Israeli rules says West Bank visitors must show love interest

 Foreigners must tell the Israeli defence ministry if they fall in love with a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, according to new rules.

If they want marry, they will be required to leave after 27 months for a cooling-off period of at least quater of the year.

It is part of a tightening of rules on foreigners living in, or wanting to visit, the West Bank.

Palestinians and Israeli NGOs have accused Israel of "taking restrictions to a new level".

The new rules are due to force on Monday.

The regulations laid out in a lengthy document include a demand on foreigners to inform the Israeli authorities within 30 days of starting a relationship with a Palestinian ID card holder.

New restrictions on Palestinian universities include a quota for 150 student visas and 100 foreign lecturers, while there are no such limits in Israeli ones.

Business people and aid organisations say they will also be severely affected. The rules set strict limitations on the duration of visas and visa extension, in many cases preventing people from working or volunteering in the West Bank for longer than a few months.

"This is about demographic engineering of Palestinian community and isolating Palestinian society from the outside world," says Jessica Montell, executive director of the Israeli non-governmental organisation HaMoked, which has petitioned the Israeli High Court against the regulations.

"They make it much more difficult for people to come and work in Palestinian institutions, volunteer, invest, teach and study."