For the second day in a row, a suffocating, unjustified Israeli military siege continues to stifle the ancient and tourist city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank — at a time of the year when the city attracts dozens of thousands of national tourists during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

The city, which last year witnessed the most active tourist activity not seen for many years, turned this year into a big prison during the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, as a result of the Israeli military closure of the city that made it very difficult for tourists and local residents alike to enter or leave the city.

Abdul Karim Sidr, the mayor of Jericho, told WAFA that the arbitrary measures imposed by the occupation authorities “dealt a heavy blow to the tourist activity in Jericho, which usually attracts tourists during the holiday seasons, denying tourists access to the various destinations available in the city.”

“It [Israel] is imposing a siege on Jericho for no reason, and there is no clear justification for this,” he added.

As a result of the Israeli siege, many tourist destinations in the city such as parks and gardens have shut down, largely affecting businesses in the city that rely heavily on the holiday seasons.

Meanwhile, travelers and those seeking travel abroad through the Karama border crossing with Jordan, who have to cross through Jericho first, are facing unbearable delays due to the stifling Israeli checkpoints at all the entrances to the city.

“This is an Israeli policy of collective punishment targeting the people of Jericho, its refugee camps and its visitors,” Sidr added.

Director General of the Ministry of Tourism in Jericho, Iyad Hamdan, told WAFA that the city, which is one of the most attractive tourist destinations during holidays, is witnessing a sharp decline in the number of visitors who used to enter the city by the thousands every year, as a result of the closures imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

Tayseer Hamida, the Head of the Jericho Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “The city used to receive thousands of vehicles for merchants and travelers, especially tourists who come to visit the city’s tourist destinations or those who pass through it… But now, the city lost one of its most important sources of livelihood with the stoppage of tourism.”

Hamida asserts that the Israeli siege “greatly affects the tourism and economic sectors, and deals a continuous blow to the city’s economy, which relies on agriculture and tourism. This is what interprets the decline in tourism and the collapse in vegetable prices in Jericho.”

“This is an Israeli policy targeted to strike the Palestinian economic activity in the first place.”

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency