Monday, January 24, 2005
Israeli bulldozers resume work on West Bank barrier section near Ariel
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NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Israeli bulldozers began working on one of the most controversial sections of the separation barrier deep in the northern West Bank after an eight-month pause when the construction was halted by a court order.
Palestinian security sources in Salfit town, which lies just to the south of the Jewish settlement of Ariel, said three bulldozers began work in the late morning, clearing land belonging to Salfit and to the neighbouring village of Iskaka.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli defence ministry confirmed that work had been renewed on a section near the Ariel settlement after it was approved by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.
"The decision to recommence work on the security fence (in the Ariel area) was approved by the attorney general," she said, without giving further details.
A spokeswoman for the justice ministry, however, was unable to provide any information about Mazuz's decision or the reasons behind it.
Work on the Ariel section of the vast barrier was halted on June 25 by order of the Israeli supreme court following an appeal lodged a month earlier by Salfit mayor Shaher Eshtieh.
In the appeal, Eshtieh warned construction of the Ariel section would confiscate some 170,000 dunams of land (17,000 hectares or 42,000 acres) of land belonging to Salfit and 19 other villages in the area.
In October 2003, the Israeli government decided to include Ariel and a number of other settlements inside the barrier's route by building a series of horseshoe-shaped fences which would later be linked up to the main section.
Construction of the Ariel section, which started last June, is particularly contentious as it is situated so deep inside the West Bank.
Some 16,000 people live in Ariel, one of the largest of all Jewish settlements.
Israel insists the separation barrier is crucial to prevent infiltrations by West Bank militants, but the Palestinians see it as little more than a crude attempt to grab their land and foil the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Although the world court ruled in July that parts of the barrier built on Palestinian land are illegal, Israel has insisted it will complete the project, which is eventually expected to stretch some 700 kilometers (430 miles).
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