RAMALLAH, July 15 (IslamOnline.net) - As Israeli occupation troops were laughing their heads at the scene of Palestinians caught in the "gate trap" at the checkpoint gate of Al-Trela Al-Gharbiya, north of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, up to 800 Palestinian children, patients and workers were lining up under the searing sun for long hours to get a permission to cross the "iron gate" as they call it.

The gate is the sole linking passage between a number of towns in northern Tulkarem and others located alongside the separation wall being set up the Israeli forces to separate the West Bank and Israel.

IslamOline.net correspondent, who was also lining up at the gate, saw a driver of a Palestinian ambulance attempting to cross but his siren wail fell on deaf Israeli ears.

Strict restrictions are still in place and applied by all Israeli soldiers starting from the one who opens and closes the gate to the one who gives the order to cross . It all depends on the mood of the Israeli soldiers.

The daily suffering at these gates is, in effect, a telling example of the pains of thousands of Palestinians who cannot help but wait for long hours to get a cross permit, though it is very much likely they would not get it at the end of the day.

It is almost the case in the West Bank city of Ramallah and its neighboring Salvit, whose citizens have to cross three "iron gates" daily in what is seen as a policy of isolation adopted by the Israeli troops in the areas near Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem).

This policy separated scores of Palestinian towns and villages, leaving such areas in economic straits.

Israeli soldier walks past the electronic security fence erected by Israeli forces near the West Bank city of Qalqilya

It further asserted that such gates were not erected for security or military considerations as claimed by Israel, but to hamper the movement of the Palestinians by imposing a fait accompli and make the citizens preoccupied with one and only thing, namely, how to cross the "iron gate".