Israel barrier route 'must change' - court
The Israeli Supreme Court today ordered changes in the route of the country’s West Bank separation barrier, saying the current plan is hurting the local Palestinian population.
The court said a new route must be found, even if it provides less security.
Israel says the massive structure, which stretches deep into the West Bank in some areas, is needed to keep out suicide bombers.
But the construction has separated thousands of Palestinians from jobs, farms and schools.
Israeli troops today encircled the Palestinian border town of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, with tanks and tore up roads to halt barrages of rockets that have hit nearby Israeli communities in recent days.
It was Israel’s eighth major military operation there, and security officials said they expected it to be more devastating than previous raids that turned large farming areas near Beit Hanoun into moonscapes, with thousands of trees uprooted.
The raid came in response to the first deadly rocket attack from Gaza, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised panicked Israelis in the border area he would stop the barrages with “wide-ranging actions".
