As only 20 percent of the wall around Jerusalem is a cement wall, Israeli Security officials have decided to raise the ‘cement wall’ portion to 30 percent claiming that this is the only way to prevent Palestinians from damaging it.
Senior Israeli security officer said authorities recently discovered several sections of the fence were damaged by Palestinians, including a 200-meter (about 650 feet) section in the Budrus area that was partially destroyed.
The officer said walls are expected to replace the fence mostly in populated areas.
“We realized that in urban areas, local residents tend to take apart and damage the fence during construction,†he said. “In those areas we have no choice but to build a wall.
The wall’s height ranges between 7 to 9 meters (approximately 22-30 feet) which constitutes most of the wall parts in the West Bank. In many other sections, there is a fence and a wall.
On another front, petitions to the High Court of Justice are delaying less than 3 percent of construction at various sites along the wall’s route at this time, the officer said.
However, legal issues are expected to delay construction at large sections of the wall in the future, he said.
The officer added that the security establishment is expected to allow the dismantle of one-kilometer section of the wall east of the West Bank town of Qalqilia before it is handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Qalqilia is surrounded by the wall from all sides except one entrance on the eastern side of the city, which inhabitance exceed 40 thousand.
He said material taken of this dismantled-to-be section will be used to build other wall sections.
The International Court of Justice at ‘The Hague’ ruled in July 2004 that the entire wall Israel is building in the West Bank land is illegal as it is built on occupied land.
The World court called Israel to dismantle it as it does not serve security or peace in the region. Israel, on the other hand, argues that the fact that wall is there has decreased the number of suicide attacks inside Israel.
