"We are taking risks," the source told a small group of reporters, warning that the lifting of 10 major checkpoints in the West Bank and the new Israeli work permits granted to thousands of Palestinians potentially endangered Israel's security.

Pointing to an explosives-filled belt seized by the Israeli army in the West Bank recently, the source said: "Belts such as these will have better chances of getting to Tel Aviv."

But he also stressed that maintaining the tight closure which has been imposed for 18 months could inflame the situation.

"If you make people hungry ... you will get more anger and more motivation for terror attacks," the source said, explaining that the relaxation measures announced ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's trip to the White House were aimed at "reviving the Palestinian economy".

He said the new measures would allow a Palestinian civilian to cover the 120 kilometres (75 miles) separating Hebron in the south and Jenin in the northern West Bank in "four to six hours", instead of up to two days.

The military source also stressed that it "would have been very difficult to take these risks without the fence" being erected between the Jewish state and the West Bank.

US President George W. Bush has criticised the wall as hampering progress in the implementation of the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan.

WAR.WIRE