Israel Prepares Plan to Ease West Bank Restrictions

Israel is preparing to remove some of the roadblocks and checkpoints that restrict Palestinian travel in the West Bank as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas after months of resistance, officials said on Monday.

Security sources said a list of barriers and restrictions was being compiled to be presented to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak for final approval.

"The urgency is clear to everybody. These measures should be taken soon," a senior source said on condition of anonymity.

Under U.S. pressure, Israel has taken some initial steps -- from handing over frozen Palestinian tax funds to freeing more than 250 Palestinian prisoners -- to try to bolster Abbas and the Western-backed government he formed in the West Bank after Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the government was considering a request from Abbas to allow 41 Palestinians living in war-torn Iraq to move to the West Bank, a symbolic gesture that officials said did not mean Israel was changing a policy that prevents most Palestinian refugees from returning.

Olmert and Abbas are expected to meet next week, most likely in the West Bank city of Jericho. Israeli officials said Olmert was prepared to discuss borders and other core issues in "general terms" that could lead to an "agreement of principles" for establishing a Palestinian state.

Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said Abbas had recently presented the Israelis with a new list of prisoners that he wants released. He said Abbas was focused on freeing prisoners with long sentences and leaders like Marwan Barghouthi, the jailed Fatah uprising leader seen as a possible successor to Abbas.

But an Israeli government spokesman said: "The prisoner issue is not on the immediate agenda."


WITHIN WEEKS

After removing some of the travel restrictions, Israel would then consider transferring responsibility for some West Bank enclaves to Abbas and his security forces, officials said.

It is unclear how many of the estimated 500 West Bank roadblocks, checkpoints and other barriers would be removed or relocated under the plan being drawn up. Officials said the changes would be carried out in stages, beginning within weeks.

Previously announced roadblock removals were either never carried out or quickly reversed by the Israeli government. In recent weeks, Palestinians have seen an increase, rather than a decrease, in travel restrictions in parts of the West Bank.

"The defence establishment's position is that some adjustments or steps in order to ease the daily life of the Palestinians in the West Bank should be taken," a defence source said. But the source added: "The prime concern is (Israeli) security. That is the first and foremost consideration."

For months, Olmert and the Israeli defence establishment resisted U.S. pressure to remove roadblocks and checkpoints within the West Bank, saying that doing so could open the door for militants to carry out attacks.

Israel in particular objected to an American proposal to remove the network of restrictions around Nablus, the largest West Bank city. That area remains tightly controlled and officials are reluctant to make major changes there.

But Olmert is under growing pressure to move quickly to improve economic conditions in the West Bank.

Olmert will meet later this week in Jerusalem with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has made movement and access issues a high priority but has gained little ground.

Diplomats said they expected Middle East envoy Tony Blair, who will return to the region in September, to focus on easing travel restrictions that choke off economic activity.