A weeklong Israeli closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip will begin on April 19 after nightfall at the pretext of securing Jewish celebrations during the holiday of passover, a statement issued by the Israeli occupation army said.

All crossings and checkpoints will be closed to Palestinians as of Friday at midnight until April 27, and only a few people with humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases will be allowed to travel through Israeli-controlled entry points after receiving approval from the army’s coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories.

The Israeli army and security forces will also impose tight movement restrictions on the Palestinians through setting up many makeshift checkpoints and deploying roadblocks at entrances leading to areas and sites in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Another closure will be imposed by the Israeli army on the West Bank and Gaza from May 7 until 9 of the same month to celebrate the occupation of Palestine or what Israelis call the establishment of the Jewish state (the Palestinian Nakba).