An Israeli outpost established earlier this summer has become the final link in a total blockade of Jericho, choking off the city's last remaining unmonitored exit route during a sweeping IDF lockdown.
The outpost, established on 30th May 2026, sits strategically west of al-Auja town and north of the Palestinian city of Jericho, whilst also overlooking the Arab al-Kaabna Bedouin community from the southwest. The illegal outpost’s tactical purpose became evident following an IDF blockade on the city of Jericho in the early hours of July 24th.
Following the deadly settler invasion of Tell, Nablus, which resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and two Israelis, the Israeli military triggered a campaign that quickly escalated into a widespread lockdown across major Palestinian cities across the West Bank.
As part of the measures, which human rights activists have described as acts of collective punishment, the military completely sealed Jericho’s three main entry and exit routes on all sides.
This left a dirt road north of the city as Jericho's only remaining exit. The route reconnects with Route 90, providing the only unrestricted way out of the tightly controlled Area A. But dozens of Palestinian vehicles attempting to leave the city via this concealed route were met by armed Israeli settlers guarding the access road, leaving the city's only exit not controlled by IDF checkpoints under settler control for the very first time.
Eyewitness accounts detail aggressive tactics used by the armed settlers to enforce the civilian blockade. According to a local Bedouin family situated on a ridge overlooking the Awsaaj road and Route 90, armed settlers physically intercepted vehicles and forced them to retreat back into the sealed-off city.
In one targeted incident, settlers forcibly confiscated the car keys of a local van driver carrying passengers. The settlers held the keys for over an hour, paralysing the escape route and deterring all vehicles behind the visibly detained van from pursuing the access road any further.
The Bedouin family, which requested anonymity for security reasons, cited active cooperation between the Israeli army and the settler blockade. The family observed an Israeli military tank on the scene alongside the settlers where the Palestinian vehicles were forced to turn back.
Days after the July 24 blockade, Israeli forces raided the compound of the eyewitness Bedouin family. Soldiers ransacked the property and explicitly ordered the family to stay off the very route the settlers had blocked.
Just one week earlier, settlers had reportedly assaulted a Palestinian motorist attempting to exit al-Auja on the road towards the outpost, forcing him to retreat under the claim that the road was now permanently closed to all Palestinians.
Settlers routinely use the road they have now blocked to Palestinians to access the main road, Route 4491, which cuts through Al Auja town, despite the route being under Area A, where under the Oslo accords prohibit Israeli citizens from entering, including under Israeli law.
Local monitoring groups note that the layout of the outpost underscores its purely tactical purpose. Unlike typical illegal outposts that use agricultural pretexts or shepherding to gradually encroach on Palestinian land, this site features no livestock. Instead, it consists entirely of a cluster of utility structures, a water tank, and parked settler vehicles situated on the barren hillside.
From this high-vantage point, the outpost serves as a permanent surveillance hub overlooking Route 90, al-Auja, and the Awsaaj exit track. Settlers frequently deploy surveillance drones to monitor any movement in the valley. Since its establishment on May 30th 2026, this persistent surveillance has effectively cut off Palestinians from over 1,000 dunams of vital agricultural land as well as from the final exit route they relied on during IDF blockades.
