Israeli Army: At least 44 roadblocks allegedly removed, did not exist

Monday January 22, 2007 13:40 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC & Agencies

Troops pointing guns at a Palestinian man at one of the Israeli roadblocks in the W.B. (Photo : AP)

An Israeli army source admitted that at least 44 roadblocks that were allegedly removed from around West Bank villages did not actually exist, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Monday.

Last Tuesday, the Israeli army announced that it had removed 44 roadblocks to fullfil promises made by the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in their meeting nearly a month ago. 

Olmert had pledged measures to ease the lives of Palestinian civilians, however nothing has changed.

Haaretz quoted a military source as saying that these obstacles "had either been removed before the political level decided on the alleviations or had been bypassed by Palestinians earlier, and a decision had been made not to rebuild them." 

This statement confirms allegations by the United Nations organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories that most of these barriers were not removed, because they had not existed for months.

There are nearly 500 dirt blocks and military checkpoints placed all over the West Bank, which disrupt the everyday lives of Palestinians. 

The roadblocks are mostly unmanned and only a few of the military checkpoints are placed on roads that lead to proper Israeli territories.

palestine | human rights | news report george at imemc dot org