A Palestinian man has died inside of an Israeli checkpoint, on Sunday, in the northern West Bank, while on his way to work in Israel.According to witnesses, 59-year-old Adel Muhammad Yakoub, from the northern West Bank village of Balaa, has died as a result of extreme overcrowding inside the checkpoint at Ephraim/Taybeh, Ma’an News Agency has reported.
10,000 Palestinian workers cross through this checkpoint, every day, and inspection procedures at the checkpoint are very slow, causing dangerous levels of overcrowding.
The victim left behind a wife and seven children, aged 11-16. He is reported to have suffered from heart disease.
Ma’an adds that Israeli forces maintain severe restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement, in the West Bank, through a complex combination of fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, roads forbidden to Palestinians but open to settlers, and other various obstructions.
At any given time there are about 100 permanent Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, while surprise ‘flying’ checkpoints often number into the hundreds.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories, of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part, have been occupied by Israeli military since 1967.
