Al-Quds City, Aug 10, SPA -- The Israeli army has authorized the confiscation of cars driven by Palestinians who try tobypass Israeli checkpoints around West Bank cities undersiege, a military official said Tuesday, legalizing apractice that has been harshly criticized by Palestinians. For several years, soldiers have confiscated cars or carkeys to punish Palestinians who ignored orders to stop,although the army has said the practice was illegal anddenied it took place. Other methods of punishment includeslashing tires and sometimes also smashing windshields. At one checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, carkeys of confiscated vehicles were recently collected in abox, and soldiers manning the roadblock said Palestinianswere instructed to pick up their cars several days later. A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,said Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski, the top West Bankcommander, signed an order this week legalizing theconfiscation of cars.--SPA1522 Local Time 1222 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/190653