory. Palestinian workers who rely on permits to enter Israel for their livelihoods, the roughly 200,000 who had permits before October 7, have already been barred since 2023, and those who remained were further restricted throughout the year. The Allenby Bridge crossing with Jordan, a critical artery for Palestinian travelers, trade, and movement, will also be closed under the order.
Under international humanitarian law, collective punishment, meaning the punishment of a population for acts they did not commit, is prohibited. The closure of the West Bank is not targeted at individuals suspected of any offense. It applies to every Palestinian worker, patient, traveler, and family member who might otherwise have crossed a checkpoint on those days, and its rationale is not their conduct but the date Israel has designated for its own memorial.
