Israel to limit PA officials' movement in Area C

The Israeli army approved a decision aimed at reducing the Palestinian officials’ movement in area C in the West Bank and to freeze 19 structural plans approved by former Defence Minister Ehud Barak for Palestinian villages in the area, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said today.

The newspaper said the decision comes in response to the forming of a Palestinian unity government. The decision to restrict the Palestinian officials’ movements would be faced with several legal obstacles before becoming effective, the paper explained.

The decision came during a meeting held between the Israeli army and the Civil Administration last Thursday to discuss imposing new sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestinian people in response to the formation of a unity government. Senior officers in the Israeli Civil Administration are said to have refused to approve new sanctions on the Palestinians.

Secretary of the Fatah movement’s Revolutionary Council Amin Maqboul described the Israeli decisions as “provocative and aggressive”. He said: “What Israel does is a provocative and aggressive action and is a serious violation against human rights and a rift in the previous agreements signed between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.”

Maqboul told a Palestine news site that his movement would consider an appropriate response if these measures were adopted, noting that the Israeli authorities act in an authoritarian manner. He said: “These actions reflect the Israeli authority’s state of confusion and instability, and demonstrate their aggressive nature against the Palestinians and their collective will. These actions reflect Israel’s failure to persuade any country in the world that its actions and aggression against the Palestinian government are right, which has left it isolated and confused trying to reshuffle the cards.”

He said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to punish the PA and the Palestinians because of their reconciliation, “but all of these punitive measures will not affect the solidity and steadfastness of the Palestinian position and will not affect the Palestinian leadership’s will to move towards reconciliation.”

Palestinian political analyst Abdel-Sattar Qassem explained that restricting the Palestinian officials’ movement in area C is a marginal procedure that does not affect the lives of Palestinians there, or even Palestinian officials. During his interview with a Palestinian news site, Qasem renounced the PA’s attempts to get freedom of movement passes from the Israeli authorities.

“No Palestinian should get VIP permission from the occupation in order to ensure freedom of movement. No Palestinian should be treated differently under occupation,” he explained.

He said the permits were not for free but issued in return for services provided by the authority, he demanded these services be stopped.

Palestinians who live in areas C do not receive services from the PA and live in a state of isolation because of the Israeli procedures against them where they are separated from the rest of the West Bank and are kept under Israeli control, Qasem explained.

He said the PA does not have the option to respond to these punitive measures and undermined its efforts to join international organisations. “It is known to the world that Israel is a state above the law, so how could a state that is above the law abide by the tens of UN resolutions passed in favour of the Palestinians for decades now?” he asked.