BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Israeli military department in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories said on Tuesday it has made a number of improvements to Palestinians' quality of life, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli Civil Administration told Voice of Israel radio it had improved procedures at a number of military checkpoints in the West Bank.
A Palestinian official, speaking to Ma'an on condition of anonymity, said there was nothing new in the announced improvements.
"Neither do such procedures give Palestinians the simplest basic human rights endorsed by international conventions," the official added.
Civil Administration officials said Israeli political figures had instructed the army to "proceed with improving the living, social and economic conditions of the West Bank population despite the frozen political process."
They told the official radio station Israel has provided two vehicles for disabled passengers at the Allenby crossing into Jordan, and a humanitarian path controlled by the civil liaison officer at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Other measures include allowing West Bank residents with permits to Gaza to cross without coordination with Israeli authorities, and extension of the expiry date to ID cards required for permission from two years to four, the radio report added.
Palestinians in the West Bank must apply to Israel for permits to cross into Jerusalem, Israel and the Gaza Strip. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after a 1967 war, in a move never recognized by the international community.
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