Israel Rerouting Barrier Closer to Border-Sources

[papau]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20040713/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Mapmakers Move West Bank Barrier Route

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM - Cartographers have begun moving the planned route of the West Bank separation barrier closer to Israel, in line with an Israeli court ruling that the government must reduce hardship for Palestinian residents, officials said Tuesday.

Later this week, planners will present three different options for a new route to the Defense Ministry for approval, security officials said on condition of anonymity. All three routes are significantly closer to Israel than the original path.

"We're looking at ways to bring the fence closer to the Green Line," said Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir, referring to Israel's pre-1967 Mideast War frontier with the West Bank.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, said Israel must build the barrier entirely on its territory, and that any changes falling short of that are unacceptable. <snip>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20040713/ts_nm/mideast_dc

Israel Rerouting Barrier Closer to Border-Sources

By Mark Heinrich

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is redrawing the route of its West Bank barrier closer to its borders to ensure Palestinians are not cut off from their lands in keeping with a High Court order, security sources said on Tuesday. <snip>

An Israeli security source said redrafted Defense Ministry guidelines for the barrier -- a 100-meter (330-foot)-wide swathe of razor-fringed fencing and concrete walls -- would have it run "as close as possible" to the Israeli-West Bank boundary.

The barrier henceforth should not isolate nearby Palestinian farmers from olive and citrus groves or maroon villages in enclaves without free access to essential services like schools and hospitals, markets and West Bank cities, the source said.

"These are the new guidelines the Defense Ministry intends to operate with. We are obeying our own High Court, not The Hague," he told Reuters. "But it's also a way of deflecting future international pressure on us (to tear down the barrier). It's an important step after The Hague." <snip>