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Israel lifts Gaza roadblocks

Roadblocks
Israel said lifting the roadblocks will ease life for Palestinians  

  WEB EXCLUSIVE

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli army has begun dismantling roadblocks inside Gaza that divided the area into three and severely restricted Palestinian movement.

The checkpoints were set up after militants fired mortars on Israel targets from Gaza.

A blockade on the Gaza and the West Bank borders, which prevents Palestinians from traveling to Israel and keeps about 120,000 laborers out of work, remains in place.

The roadblocks were lifted despite further mortar attacks on Thursday when shells landed near a collective farming village.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he holds Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible for the attacks.

 VIDEO
The Bush administration urges restraint from both Israel and Palestinians. CNN's Andrea Koppel reports

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CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on U.S. policy regarding the Mideast conflict

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 TIMELINES
graphic Recent acts of violence in the Middle East:
 • Bombings
 • Activist deaths
 
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In another development, an explosion has blown the roof off the headquarters of an elite Palestinian security unit in Ramallah. Three people were injured in the blast.

The official Palestinian news agency reported that the explosion was caused by a leaking gas bottle.

Israel has set up roadblocks in Gaza several times since a Palestinian uprising began last September.

The Israeli army said in a statement: "The movement was restricted because of an unusual incident and was meant to be in place for a limited time and was intended to restrict the movement of Palestinian terrorists."

A Palestinian police officer from a liaison unit said he had not yet seen if the roadblocks had been removed, but added "we were informed of the opening last night."

Israel launched a fierce air, land and sea attack on Gaza on Monday, during which it briefly reoccupied Palestinian-ruled areas. The army said the operation was in retaliation for a Palestinian mortar attack on an Israeli town.

"Lifting the restrictions will ease (the situation) for the Palestinian population," the army said, adding it had no intention of making civilian life difficult.

Syrian President Bashar Assad told U.S. President George W. Bush by phone that Syria reserved the right to retaliate for Israel's Monday attack on a radar base in Lebanon in which three Syrian soldiers were killed.

"We, through our commitment to defend peace and our rights and dignity, reserve our right to retaliate in the manner which we find appropriate," Assad's spokesman quoted him as saying.

Israel said its attack on the Syrian base was a reprisal for the killing of one of its soldiers on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Saturday by Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

In Washington, the White House said Bush had appealed for restraint.



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RELATED SITES:
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Knesset, Israeli Parliament
Israel Defense Forces
Permanent Mission of Israel to the U.N.
Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian Red Crescent
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the U.N.
U.S. State Department, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
U.N. Question of Palestine home page
The E.U.'s Middle East Policy

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