Israel Further Eases Closure on PalestiniansIsraeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer Thursday gave authorization to allow 3,200 Palestinians to return to their jobs in Israel, a move to further ease the closure on the Palestinian territories.Ben-Eliezer said in a statement that the decision was made in accordance with suggestions by the regional labor coordinator in a bid to provide convenience for Palestinian workers and inject life into the battered Palestinian economy. The statement also said that the policy will be further expanded in line with the security situation. The defense minister has already authorized the opening of Palestinian international crossings of the Allenby Bridge to Jordan and the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Since the outbreak of the ongoing Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation late last September, Israeli security forces have periodically clamped closures on Palestinian- controlled areas in response to intelligence warnings of possible Palestinian attacks, or following such attacks. As a result of the blockades, more than 100,000 Palestinian workers were barred from working in Israel. The Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out collective punishment on them and strangling their economy. The closures on the Palestinian areas have also incurred condemnation from the international community. To seek the resumption of security cooperation, Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs met for the first time in recent weeks in central Israel late Wednesday night to discuss ways to stem the lasting bloody conflicts that have claimed more than 430 lives, mostly Palestinians. |
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