Court Hears Case Over West Bank Barrier

The Supreme Court heard petitions Monday from two Israeli human rights groups against the West Bank barrier, a day after the government said it would change its route to minimize hardship for Palestinians.

The rights groups argue that any construction on occupied land is illegal and that the barrier violates human rights by disrupting lives of thousands of Palestinians.

“It’s a matter of building a fence which breaches the human rights of Palestinians along its path,” Avigdor Feldman, lead lawyer for the Center for the Defense of the Individual, said after the hearing.

The case was heard two weeks before the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands is to examine the legality of the barrier.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak, who presided at Monday’s hearing, said the three-judge panel would issue a ruling “as soon as possible.” He didn’t say whether the decision would come before the case in The Hague.

Barak said he was considering sending the matter to a larger panel, a step usually taken for the most serious cases.

Any Israeli court decision could affect Israel’s case before the world court, which is to issue an advisory ruling at the request of the U.N. General Assembly.

Israel insists the barrier is necessary to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers, who have killed hundreds in three years of violence. Palestinians say it is a land grab aimed at preventing them from creating a state.

The barrier is seen as part of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s emerging plan to separate Israelis and Palestinians. Sharon has said he will carry out other parts of his plan, including the removal of most Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, if peace efforts fail in the coming months.

Sharon, who has come under criticism both from the Palestinians and within his own government for his disengagement plan, canceled all events on his schedule Monday after being diagnosed with kidney stones in the urinary tract, his office said.

A spokesman said Sharon, 75, was to undergo treatment later Monday and was expected back at work Wednesday.

Settlers in Gaza have pledged to fight a withdrawal. On Monday, leaders of the 7,800 Gaza settlers said they were preparing to move 500 families into the area to thwart Sharon’s plan.

Palestinians have harshly criticized the barrier, saying a settlement must be reached through negotiations.

A senior Palestinian official said Monday that Yasser Arafat’s government is considering declaring an independent state if Israel tries to impose a boundary. The state would include the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

The official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said the proposal was raised at a weekend meeting of Palestinian leaders. Abed Rabbo, who is close to Arafat, said many present supported the idea but did not say whether Arafat was in favor.

However, other participants said the proposal was only raised informally.

An aide to Sharon, Zalman Shoval, said Israel could react by annexing disputed land if the Palestinians declare a state unilaterally.

The Palestinians say if Israel wants a barrier, it should be built on territory that Israel held before seizing the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.

The route of the barrier, which is about one-quarter built, dips into the West Bank and encircles several Palestinian towns and villages. It has cut tens of thousands of Palestinians off from farmland, schools and social services.

With the court challenges looming, Israeli officials have said this week that they plan to change the barrier’s route to ease the burden on the Palestinians.

Giora Eiland, the head of Sharon’s National Security Council, said Israel failed to forecast how much the barrier would disrupt Palestinians’ daily lives and said the route must be changed, the Haaretz daily reported. Eiland made the comments Sunday at a conference in Munich, Germany, the paper said. Israeli security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said only minor changes in existing sections are planned.

Haaretz said Israel was considering alternative roads, tunnels and gates to ease the movement of Palestinians throughout the West Bank.

In Monday’s Supreme Court cases, the Center for the Defense of the Individual asked the court to order that the barrier be rerouted along Israel’s pre-1967 boundary with the West Bank, Feldman said.

The court also heard a petition from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, demanding that the army drop its demand that Palestinians trapped by the fence apply for permits to cross it.

The association says thousands of Palestinians are caught in a no man’s land, and some have been declared illegal residents in their own homes.

Meanwhile, a new poll found that Palestinian support for violence and suicide bombings against Israel has dropped sharply in more than three years of fighting.

Only 35 percent of respondents support continuing the violence, down from 43 percent in November and 73 percent in November 2000. The poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion surveyed 500 Palestinian adults and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

In new violence, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza, Palestinian sources said. One of the Palestinians was identified as Khalil Bawadi, a 22-year-old member of Hamas. The second Palestinian was a 17-year-old boy, the said.