 JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud OlmertÂ’s cabinet on Monday approved the removal of 27 Israeli roadblocks in the occupied West Bank, a move officials said was meant to bolster ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
| If ever there's a man who needs bolstering ... |
An Israeli source said removal of the 27 roadblocks would allow goods to be transported more freely in the West Bank, which has hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints in all. Israeli officials said removing the roadblocks would take time and they did not provide a start date.
| I'd start shortly after hell freezes over myself ... |
‘The removal ... is a step in the direction of ending all internal closures in order to ensure the free movement of goods and people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,’ senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said. He estimated the number of roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank at 400.
| Saeb can't admit to the world why the checkpoints are there, can he? Wouldn't be right to complain how effective the roadblocks have been in stopping the splodydopes. |
OlmertÂ’s cabinet also agreed on Monday to make improvements at the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in order to speed the flow of cash goods. The Israeli source said travel restrictions on senior Palestinian officials and medical crews would also be eased.
Oh yes, can't slow the Red Crescent ammo carriers ambulances! |
‘We reached the conclusion that we must certainly begin relieving (pressure) at the checkpoints, especially in areas that do not pose a threat -- to ease movement a little inside the villages and between the villages,’ Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said earlier. |