UNITED NATIONS (IPS)�Israeli curfews and travel restrictions imposed on Palestinians following a wave of suicide bombings earlier this year have left the civilian population "scrambling to survive," says the UN envoy to the region.

"Throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians have run out of money and are unable to work to earn it," Terje Roed-Larsen said recently. "They increasingly must rely on handouts, selling personal items, credit�anything simply to survive."

Seventy percent of all Palestinians are living on less than two dollars a day, according to a new UN report due out at Final Call press time. More than one-half lack jobs, with income losses amounting to a staggering $7.6 million a day.

The Palestinian economy has been deprived of almost $3.3 billion since October 2000, a month after the current Intifada erupted, partly because Israel has been withholding tax revenues, Mr. Roed-Larsen said. "I am deeply disturbed by the figures. But I am not surprised, given the iron grip that Israel has applied to the West Bank."

"On some days, more than a million people have been confined to their homes. I must admit I struggled to find a recent precedent for this�and cannot," he said.

Since October 2000, most Palestinians have been barred from working in Israel, and travel restrictions within the West Bank and Gaza Strip have made it increasingly difficult for them to get to their jobs. The report notes that on most days this summer, between 500,000 and 900,000 people were confined to their homes.

"If anyone doubts what I am describing, pay a visit to Nablus, which has been under 24-hour curfew almost daily throughout this hot summer," the envoy said.

"As one prominent Palestinian said to me this week: �Life under occupation is like an agonizing tooth�dying is like taking it out.� I am saying this because it illustrates the despair and agony that can lead to extremism."

Roed-Larsen condemned the terror attacks on Israeli civilians that prompted the lockdowns, but said the curfews and roadblocks were a form of collective punishment that have "devastated Palestinian society."

But Lt. Col. Yarden Vatikay, an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman, said the measures were legitimate. "Terje Larsen is not the defense minister of the state of Israel," he said. "He should leave it to us to say what�s necessary to protect our people."

A report released in August by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the charity Care International also warned of a humanitarian disaster in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the Israeli government announced even tighter controls on Palestinians following the deaths of 13 Israelis in militant attacks in 24 hours.

One-fifth of Palestinian children under five are suffering from malnutrition, largely due to Israeli blockades, says the USAID report.

In addition to income losses, the World Bank says that Israeli damage to Palestinian infrastructure, funded mostly by the European Union, is estimated at between $600 million and $800 million.

"It�s difficult to be optimistic about the (curfew) situation improving," said Khalil Jahshan, executive vice president of the Washington-based Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

"We�ve had several assurances from the Bush administration. They say the president is very concerned about this. The issues have been raised again and again with Israel. But nothing has happened, despite assurances from Israeli officials, especially Foreign Minister Shimon Peres."

"The Israelis are dragging their feet," Mr. Jahshan added. "The administration has given them moral and political support, so there doesn�t seem to be any incentive for Israel to move forward. We expect the situation to continue to deteriorate."

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, agreed. "What this (report) may do is spark a certain kind of charity, but it�s not going to solve the problem," she said. "The problem is occupation."

"The Bush administration has embraced everything that Sharon is prepared to do. If they really wanted to accomplish something, they�d have to stop the inexhaustible flow of military aid," she added.

Caption:  A young Palestinian girl sells shoes September 3 in the streets of Askar refugee camp, near the West Bank town of Nablus. The curfews imposed by Israel on reoccupied Palestinian towns, restrictions on the movements of goods and people, and the unemployment caused by the barring of workers from entering Israel have left most of the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in poverty, according to experts and officials. -Photo: AFP