Israel has transferred the first chunk of West Bank territory to Palestinian control, released the first batch of prisoners and opened a much-needed airport in Gaza, all in accordance with the Wye agreement. We live off of this land. For us, it's not a good price.'' Since the Oslo agreement was signed five years ago, by-pass roads stretching dozens of miles have been laid with tarmac, stretching a web of asphalt over the West Bank and leaving Palestinians doubtful whether the agreement is leading them to independence. Israel insisted on laying the roads to give settlers travelling by car through Palestinian controlled areas the chance to accelerate out of trouble if attacked. It's a matter of life and death,'' said Yehudit Tayar, a spokeswoman for the Yesha Council, an umbrella settler organisation that has been lobbying the government to tarmac as many roads as possible.
Palestinian officials say they never agreed to allow Israel to build by-pass roads.
We are against confiscating any Palestinian land. And most ordinary Palestinians don't see any reason to forfeit fertile land for highways they don't need that will be used mainly by settlers whom they would rather see leave. One road in particular has sparked heated controversy. The road would also rip through prime farmland belonging to the refugees. Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and several army officers recommended against asphalting it out of fear that expropriating the fertile land would spark violence.