Restless with the Relative Peace in Israel in the Past Few Weeks...

Ariel Sharon has decided to turn up the heat:

Israel has expropriated thousands of acres of Palestinian farmland deep in the West Bank for the most controversial segment of its separation barrier, Palestinian officials said Monday.

The military, meanwhile, said it is taking down a few of the roadblocks that have disrupted West Bank life for more than three years -- though the main obstacles to Palestinian travel remain in place.

Israel began building the barrier last year, to keep out Palestinian militants who have killed hundreds of Israelis since the outbreak of fighting in 2000. In some areas, the trenches, walls and fences run near Israel's old frontier with the West Bank, but elsewhere dip deep into the territory claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

The latest land seizures are part of construction of a barrier segment near the Israeli settlement of Ariel, in the heart of the West Bank.