The blockade was intended to make life difficult for Palestinian locals and eventually displace them, in order to seize their lands for illegal settlements and expansion purposes, and to secure the movement of settlers along the nearby by-pass road leading to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.

Israeli soldiers recently attacked a non-violent protest against the closure of the road linking between Surif and al-Jaba, firing tear gas canisters at and assaulting activists.