Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated on Sunday that Israel might alter the route of its separation barrier in the West Bank, and he acknowledged that the barrier had caused difficulties for ordinary Palestinians.
But he emphasized that any such alterations would flow solely from Israeli deliberations, and that his government would not be swayed by demands made by the Palestinians, the UN or the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Israel says the barrier is intended as a security measure against suicide bombers and other Palestinian attacks. But the Palestinians say it amounts to the confiscation of West Bank land that they are demanding for a future state.
Last month the UN General Assembly asked the World Court to rule on the legality of the barrier. Sharon and Cabinet ministers on Sunday discussed Israel's preparations for the court case, set for next month at The Hague.
The current route approved by Sharon's government would put about 15 percent of the West Bank land on the western, or Israeli, side of the barrier, according to the UN's calculations.
Israel has not said exactly how it will respond in the court case. The Israeli news media reported that Israel would send a letter to the court challenging its authority in the matter, and that the government would decide in the coming weeks whether to send representatives to the court.
After discussions with the Israeli legal authorities, Sharon said there could be "legal difficulties in defending the state's position" on the route of the fence.
But in a statement released by his office, he emphasized that "there will be no change as a result of Palestinian or UN demands, including those from the court." Any further discussions "of the fence's route will take place only as a result of internal Israeli deliberations," he said.
Sharon and the Cabinet members had planned to talk on Sunday about possible adjustments to the barrier, but the discussions were postponed.
Even the US, Israel's strongest ally, has criticized the barrier's route through the West Bank.
Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, a political moderate, urges that Israel reroute the fence to move it closer to the West Bank boundary.
"The present route will bring upon us isolation in the world," he said.
Israel has made a few minor adjustments to the barrier, but is continuing to build it despite the international protests. A section in the northern West Bank was completed last year, and parts have been built around Jerusalem.
Sharon said the fence had been "excellent at preventing terror, but was not satisfactory in all matters relating to the damage to Palestinians' quality of life."
Some Palestinian towns and villages are surrounded by the barrier, and residents face difficulties with such everyday tasks as commuting to jobs, schools and their farm fields.
In other developments on Sunday, Israel reopened the crossing point with the Gaza Strip, which had been closed since a Palestinian woman blew herself up in a suicide bombing on Wednesday, killing four Israeli security personnel.
Also, Sharon's government added three more West Bank settlement outposts to an existing list of six that are scheduled to be dismantled.
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