West Bank Commuters Turn to Radio Station Basma FM to Navigate Heightened Checkpoints and Settler Violence

Across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian families have largely abandoned the routine habit of asking when their relatives will make it home at the end of the day. A journey between nearby communities that once required only a brief drive can now drag on for unpredictable hours or be halted entirely due to abrupt Israeli military closures, extensive roadblocks, and the constant threat of roadway violence.

To cope with this unpredictable reality, Palestinian drivers have turned to real-time digital communication channels, closely tracking crowdsourced updates across WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These community forums share vital safety details rather than standard traffic information, warning commuters about which Israeli military checkpoints are permitting passage, which specific corridors are completely off-limits to Palestinians, and where Israeli settlers are staging attacks against traveling vehicles.

These online channels also frequently distribute live digital location pins to alert motorists whenever Israeli armed forces are carrying out military raids in nearby towns and villages. However, for drivers who do not have time to sift through constant online messages while on the road, local radio has emerged as an indispensable alternative. Basma FM, a Palestinian station broadcasting from the city of Rawabi near Ramallah, now provides three dedicated traffic updates every single hour.

The broadcaster had initially envisioned a very different mission when it first went on the air on October 2, 2023. At the time of its launch, the station’s management intended to create an entertainment and cultural outlet geared toward younger demographics.

That editorial direction was forced to change only five days later. Following the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, the subsequent war on the Gaza Strip, and the severe escalation of violence and restrictions against Palestinians across the West Bank, the station had to alter its focus. While staff had originally planned casual traffic reports to help parents coordinate school pickups, they quickly recognized that the escalating conflict required an urgent pivot toward essential transit updates.

Fatima Barqawi, the news and traffic director at Basma FM, oversees a dedicated team of seven employees tasked with verifying road conditions and tracking roadblocks in real time. The monitoring process is fraught with difficulty, as situations on the ground can shift in an instant. Barqawi noted that the station might announce a checkpoint is closed only for Israeli troops to abruptly open it, or conversely, close a previously clear route without warning.

Driving across the West Bank is accompanied by substantial physical dangers beyond the frustration of being delayed for hours. Palestinian residents drive vehicles fitted with distinctive white license plates, making them readily identifiable and contrasting sharply with the yellow-plated vehicles driven by Israeli settlers throughout the territory.

This visible distinction leaves Palestinian commuters highly exposed. Israeli troops have killed Palestinians in the vicinity of checkpoints after asserting that vehicle-ramming attacks were taking place, while Israeli settlers frequently assault Palestinian vehicles and block them from traveling on key roadways.

These hostile encounters are multiplying as illegal Israeli settlement construction accelerates at a record pace. The Israeli government is carrying out extensive infrastructure developments, constructing wide highways that connect Israeli settlements to each other and to Israel. These bypass projects cut through and isolate Palestinian communities, forcing local residents onto poorly maintained secondary roads or hazardous mountain routes in an effort to steer clear of military barriers and settler attacks.

The constant uncertainty takes a severe psychological toll on daily commuters. One young Palestinian woman explained that she previously enjoyed listening to music while driving, but the deteriorating security conditions have left her perpetually anxious and on high alert whenever she is behind the wheel.

She recounted a past incident in which Israeli soldiers physically assaulted her fiancé near a military checkpoint in Hebron, located in the southern occupied West Bank, after troops mistakenly believed he had driven past without stopping. Roughly a year later, the woman experienced her own life-threatening confrontation at a checkpoint when a soldier aimed his rifle directly at her while shouting commands, as blinding sunlight partially obstructed her view. Seeing the weapon's green laser beam directed at her, she feared she would be shot before the encounter ended.

Many other Palestinians have reported enduring arbitrary arrests, physical abuse, and routine humiliation by Israeli forces while attempting to pass through these roadblocks.

While movement controls have long been imposed on Palestinians by Israeli authorities, movement restrictions across the West Bank road network have intensified substantially since the outbreak of the war on Gaza.

According to data compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were 925 physical barriers erected throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as of December 2025. This documented total marks a 43 percent increase compared to the territory's 20-year annual average of 647 barriers.

In addition to formal checkpoints, heavy iron gates have been positioned at the entry points of nearly all Palestinian cities and villages. Israeli troops close these gates arbitrarily, keeping some communities locked in entirely or opening access only during narrow, unpredictable time windows.

The broader societal consequences of these restrictions were detailed in a report titled "The Elimination Project" by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem. The report concluded that the network of checkpoints and roadblocks is utilized as part of a systematic assault aimed at dismantling the foundations of Palestinian life, deliberately fragmenting the population and cutting off essential access to workplaces, educational institutions, medical facilities, and family members.

These escalating movement obstacles underscore the high stakes for the team at Basma FM as they prepare each broadcast. In the studio, news presenter Heba Erkat finalized her notes ahead of a Wednesday afternoon bulletin, preparing to read out real-time status updates for 61 separate checkpoints across the West Bank to help listeners navigate their way safely.