Travel restrictions: one more obstacle to peace

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RANTIS, West Bank (CNN) -- Millions of Palestinians continue to live under Israeli-imposed travel restrictions, which are emerging as yet another obstacle in ongoing talks between negotiators on both sides.

Israelis say the restrictions will remain in effect until security cooperation is restored with the Palestinian Authority.

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The Palestinians, however, say they will not resume cooperation as long as the restrictions remain. They want the measures lifted immediately.

Israel implemented the security measures, called "internal closure," to combat Palestinian terrorists attacks. But the Palestinians consider the restrictions unjustified and the cause of soaring unemployment.

Israel recently eased some restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza, including the removal of several barriers and roadblocks. But they remain posted in many areas.

The town of Rantis is one of them. A village of 2,500 residents on the West Bank, Rantis remains under tight Israeli control, with its roads cut off from the outside.

Such measures have proven to be a hardship for residents.

Unemployment blamed on restrictions

Before the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence, most of the men in Rantis had worked on construction sites inside Israel.

Now, they are not allowed to go there, and Rantis' economy has suffered: unemployment is running at more than 90 percent.

"They are strangling us," said Abdul Wahad Fayez, a shopkeeper, referring to the restrictions. "We are suffocating. There's no money here and no work."

Some children in Rantis also have been affected. Travel restrictions mean they are forbidden from attending schools beyond cordoned-off areas.

Ephraim Sneh, Israel's deputy defense minister, says such restrictions are necessary to ensure Israel's security. He blames the restrictions on militant organizations such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

The restrictions, he explained, are the only way to prevent suicide bombers or car bombs from being smuggled into Israel.

Restrictions mean children cannot attend schools beyond cordoned-off areas outside the town of Rantis

"And who suffers," Sneh asked. "The Palestinian people suffer. But this punishment is imposed by the terrorist organizations -- not by Israel."

'They cannot isolate us'

Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian Cabinet member, calls such arguments by Israel "preposterous."

"Israel uses the generic term 'security' as an excuse, as a rationalization, to inflict the worst kind of collective punishment on the Palestinian people. We do not live in hermetically sealed areas; they cannot isolate us."

For townspeople in Rantis, unemployment is not the only consequence of the restrictions.

One resident died recently of natural causes. But his wife can't help but wonder if her husband might have lived had it been possible to quickly get him to a hospital. She said the restrictions ruled out that possibility.

CNN's Matthew Chance contributed to this report.

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