A top Palestinian official denounced as cosmetic the Israeli army's easing of a blockade on several towns in the West Bank, branding Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's policy towards the Palestinians "cruel and inhumane."
The army said it had lifted a closure on several West Bank towns today after more than five months of blockade, but residents reported only a slight easing of restrictions.
Palestinian information minister Mr Yasser Abed Rabbo claimed that the army's lifting was "a cosmetic arrangement. They are trying to tell the world that the siege has been lifted, which is not true."
"In reality, Sharon's policy is cruel, inhumane and specifically designated to provoke, not end, further violence. We will not allow Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to starve and suffocate our people," he added.
Visiting EU officials urged Israel to lift its punishing economic sanctions, warning that without such action it would be hard to resume stalled peace negotiations.
"If the economy continues to deteriorate, more people plunge into poverty, the Palestinian administration is undermined, it's going to be more difficult to get back to any political stability, relaunch the process," EU external affairs commissioner Mr Chris Patten said.
A Palestinian man died today after the Israeli army refused to allow him to pass through a West Bank checkpoint to go to hospital, relatives and witnesses said.
Naim Beni Jamaa, 39, died of a chronic heart condition after being turned back after waiting one hour at a checkpoint into Nablus, a city in the northern West Bank that is home to the largest hospital in area, according to family members.
The army said it was looking into the incident.
For more than five months, Israel has imposed a tight closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a punitive measure the Palestinian say has turned their towns and villages into prisons.
Israel imposed the internationally condemned closure in an effort to halt violence that has been raging since September and killed 436 people, most of them Palestinian.
The blockade has devastated the economy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
AFP