The construction of the wall at al-Walajah has picked up pace, when it is finished it will surround the village on three sides.Residents and NGOs observing the situation in al-Walajah say that the Israeli Defense Ministry has increased the pace of its construction operations around the village in recent days.
Residents have been protesting the path of the fence fiercely as its current track will cut off village residents from the majority of their lands and end up surrounding the village on three sides.
They currently have a petition before the High Court in Israel to get the Defense Ministry to change the path.
In a court hearing Sunday, it was discovered that the order calling for the construction of the fence in the village had expired a year ago. The court asked the state of Israel to present a reason why construction should continue and gave its representatives forty-five days to submit its case.
This decision was given but no injunction was placed on the current construction of the fence. What has occurred is essentially an open window for the Defense Ministry to finish its construction in forty-five days.
