Israel has rejected 40 percent of the Palestinians who have applied for using the safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, local daily Ha'aretz reported on November 7.

Since the opening of the route 11 days ago, some 10,000 applications have been submitted, but the Israeli security authorities have issued the necessary magnetic cards to only about 6,000 Palestinians, a senior security source told the daily.

The high rejection rate grows out of the fact that a large proportion of the applicants are residents of Gaza who are on the list of those barred from entering Israel, and some of the applications are still being processed, the source said.

Replies are supposed to be given within 48 hours after an application is received, but in some cases, if special checks are deemed necessary, the Israel's reply can be delayed by another 24 hours, the source added.

Security authorities and the military police personnel who are in charge of the checks for the safe passage said so far, they have not encountered any unusual problems or attempts to smuggle in arms or explosives.

Every day, about 500 Palestinians from Gaza Strip are using the passage, the majority traveling in buses and cabs. This is about twice as many as those leaving from the West Bank side, at the village of Tarqumiya, near Hebron.