Israel Partly Reopens West Bank Highway 443

Love | Peace Israel’s military authorities obeyed a court order and partially opened a major access highway running thorugh the West Bank to local palestinian traffic. The court ruled that the sole use of the road by Israelis was “inconsistent with the rules of international law regarding a belligerent occupation.”

Palestinians still can’t move from the West Bank into Ramallah, the nearest Palestinian city.

The road has been closed to Palestinians since 2002, after six Israelis were killed by shots fired at their cars.

The fact that the road was constructed on Palestinian land made its subsequent closure all the more contentious. When the land was confiscated in the 1980s, the Palestinian villagers objected, saying they had no interest in a new road. But the military contended that the villagers would be the main beneficiaries of the highway, and the court yielded to that argument, saying occupied land could be developed for the benefit of those living there, not for the occupiers.

As we al know, none of that has happened. Read on at NYT: Israel Partly Reopens West Bank Road.