Friday, June 26, 2009

Israel ceding some control to Palestinians

Israel gave some extra control to Palestinian security forces over a few cities in the West Bank. Israel has also eased some of the checkpoints within the West Bank.

The change appears rather small though, as the UN, which has monitored the changes, said Israel's restrictions on Palestinian movement as a whole were becoming more entrenched
:

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report this week there were now 613 obstacles in the West Bank, including 68 permanently manned checkpoints – five fewer than a month ago. It said there were other restrictions on the Palestinians, including Israel's West Bank barrier, restricted roads, the permit regime and closed military zones and nature reserves and settlements.

Some checkpoints were no longer permanently staffed or had only ad hoc checks. However, the UN said: "Some of the measures implemented in the past year have contributed to a further entrenchment of the system of access restrictions."

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