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The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights said in a
research that Israel has effectively annexed the Jordan Valley.
In a press release, issued Monday, B'Tselem pointed out that
"Israel imposes severe restrictions on the movement of
Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, the eastern strip of the West
Bank, which it has in effect annexed," adding that "as a rule,
the army forbids the entry of Palestinians to the Jordan Valley,
and only allows entry of those Palestinians listed as residents
of this area."
"In response to an inquiry by B'Tselem, which the organization
received in January 2006, the Israeli Army Spokesperson's Office
stated that crossing these checkpoints is allowed, in general,
only to residents of the Jordan Valley who have identity cards in
which their address is one of the villages in the valley. Other
residents of the West Bank are allowed to cross only if they have
a special permit issued by the Civil Administration, or in
"humanitarian cases," the press release said.
It revealed that in recent years, Israel has set up seven
permanent checkpoints west of the Jordan Valley, four of them
around the Jericho enclave. In 2005, the army greatly increased
the restrictions on Palestinians wanting to cross the
checkpoints.
The findings of the research asserted that "severing the Jordan
Valley from the rest of the West Bank severely violates the human
rights of the Palestinian population. These measures were taken
without any government decision or notice to the public."
B'Tselem concluded that "Israel 's permit regime in the valley,
together with statements of senior officials, give the impression
that the motive underlying Israel 's policy is not based on
military-security needs, but is political: the de facto
annexation of the Jordan Valley . This annexation, similar to the
de facto annexation of broad tracts of land west of the
separation barrier(wall), constitutes a flagrant breach of the
right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
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