For checkpoint and settler attack news, Palestinians tune into the radio
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are relying on Basma FM, a local radio station based in Rawabi, for frequent, verified updates on road conditions, checkpoints and settler attacks. The station, which began broadcasting on October 2, 2023, now carries three traffic bulletins an hour to help drivers navigate rapidly changing closures and dangers.
Why It Matters
Accurate, real-time information affects daily safety and mobility for Palestinians whose movement is increasingly restricted by checkpoints, road closures and settler violence. Reliable local reporting can reduce risk and help people plan around closures that can change within minutes.
Key Facts
- radio station: Basma FM (based in Rawabi near Ramallah)
- start date: Basma FM began broadcasting on October 2, 2023
- traffic updates frequency: three updates per hour
- staff verifying traffic: seven employees in the news and traffic department
- example bulletin: updates on 61 checkpoints, 12 reported closed or with long queues on one afternoon
Palestinians travelling across the occupied West Bank face unpredictable delays and hazards from military checkpoints, road closures and attacks by Israeli settlers. To help people navigate these risks, Basma FM, a station based in Rawabi near Ramallah, now devotes frequent bulletins to road and checkpoint conditions. The channel runs three traffic updates each hour and its news and traffic team verifies information with sources on the ground.
Basma FM went on air on October 2, 2023, with programming originally aimed at younger listeners and entertainment. After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent military campaign in Gaza and violence in the West Bank, the station shifted its focus to safety and movement updates. The station’s traffic desk, which includes seven staff members, monitors which checkpoints are open, which roads Palestinians are barred from using and where settler or military activity is occurring.
Movement restrictions and road closures in the West Bank have intensified since the war began. United Nations OCHA recorded 925 barriers across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem as of December 2025, a 43 percent increase over the 20-year annual average of 647. Human rights group B’Tselem has described the pattern of closures and other measures in a report titled The Elimination Project, arguing they fragment Palestinian life by cutting people off from work, schools, hospitals and one another.
The risks on the roads extend beyond delays. Palestinian vehicles, which are white-plated and thus distinguishable from yellow-plated Israeli settler cars, have been targeted in assaults and blockings. Israeli soldiers have at times killed Palestinians near checkpoints after alleging ramming attacks, and settlers have attacked or blocked Palestinian vehicles. Those dangers make timely, verified local reporting — whether via WhatsApp, Telegram or live radio updates — a vital tool for people trying to travel safely across the West Bank.
Keep Reading
Travelers rated these airports highest for 2026. Is yours on the list?
India warns new US tariffs over Russian oil could impact ties
Trump credits Whatley for GOP’s past ‘record setting’ election wins in NC rally
