Israeli court orders re-routing of barrier
The court said that the current route violates the human rights of the local Palestinian population, and that the changes must be made, even at the risk of reducing Israeli security.
The government said it would honour the ruling.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, Israeli troops encircled the northern town of Beit Hanoun, tearing up roads in an ongoing offensive aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks. A Palestinian teenager was killed, Palestinian sources said.
The court decision the first major ruling on the barrier is expected to affect other sections of the contentious separation barrier. It signalled the court would reject other parts of the barrier that separate Palestinians from their lands, cut villages off from each other or prevent people from reaching population centers.
About a quarter of the 425-mile barrier, which dips deep into the West Bank in some sections, has been completed.
Yesterday's case focused on a 25-mile stretch of the barrier northwest of Jerusalem, where 35,000 people live in eight villages. The fence would separate the villagers from 7,500 acres, most of it cultivated, including tens of thousands of olive trees, fruit trees and other crops.
"To have the chief justice of the Supreme Court say you can't put the Palestinians in prison ... in the name of the security of Israel, that is really important. That is the least I can say," said Mohammed Dahla, a lawyer for the petitioners.
He said the court had ordered changes in about 20 miles of the stretch. Israel Radio said two miles of completed construction would also have to be dismantled.
Dany Tirza, the army's chief planner of the route of the barrier, said he was "disappointed and surprised" by the decision. The ruling will delay construction of the barrier "by many months," he added.
The court forced the government to return land that has been seized and compensate the Palestinians for their financial losses.
The court froze construction of the section near Jerusalem in February, shortly after two protesters were killed in a stone-throwing clash with soldiers.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia played down yesterday's ruling.
"The wall is an act of aggression whether it remains as is, or they introduce changes in its route. It should be knocked down as other walls in the world, like the Berlin Wall," he said.
The world court in the Hague, Netherlands, is expected to issue its advisory ruling next week on the legality of the barrier.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli troops encircled Beit Hanoun, as part of a new offensive aimed at halting rocket attacks into Israel.
A crowd threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli troops, who opened fire, fatally shooting a 16-year-old boy. Six demonstrators were wounded.
The raid came in response to the first deadly rocket attack from Gaza, which killed two people, including a three-year-old boy, on Monday.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised panicked Israelis in the border area he would stop the barrages with "wide-ranging actions."
A new threat from Gaza could complicate Sharon's plan to withdraw from the coastal strip by September 2005. More rocket attacks could undercut what is now considerable popular support for the plan. Despite the pledge, more rockets fell in the border town of Sderot on Tuesday, as Sharon was visiting.
