Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday that the roadblocks spread throughout the West Bank had proven their efficiency and will not be removed, reported local daily Ha'aretz on its website.
Barak was quoted as saying that "the methods of roadblocks have proven themselves" and "there is no way to efficiently fight 'terrorism' without actual daily control of the area."
Speaking during a tour to the West Bank, the Israeli defense minister, meanwhile, promised that Israel was trying to make life easier on the Palestinians by opening roadblocks on the outskirts in the area.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem, Israel's network of military checkpoints and road barriers in the West Bank have formed a sophisticated system of controls that disrupts all aspects of Palestinian life.
These physical obstacles are carving up the West Bank into separate parts, with travel between them becoming more and more difficult.
Before the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference on Middle East peace in November, 2007, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had asked the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to dismantle the roadblocks in the West Bank in order to ease the daily life of the Palestinians.
Following Abbas' request, Israel removed a few checkpoints and road barriers in the area, and pledged to dismantle more roadblocks as a goodwill gesture to bolster the PNA chairman.
However, Israel's plan to remove additional roadblocks in the West Bank was opposed by the defense establishment, saying that could pose danger to Israel's security.
Source: Xinhua
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