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Young Palestinians from the Gaza Strip smile
and show their 'safe passage' ID cards.
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JERUSALEM, Oct 31 (AFP) - Israel blamed a computer problem on Sunday for the apparent "disappearance" of 17 Palestinians in the safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The opposition Likud party charged that 17 Palestinians had gone missing since the opening of the corridor last Monday, accusing the government of negligence.
"This is a gross violation of the safe passage route agreement and the government has displayed helplessness and incompetence in dealing with this phenomenon," Likud said in a statement.
The Hebrew newspaper Maariv quoted security officials as saying the missing were Palestinians barred from entering Israel and that intense searches were underway.
But Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben Ami told AFP there was no proof that Israel had lost track of anyone on the 44-kilometre (27 mile) route, and said the "disappearance" was probably the result of a computer error.
Under the terms of the agreement for the safe passage, Palestinians barred from Israel cannot travel the route independently but must use a special Israeli-escorted bus.
Ben Ami said around 5,000 Palestinians had so far used the passage, which opened on Monday under the terms of September's Sharm el-Sheikh agreement. Those wanting to travel that way have to obtain magnetic passes from the Israeli and Palestinian authorities in advance.
