Why does Israel have checkpoints and a security fence in Palestinian areas?

Just like any other nation, Israel's government has a fundamental obligation to protect its citizens against terrorism and a right to live free from terrorist attacks. 

From the start of the Second Intifada, which began in 2000 and ended the existing peace process, terrorism has claimed thousands of lives. From 2000 to 2006 alone, terrorists from the West Bank carried out over 3,000 attacks, killing over 1,600 people. Then, on October 7, 2023, more than 1,200 innocent people lost their lives when Hamas terorrists invaded southern Israel. Keep reading to learn more about terrorism against Israel and why it must protect its citizens:

 

In 2002 the Israeli government constructed a barrier wall around the West Bank to protect its civilians against such attacks.

The security fence was a necessary response to the appalling suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. Israel would not have needed a security fence had there been no terrorist attacks against Israelis. It has reduced the number of Palestinian terror attacks in Israel by 90 percent, saving thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives. It is a defensive measure—a fence, not a wall or a border. The right to erect a fence in self-defense follows international law. The route of the fence was designed to minimize disruption to Palestinian life. Keep reading for more information about the security fence:

 

Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have been able to petition Israel's Supreme Court to contest the location of the fence. In many instances, the court has sided with these groups—and Israel has moved the location of the fence as a result. In 2004, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the military to move the fence because it would adversely affect eight Palestinian villages.

 

Checkpoints in the West Bank are necessary security measures that have dramatically reduced terror attacks against Israeli civilians.

For years, Palestinian terror groups used ambulances, taxis, and commercial trucks to smuggle suicide bombers into Israeli cities. Checkpoints allow Israeli forces to filter out these terrorists before they can strike. Checkpoints don't prevent Palestinians from coming into Israel; commercial and humanitarian goods, doctors and ambulances, and medical crews can move freely back and forth. In 2019 more than 80,000 Palestinians with jobs in Israel passed through checkpoints each day.

 

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