A/HRC/8/18 page 14 settlers, that stretch around the city and across the Nablus governorate. The roads are in turn linked to 10 checkpoints, including 7 encircling Nablus city. All Palestinians going in and out of Nablus were required to cross these checkpoints. In addition, more than 70 obstacles installed by the Israel Defense Forces blocked the road junctions and physically prevented Palestinian traffic from reaching the roads that were used primarily by the settlers.33 39. In April 2007, only 10 per cent of Nablus buses (22 of 220) and 7 per cent of Nablus taxis (150 of 2,250) had permits to use the checkpoints around the city. Only 50 private Palestinian cars were permitted to use the checkpoints.34 The heavy restrictions on the freedom of movement in the reporting period had a serious impact on the capacity of the Nablus population to have access to places of worship situated within the governorate and in Jerusalem. 3. Preservation of religious sites 40. A number of events affecting the preservation of religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory were reported during the period. 41. An excavation project in the area of the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, a few hundred metres away from al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, raised concern among the Palestinian population and archaeological experts that this major religious site might be damaged.35 Although Israeli authorities claimed that the excavation would take place at a certain distance from the compound, residents erected a protest tent nearby and filed a lawsuit, expressing fears for the stability of the buildings above and arguing they had not been consulted on a dig which they alleged ran beneath their homes. On 18 March 2008, an Israeli court ordered a halt to the project while it considered the case.36 At the time of writing, the case was still pending before the court. 42. During the night of 1 January 2008, the historic mosque of al-Hamadiyya in the town of al-Khader near Bethlehem was set alight, allegedly by Israeli settlers.37 Reportedly, settlers 33 OCHA. The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli settlements and other infrastructure in the West Bank, July 2007, p. 90. 34 OCHA. The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli settlements and other infrastructure in the West Bank, July 2007, p. 90. 35 National Geographic, 12 February 2007, Violence Sparked by Archaeological Projects in Jerusalem http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070212-jerusalem.html and reply of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine of 2 April 2008. 36 International Middle East Media Center, 18 March 2008, http://www.imemc.org/article/53566. Ha’aretz, 16 March 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/821774.html. 37 17 March 2007, Alternative Information Center (AIC), http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/settler-violence-report-for-february-200820080317.html.