Palestinian MP rejects Gaza, WB separation

Some Palestinian political parties have rejected the decision by an Israeli army leader, Iensan Alon, to separate Gaza from the West Bank. A member in the Central Committee of Fatah and the Minister of the Palestinian civil affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, denounced the move by the leader of the Central Region in the Israeli army, saying: “We were not officially told by the Israeli side about any decision in this regard,” Al-Sheikh added that such a decision will knock the final nail in the coffin of the Oslo agreement, which describes the West Bank and Gaza as one geographical unit where every Palestinian has the right to live as agreed. Al-Sheikh stressed that Gaza and the West Bank were part of one country and therefore cannot be divided in two, asserting issues surrounding the freedom of travel and transport, rights which are stipulated under section four of the Geneva Convention. Kamal Kobaa, an expert in international law, told Arabstoday that Israel should be charged with violating international humanitarian laws. He also said the closures and curfews imposed by Israeli occupation forces on the occupied Palestinian territories are significant factors that restrict the movement of Palestinian civilians and hamper their daily lives. Salah al-Khawaja, an anti-settlement activist in the West Bank, told Arabstoday that the resolution is an Israeli attempt to divide Palestinian territories into isolated cantons under Israeli control, adding that Israel is trying not to only to separate the West Bank from Gaza, but also the West Bank’s cities from each other for the benefit of the settlers. Army official Iensan Alon issued a military order giving full powers to military inspectors of the so-called 'Oz unit ', which operates in the Palestinian territories and has given itself the authority to make arrests. It is well known that Oz inspectors can access areas of the Palestinian Authority and search houses and arrest anyone who does have permission to stay in the West Bank. The estimated number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who reside in the West Bank is more than 30,000.  Some of them have lived in the territory for many ??years while they study at university. According to the new order, the soldiers will be able to break into Palestinian areas without taking into account the Oslo agreement which limits the work of Israelis in the West Bank. According to the Israeli military, no Gazan is allowed to stay in the West Bank for more than 48 hours if he does not get special permission from the occupation authorities.