The closure ( Hebrew '' seger '' , Arabic '' ighlaq '' ) policy operates on the basis of a pass system developed in 1991 , and is divided into two types : a general closure restriction the movement of goods and people , except when a permit is given , from and to Israel and the West Bank and Gaza , developed in response to a series of stabbings in the former 1993 , and the implementation of total closure over both areas . Aside from general closures , total closures were imposed for over 300 days from September 1993 after the Declaration of Principles of the Oslo I Accord and late June 1996 . The strictest total closure was put in place in the spring of 1996 in the wake of a series of the suicide bombings executed by the Gaza-Strip based organization of Hamas in retaliation for the assassination of Yahya Ayyash , when the Israeli government imposed a total 2 week long ban on any movement by over 2 million Palestinians between 465 West Bank towns and villages , a measure repeated after the deadly clashes arising from the archaeological excavations under the Western Wall of the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount
suicide bombings
Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
Israeli occupation of the West Bank