Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) on Thursday warned against opening IDF checkpoints in Judea and Samaria for Arabs during Ramadan, speaking at a Knesset hearing about roadside terrorism.
“It’s impossible to gamble with human lives because of Ramadan,” said Sukkot, referencing the Islamic holy month expected to start after sunset on Feb. 17 or 18, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
The Knesset lawmaker added, “We cannot open checkpoints and ease restrictions for supporters of terror, thereby enabling them to harm Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.”
Sukkot spoke during a hearing of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, which he chairs, titled “The Prevention of Terrorism on Judea and Samaria Roads (With Emphasis on the Eli–Rehelim Road).”
On Sunday, an Israeli woman sustained light wounds when her vehicle was stoned near Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, an Arab village in southern Samaria’s Binyamin region, between the towns of Rehelim and Eli.
For some 0.6 miles, the Route 60 north-south road passes by the schools of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, and stonings have again surged in recent days, with at least six attacks reported over the past week and a half.
Sukkot on Thursday criticized the Israel Defense Forces following Arab media reports that the army promised Palestinians to reopen a security crossing just west of the Judea city of Hebron ahead of Ramadan.
“This is playing with human lives—the previous time this checkpoint was opened, a deadly attack occurred there within an hour,” he said.
Michal, a resident of the community of Givat Harel, close to Eli, told the committee about her experience of being attacked by an Arab rock-thrower while driving on Route 60 on her way to work.
“They threw a rock at me and shattered my windshield,” Michal said. “It’s the only transportation route that takes me from home to work.”
During the discussion, MK Amit Halevi, a lawmaker for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, proposed that the perpetrators of rock-throwing attacks be treated as regular terrorists.
Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 5,051 times in 2025, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO this month.
Twenty-four Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2025, and more than 400 others were wounded, the NGO said in its annual report.
The data, which were cross-checked against official data from the Jewish state’s security agencies, included 3,299 instances of rock-throwing, 458 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 655 attempts to blind drivers with laser pointers, 286 explosive charges and 19 terrorist shooting assaults.
A police representative told the Knesset National Security Committee last month that the force had been carrying out preventative operations ahead of the Islamic holy month, including detaining terrorists and inciters.
Committee Chairman Tzvika Foghel (Otzma Yehudit) noted that Ramadan over the past two years took place against the backdrop of war, and that this year, Jerusalem would need to manage the fallout of the War of Redemption.
The committee chair said several factors could affect security, including unemployment in Judea and Samaria, rising crime in the Negev, Galilee and localities where there are where there are large Arab and Jewish populations together, threats posed by lone-wolf attackers and the potential for incitement by Iran-backed terrorist organizations.
