Israel forms new checkpoint force

Israel's checkpoints are a source of frustration for Palestinians

Israel is to deploy a specialist unit to take over the manning of some of the checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.

The unit will be part of the military police, Israeli officials said.

The aim is to reduce friction between Israeli troops and Palestinian using the checkpoints and to increase security for Israel, they said.

The hundreds of checkpoints run by the Israeli army in the occupied territories are a source of tension and deep frustration for Palestinians.

It can take hours to go very short distance because of the checkpoints, which can be shut for long periods.

There is a tension between the need for strict security checks and a desire not to hinder the lives of the Palestinians Brigadier General Mickey Bar-El Gaza's blocked arteries Checkpoint guide

There have been widely publicised cases of heavy-handed policing at the checkpoints and verbal and physical abuse of Palestinians.

The Israeli army says the checkpoints are necessary to prevent Palestinian militants infiltrating into Israel and moving around the territories.

Palestinians see the checkpoints as a form of collective punishment that is crushing economic life.

Tension

"There is a tension between the need for strict security checks and a desire not to hinder the lives of the Palestinians," Military Police Chief Brigadier General Mickey Bar-El told the Associated Press news agency.

To overcome this, Brig Gen Bar-El says the specialist unit will be given training in how to conduct security checks, using x-ray machines and explosive detection devices.

They will also be taught about military ethics, human rights and Arab culture, he said.

The new checkpoint unit will be stationed at 11 new hi-tech terminals being built into the separation barrier going up between the West Bank and Israel.

The new plans should, Israeli officials say, reduce physical contact between Palestinians and Israel soldiers and radically speed up the process of passing through a checkpoint.

"We have been promised improvements at the checkpoints for years, including Arabic speaking soldiers. I look forward to seeing this," Bassam Eid, the director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, told the BBC News website.

Mr Eid concedes that the Israeli authorities are spending a lot of money on building up checkpoints, providing booths for searches and installing x-ray machines.

"These improvements have not yet meant that it is quicker or easier getting through the checkpoints. And you get the feeling that many of the check points are becoming more permanent," Mr Eid said.