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Israel reroutes barrier

Palestinian laborers work on a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Abu Dis on the outskirts of Jerusalem earlier this month. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Palestinian laborers work on a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Abu Dis on the outskirts of Jerusalem earlier this month. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

JERUSALEM – Israel’s Defense Ministry has mapped out a new route for the separation barrier in the West Bank that heeds a Supreme Court order to reduce hardships for Palestinians and runs closer to Israel’s 1967 border, officials said Monday.

Word of the new route came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon insisted he will go ahead with his plan to pull Israeli soldiers and settlers out of the Gaza Strip despite a huge demonstration against the withdrawal Sunday, when about 100,000 protesters created a human chain some 55 miles long from Gaza to Jerusalem.

“I decided to proceed with the disengagement plan because it is clear that Israel cannot remain in the Gaza Strip forever,” Sharon said in a statement issued by his office Monday. His plan calls for evacuating the 8,000 settlers from Gaza next year, but many members of his own Likud Party oppose the withdrawal.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, a solution appeared near in the political crisis for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as his prime minister was reported ready to rescind his resignation. Palestinian officials said Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is weighing assurances from Arafat that he would have more authority to make reforms.

Qureia could announce the withdrawal of his resignation letter after a meeting today with Arafat, a move that would end a two-week standoff and ease the turmoil in the Palestinian territories. The prime minister resigned earlier this month in frustration with Arafat’s refusal to let him carry out reform in the security forces and deal with growing turmoil in the Palestinian areas.

Elements of the new route for the West Bank barrier will be presented this week to Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz for their approval, security officials said on condition of anonymity. Details of the new map were not available Monday, but the officials said the route will run much closer to the internationally recognized cease-fire line of 1967 than originally planned.

The decision to redraw the route is in line with an order last month from the Israeli Supreme Court to make the barrier less disruptive to Palestinians’ lives. But it ignored a ruling by the International Court of Justice — the United Nations’ highest judicial body — that the barrier is illegal and must be torn down completely.

Acting on the world court’s judgment, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution last week calling on Israel to dismantle the barrier and compensate Palestinians whose lands have been confiscated.