Court extends freeze on building part of barrier

JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Palestinians protested Thursday at a site where Israel is building its West Bank barrier, calling for a complete stop to the project after the Supreme Court halted construction at a nearby location.

A 12-year-old boy was seriously wounded by soldiers firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse stone-throwers in the crowd.

Protesters have focused in recent weeks on a particularly contentious section northwest of Jerusalem that would cut off eight Palestinian villages and disrupt the lives of 30,000 people.

The high court on Wednesday froze construction of that 15-mile stretch after retired Israeli army officers argued that Israel could have drawn a much less intrusive route.

Israel says it needs the barrier to stop suicide bombers who have killed more than 450 Israelis in 42 months of violence. Since September 2000, dozens of bombers have infiltrated across the "Green Line," Israel's boundary before it captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.

Palestinians object to the route of the barrier, which cuts tens of thousands of people off from their farms, services and schools in some places.

At the Israeli Supreme Court, a group of retired Israeli security officers joined Palestinian criticism of the route and argued that the barrier will be more effective if it runs along the Green Line and does not dip into the West Bank.

"The Green Line is the shortest line, and also the one that least hurts the Arabs," said Shaul Givoli, a retired senior police commander and leader of the Council for Peace and Security.

The court ordered the Israeli military to respond to the report, and extended a freeze first imposed on Feb. 29 until it hears back from the army, said attorney Mohammed Dahla, representing the Palestinian villagers.

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