Barrier work will go on: Sharon

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered construction of the West Bank separation barrier to continue, linking the world court’s condemnation of it to a deadly bombing in Tel Aviv.

The attack was the first deadly bombing in Israel since March.

Palestinian militants blew up a bus stop with a nail-studded bomb hidden in roadside shrubs, killing a woman soldier and seriously wounding five people.

Violence continued in the southern Gaza Strip today when a military force destroyed several structures on the outskirts of the town of Khan Younis.

A 72-year old man died in the operation. Family members said he had not heard army calls to evacuate his home and had been killed under the rubble.

Sharon tied yesterday’s bombing to the world court’s non-binding ruling on Friday against the barrier, which Israel says is needed to prevent such attacks.

“The decision sends a destructive message to encourage terrorism and denounces countries that are defending themselves against it,” Sharon said.

Palestinians, welcoming the decision, planned a diplomatic assault to enforce it. However, they put off an appeal to the UN Security Council until after the November presidential elections in the United States, fearing a US veto.

“The decision now is for the General Assembly to decide what the coming step is,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. “As for us, we will continue to battle.”

Yesterday, a five-pound bomb filled with sharp pieces of metal exploded as a bus pulled up at a stop near Tel Aviv’s central bus station.

A 19-year-old woman soldier was killed and 32 people were hurt, five of them seriously. The remainder were treated for shock or light wounds.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Palestinian group linked to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility, saying it was avenging the deaths of members killed by Israel.

“This says that we can reach every place, even when there is a fence,” said an Al Aqsa spokesman in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Palestinian officials condemned the attack. “We are against all bombings like this,” Arafat said.

Israel began building the barrier two years ago, saying it is needed to keep out Palestinian attackers who have killed nearly 1,000 Israelis in four years of fighting. More than 3,000 Palestinians were killed in the same period, most by army fire.

Israel has completed one-quarter of the planned 425-mile project, and cited the barrier as a key reason for the recent lull in Palestinian attacks.

But the barrier stretches deep into the West Bank and has disrupted the lives of thousands of Palestinians.

Sharon met with senior Cabinet ministers, security officials and the attorney general to discuss the fallout from the world court decision, and he ordered construction to continue, in line with a recent Israeli Supreme Court decision, his office said.