 Several access roads connecting Palestinian villages with this section of Route 443 were closed in September 2000 due to the outbreak of the Second Intifada.Frequent fire bomb attacks and fatal shootings on Israeli traffic saw the erection of anti-sniper barricades on parts of the highway adjacent to Palestinian-populated areas.In March 2008, following a challenge by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Israel's Supreme Court permitted for six more months the right of the IDF to limit Palestinian traffic in this section, deeming the restrictions necessary to prevent attacks.