Israeli court halts wall construction; Anti-barrier protests held

By: Ahmad Hammadi

JERUSALEM: Supreme Court of Israel has imposed an undefined freeze on building of a 15-mile section of the controversial West Bank barrier, a lawyer in the case said Thursday.

The court issued verdict on Wednesday in response to a complaint by Palestinian and Israeli opponents of the barrier, according to their lawyer Mohammed Dahla. The order affects an area around eight Palestinian villages northwest of Jerusalem near the invisible line separating Israel from the West Bank.

The opponents say the planned route of the barrier will severely disrupt the lives of 30,000 Palestinians living in the area by virtually imprisoning them in their villages and cutting them off from Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians Thursday staged a protest in the West Bank village of Dir Kadis against the barrier, and Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel pellets and tear gas at them besides arresting some of them. Several demonstrators were hurt, including a 12-year-old boy.

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