JERUSALEM, Oct 19: Israel contemplated on Wednesday slapping a permanent ban on Palestinians using major highways in the West Bank in a bid to improve security for settlers living in the occupied territory.

Security sources said members of the army’s central command met to discuss the plan which was denounced by the Palestinian Authority as tantamount to a form of apartheid.

The Maariv daily said the army had already been given the green light to begin implementing plans to separate the Israeli and Palestinian populations, the first phase of which would see certain roads designated for either Israelis or Palestinians.

The plans had been drawn up some time ago but were dusted down following a weekend shooting attack near a settlement bloc which left three Israelis dead.

“Several commanders in the central command held a meeting earlier today in which they discussed the security of Israeli citizens in the West Bank. One of subjects was the safety and security of civilians travelling on roads in the West Bank,” one military source told AFP.

A source close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confirmed the existence of such a plan but stopped short of saying it was already being implemented.

“This project has been in existence for some time and we will have no option but to implement it if the Palestinian Authority continues to do nothing to prevent terrorist attacks,” said the official in Sharon’s office.

“We are not going to just sit with our arms folded while all the information that we have indicates that the terrorist organizations are going to intensify their operations” in the West Bank.

Israel imposed a temporary ban on private Palestinian vehicles using some of the major roads in the West Bank in the aftermath of Sunday’s attack which was the first since last month’s pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Travellers instead could only make their way in buses.

The separation plan would force Palestinians instead to use back roads to travel across the territory, few of which are in a good state of repair. In contrast, the highways around West Bank settlements are well-maintained.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that the plan had ominous echoes of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

“If it continues so that Palestinians can only use the small roads, there will be in effect two classes for the Palestinians and Israelis — exactly like the apartheid system in South Africa,” he told AFP.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, due in Washington late Wednesday, is expected to urge US President George W. Bush to use his influence on Israel not to increase its restrictions on the West Bank.

As well as imposing the ban on private vehicles after Sunday’s attack, Israel also announced a freeze on contacts with the Palestinian Authority.—AFP