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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: May 8, 2006 |
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Israel has begun easing a closure that has kept Palestinian workers out of the country for most of the last two months, the new defense minister told the Cabinet on Sunday.
The minister, Amir Peretz, said that in the first stage, 8,000 workers from Judea and Samaria over 35 years of age would be allowed to enter. Also, workers over 28 are to return to the Atarot industrial area on Jerusalem's outskirts.
Also, 4,000 merchants from Judea and Samaria will be permitted to enter Israel.
However, workers from the northern areas would still be banned. Most of the recent suicide bombing attacks and attempts have originated from there. There was no mention of permits for Gaza workers in the Cabinet statement.
Israel imposed the closure ahead of a Jewish holiday in March and kept it in effect, citing an increase in intelligence warnings of terror attacks. Despite the closure, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv on April 17, killing nine other people.
Peretz, leader of the dovish Labor Party, took office Thursday with parliamentary approval of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's new government. Unlike previous Israeli defense ministers who came from the highest ranks of the military, Peretz has specialized in social and labor issues up to now.
Before the latest round of violence erupted in 2000, more than 100,000 Palestinians crossed into Israel to work every day, accounting for a main source of income for the Palestinian areas. Even when no closure is in effect, only about 15-20,000 workers are allowed into Israel now.
AP contributed to this report. |
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