Israel's army has turned major West Bank towns into veritable detention centres.
Israel this week divided the West Bank into eight areas that are cut off from each other and virtually isolated from the rest of the outside world.
The areas centre around each of Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya.
Under these latest measures, Palestinians wanting to travel outside of the area in which they reside will have to obtain special freedom-of-movement permits from Israeli domestic intelligence, the Shin Beit.
The immediate purpose of the measures appears to make daily life even more difficult for the Palestinian population. However, the ultimate goal of dividing the West Bank into veritable Bantustans seems to effect what one Israeli official recently termed "a quiet transfer", or mass exodus by Palestinians from their homeland by making life for them so unbearable that they want to leave.
The measures are expected to further damage the Palestinian economy and paralyse all aspects of life in the West Bank. Education, in particular, will be further hampered by this new system as many students and teachers attend or work at schools and colleges that are outside of the area in which they reside.
Palestinian officials castigated the "apartheid arrangements", calling on the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli government to respect the humanity of the Palestinian people.
"Is this the penultimate step before the appearance of actual concentration camps? Should the world wait until this happens?" asked Yaacoub Shahin, a Palestinian Authority (PA) spokesman in Bethlehem.
"Their goal is simply to make life so difficult for the average Palestinian citizen that he will be forced to contemplate immigrating from his homeland," said Shahin. "I assure you that this won't happen, because this is our motherland."
Protesting the cantonisation of the West Bank, the PA has asked the European Union (EU) to pressure Israel to reconsider the measures. EU representatives in the West Bank have reportedly briefed their respective governments about the new situation and are awaiting responses.
Israel initiated its efforts to reduce Palestinian towns and cities to virtual detention centres alongside the ongoing policy of killing Palestinian civilians, many of whom were struck down while en route to or returning from work.