Workers will start dismantling an eight km (five mile)
section of the barrier in the northern West Bank on Sunday, the
eve of World Court hearings on the legality of the project.
Soldiers were seen removing a watch-tower, cables and lighting
kits from the area on Saturday.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokeswoman Rachel
Niedak-Ashkenazi called the timing of the barrier's removal a
coincidence and said it had been planned for six months while a
series of walls and fences were built nearby along the West
Bank-Israel border.
"This week the eastern fence will be dismantled," she said,
adding that the permanent barrier in the area would be along
the frontier held by Israel before it captured the West Bank
and Gaza Strip (news - web sites) in the 1967 Middle East war.
The planned 728 km (452 mile) barrier, most of which is
unbuilt, has been criticized internationally over plans for it
to cut deep into the West Bank to encircle Jewish settlements
rather than follow the 1967 frontier.
"The intensive work that we have done has started to
produce pressure (on Israel)," Palestinian Foreign Minister
Nabil Shaath said. "This work should continue until all the
wall is removed."
The price tag for demolishing the barrier east of the
Palestinian villages of Baka al-Sharqiya and Zeita, where it
has separated thousands of Palestinians from families and jobs
in the rest of the West Bank, was put at $8 million.
PALESTINIANS PROTEST BARRIER
In the lead up to a "Day of Rage" called by Palestinians to
mark the start of the International Court of Justice hearings
in the Hague, hundreds of Palestinians demanded Israel
dismantle the barrier in protests across the West Bank on
Saturday.
"We are living in unbearable conditions. We urge the whole
world to help us to remove this wall," said Palestinian farmer
Hani Amer, during a demonstration by his village near the West
Bank city of Qalqilya -- which is encircled by the barrier.
Israel says the barrier is being built in self-defense to
prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from infiltrating into its
cities from the West Bank. Palestinians call it a ruse to annex
occupied land they want for a state.
The World Court's ruling is non-binding, but Israel fears
the United Nations (news - web sites) General Assembly -- which asked for the
advisory opinion and where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong
-- could use the ruling to lobby for sanctions against it.
But unlike many other cases the World Court has heard, this
time international opinion is divided about its involvement.
Israel -- which has said the barrier has already prevented
numerous suicide bombings -- along with the United States and
the European Union (news - web sites) are shunning next week's hearings.
The United States, the EU, Russia, Canada, Australia and
many other Western countries have criticized the barrier, but
they also oppose the court's involvement because they say it
may interfere with peacemaking should be resolved by
negotiation.
The Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) expressed disappointment at the
poor show of support from Arab countries, noting that only 10
of the 22 Arab League nations had submitted legal arguments to
the court calling for it to rule against the barrier.
In fresh violence overnight, a Palestinian policeman was
killed near the Israel-Gaza border. The army said he was shot
while carrying out suspected militant activities.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)
