On January 25, 2016, the military imposed an encirclement on the village of Beit Ur a-Tahta in Ramallah District, from which came one of the perpetrators of an attack against Israelis in the settlement of Beit Horon earlier that day; both assailants were killed.
On January 27, 2016, HaMoked
wrote to the Military Commander of the West Bank to demand the encirclement on the village be lifted immediately, and the restoration of free movement from and into the village. HaMoked criticized this unacceptable collective sanction against the population of the village. HaMoked stressed that this encirclement – effected, according to media reports, through roadblocks preventing travel into and out of the village, except in cases deemed humanitarian – contradicts an earlier undertaking by the state, in
HCJ 7577/06, whereby
encirclement “does not mean a sweeping ban on exit from and entry to a certain area, but means the subjection of travel into and out of that area to security checks”.
HaMoked also asked to receive a copy of the encirclement order and the grounds for its issuance.