Barbed wire spreading

RAMALLAH, West Bank The Israeli Army is stringing barbed wire around this Palestinian political and intellectual center as part of a sweeping plan to impose tough new security restrictions on Palestinian movements in the West Bank, say aid workers who fear that new restrictions will crush an already crippled economy and could lead to further violence.

The Kalandia checkpoint here, the way only to and from Jerusalem, is already a hellish scene. Under a hot sun Wednesday afternoon, a steady stream of Palestinians, hundreds at any given moment - old women in head scarves carrying grocery bags, young girls in school uniforms, businessmen talking on cell phones - plodded both ways along a fenced-in corridor after waiting in line to present their papers to Israeli soldiers hunkered behind sandbags. Clusters of bright yellow taxis wait at each end. The roughly 16-kilometer commute between cities now takes three taxis and sometimes two hours or more.

"Look at this, it's horrible," fumed Walid Ahmed, who gave his occupation as "nothing" because of the bad economy. "It's a shame to see old people, your mother, your father, walking like this. Does this look like the entrance to a major city?"

Things are about to get worse.

The new rules would effectively encircle and isolate the eight West Bank cities, creating eight zones - Palestinians are calling them cantons. Palestinians needing to travel would be required to apply to the army for a special permit to enter or leave a zone. The permits, which would have to be renewed each month, would only be valid from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., creating an effective travel curfew.