JERICHO, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian postal service employees are working overtime to sort through some 10 tons of letters and packages blocked by Israel for up to eight years, Palestinian officials said Tuesday.
The parcels, dating from between 2010 and this year, had been prevented by Israel from entering the West Bank via Jordan but were released in a one-time deal, the officials said.
The goods range from simple letters to medicine and even wheelchairs for the disabled, AFP journalists found at the sorting center in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.
Palestinian Telecommunications Minister Allam Mousa accused Israel in a statement of having blocked the delivery and of delaying the implementation of an agreement on postal services.
Israeli authorities confirmed the packages had been transferred and said an agreement was in the works, but did not comment in detail.
Ramadan Ghazawi, an official at the sorting center in Jericho, said he understood some items had been blocked for security reasons, while others were barred on administrative grounds.
“A few days ago Israel allowed more than 10 tons of postal parcels that were stuck in Jordan,” he told AFP.
He said it would take his staff another two weeks to sort through all the parcels and get them delivered to their recipients.
Israel controls all entrances and exits to the West Bank and can prevent goods passing through as it sees fit.
Palestinian officials say such control cripples their economy and freedom of movement.
In the sorting center, hundreds of bags were piled on top of each other as workers picked through them in the stifling summer heat.
Ghazawi said that the parcels and letters, mostly the former, had been sent from all over the world.
Many were goods ordered online by Palestinians that never arrived.
A note attached to a wheelchair said it was sent from Turkey in 2015 and meant to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for civilian coordination in the Palestinian territories, said the release was part of confidence building measures after the two sides agreed on a postal entry deal “about a year ago.”
It said while the deal had not yet gone into force for future deliveries, it had “allowed a one-time transfer of approximately ten and a half tons of mail that had been held in Jordan.”
Some of the transferred goods had been broken, and Ghazawi said that to avoid complaints they were delivering them along with a statement saying Israeli authorities had delivered them in this condition.
Blocked by Israel for years, Palestinian mail finally arrives
Blocked by Israel for years, Palestinian mail finally arrives
- Some 10 tons of letters and packages were blocked by Israel for up to eight years
- The goods range from simple letters to medicine and even wheelchairs for the disabled
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
