Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday ordered the defense ministry to reroute the 30-kilometer stretch of the separation wall and examine whether other parts of the wall.
The wall stretch northwest of Jerusalem was declared illegal by the Israeli Supreme court.
As well, the court issued an interim injunction Thursday ordering the Defense Ministry to halt work on another section in southeast Jerusalem.
The injunction also barred Israel from expelling residents of Nu’aman village from their homes on the grounds that they are residing in Israel illegally.
Nu’man village belongs to Bethlehem district, but was isolated from the Palestinian city by the separation wall, then Israel; considered its citizens who have been living there for hundreds of years as ‘illegally residing inside Israel’
The court decision to declare 30 kilometers of already constructed wall sections illegal on the bases of causing grave harm to the livelihood and freedom of movement of local Palestinians could be used to disallow other sections of the wall as well.
Therefore, Sharon ordered the review the wall’s entire route and make changes where necessary to forestall possible further rulings of the same nature.
While asserting that the construction should proceed ‘full speed’ in areas where there are no legal problems, Sharon said ‘we can move [the wall] a little closer to the Green Line]
Earlier, Mofaz ordered his senior defense ministry officials to prepare several alternative routes for that section of the wall.
Sharon rejected the idea of enacting a law to overrule the court and enable the wall to be built, saying ‘Everyone must understand that there is a ruling, and it must be obeyed,’
The idea was proposed by several cabinet ministers, including Dan Naveh, Uzi Landau, Natan Sharansky and Zevulun Orlev.
Mofaz complained that the failure in providing reasonable humanitarian conditions to Palestinians were due to insufficient funds.
