Tel Aviv – Ma'an/IRIN – Israel's military announced Thursday that restrictions on West Bank Palestinians will be eased during the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha.

According to the military, the following policies will be implemented beginning on Thursday morning, until Wednesday, 2 December:

• Palestinians will be allowed to enter Israel to visit immediate family members;
• Israeli citizens will be able to enter the city of Tulkarem by car via checkpoint 407;
• Operating hours of the Awarta checkpoint, south of Nablus, will be extended to 10pm;
• A roadblock on the Jenin-Tulkarem road will be removed to enable faster passage between the two cities;
• A roadblock near the village of Dhahria will be removed, enabling quick transportation between the villages near the city of Hebron;
• More than 50 roadblocks throughout the West Bank will be permanently removed;
• Married men aged 45 and over, and women aged 45 and over, will be allowed entry with undefined "special authorization" into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for prayer, and men over 50 without special authorization. Married women of age 30-45 will be allowed entry with the authorization.

In addition, the army said it would reduce its activity in the West Bank's central cities during the holiday and the operational hours of the Palestinian police in the cities would be expanded.

"This decision was made in accordance with the directives of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and in light of security assessments by the [Israel Defense Forces] Central Command and the Civil Administration. The easing of restrictions is part of a general policy to improve the quality of life of the Palestinian population in the region," an army statement said.

According to the November update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, between May and October, Israel implemented measures that increased the freedom of movement of Palestinians between most Palestinian urban centers in the West Bank.

However, during the same period, there was no significant improvement when it comes to access to land and use of space by Palestinians, according to the report.

IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, contributed to this report.