JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinians face collective punishment in the occupied West Bank under security pretexts as Israel applies an intricate system of barriers that effectively splits it into six enclaves, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday.
In a report, B'Tselem rights group said the restrictions on Palestinian movement were "directly related" to the presence of illegal Jewish settlements in the territory and called for their removal.
"The settlement enterprise, which is directly related to denial of Palestinian freedom of movement in the West Bank, is illegal, so Israel must dismantle them," it said.
The report said the Israeli army deploys 47 checkpoints and 455 physical barriers across the West Bank, where 312 kilometres (194 miles) of main roads are either fully off limits or restricted.
"Israeli authorities have turned Palestinian freedom of movement from a fundamental human right into a privilege that Israel grants or withholds as it deems fit," it said.
While the barriers may have been initially set up to counter security threats following the second Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000, the report says that today they are aimed at allowing Jewish settlers easier travel across the occupied territory.
"While some restrictions on movement were originally imposed in response to a specific security threat, today they primarily serve other objectives, among them the creation of a road network that is rapid, convenient and relatively 'sterile' of Palestinians for the use of settlers and other Israelis," it said.
In the state's official reaction, the justice ministry branded the group's claims as "completely baseless."
The Palestinian attacks are launched "from within the civilian population, in blatant violation of international law. This complex reality requires, in certain cases, travel restriction within the territory," it said in response.
The obstructions include the controversial West Bank barrier, 80 percent of which lies in Palestinian land, as well as a number of key checkpoints, which control Palestinian movement "in an almost absolute way," the B'Tselem report said.
The barriers and restrictions also divide the territory into six "subsections", creating "far-reaching effects on every aspect" of lives of the more than two million Palestinians in the West Bank, while ameliorating the lives of the estimated 260,000 Israeli settlers living there.
The restrictions "result in what is effectively collective punishment," the report said.
The justice ministry said that "the deployment of roadblocks in the West Bank causes certain annoyances and delays. But in view of their proven security effectiveness... and the efforts to reduce any hurting of the population, this is an essential and balanced method."