By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has removed 44 roadblocks inthe occupied West Bank, short of the number promised to U.S.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a United Nations agencyhas found.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) said most of the roadblocks removed were oflittle or no significance.
Palestinians say Israel's network of hundreds ofcheckpoints and roadblocks amount to collective punishment,stifle their economy and undermine support for U.S.-backedpeace talks.
Israel says the barriers are needed to stop suicide bombersfrom reaching its cities.
OCHA, which charts the location of roadblocks in the WestBank, conducted its own field survey of the 61 obstacles thatIsrael said it removed earlier this month after Rice's visit.
OCHA found that 44 of the 61 obstacles had been removed,six remained and 11 could not be found, according to apreliminary report presented to Western donors, a copy of whichwas obtained by Reuters.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the U.N.findings. The army announced last week the removal of 50roadblocks plus one checkpoint, as promised to Rice. Itsubsequently said an additional 10 barriers were taken down,but the army would not disclose their locations publicly.
Of the 44 obstacles that OCHA confirmed as having beenremoved, five were classified by the U.N. agency as"significant" for Palestinians in the area.
OCHA said nine of the 44 were of "minimal significance" toPalestinians, noting there was another roadblock nearby or thatthe obstacle blocked an unpopulated area used by the Israeliarmy.
OCHA said 17 of the 44 roadblocks were of "nosignificance", either because they obstructed a closed militaryzone, had already been removed, were located near a Jewishsettlement or were in the middle of a field.
OCHA cited 13 "questionable circumstances". In those cases,the agency visited the sites where it received repeated reportsthat obstacles were added at the last minute and then removed.
A U.S. general has been tasked with monitoring whether theroadblocks were removed as promised, but his findings have notbeen made public.
Rice said during her recent visit that she would push hardto ease West Bank restrictions to try to bolster PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has been limited tothe West Bank since Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip inJune.
But Israel's army and defence establishment have put upstiff resistance to making sweeping changes to the roadblocknetwork, citing security concerns.
(Editing by Catherine Evans)
