Israel casts off Red Cross criticism of fence's route

By ERIC SILVER in Jerusalem

Israel yesterday rejected a declaration by the International Committee of the Red Cross that its West Bank separation fence violated international humanitarian law because it cut across Palestinian land.

The Red Cross asked Israel "not to plan, construct or maintain this barrier within occupied territory".

It said the obstacle - part wire fence, part 8m concrete wall - barred thousands of Palestinian civilians from adequate access to basic services such as water, health care and education.

This went "far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power under international humanitarian law".

The barrier gave rise to "widespread appropriation of Palestinian property and extensive damage to, or destruction of, buildings and farmland".

Jonathan Peled, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, responded that Israel was forced to build the fence after more than 20,000 terrorist attacks in the past three years.

"Israel greatly regrets the Red Cross decision to criticise the security fence, both for its content and its timing," he said.

The International Court is due to start hearings into the legality of the fence in The Hague next week.

Israel, which challenged the court's jurisdiction, will not present its case to the 15 judges, but outside the courthouse it will display the burned-out frame of a Jerusalem bus in which a suicide bomber killed 11 passengers three weeks ago.

The court said yesterday that the United States and most European countries, which submitted written statements to the court, would not put forward oral arguments during the three days of hearings.

Britain has condemned the building of the barrier on occupied Palestinian land but believes it is inappropriate for the court to examine its legality "without the consent of both parties".

Peled accused the Red Cross of compromising its neutral status by intervening in a political issue.

Yesterday's statement, he said, also jeopardised the relationship of "working together for the common goal of improving the humanitarian situation of the Palestinians".

Ya'akov Levy, Israel's ambassador in Geneva, added: "There is a danger that the position presented by the ICRC will be turned into a political tool against Israeli measures of self-defence."

The Red Cross, like the US and the European Union, had no objection to the fence in principle, but only to the fact that it penetrated the West Bank.

Balthasar Staehelin, a Red Cross official, said in Geneva yesterday that if the fence were moved back to the pre-1967 war border, "that would solve many of the problems as far as we are concerned".

Israel officials have hinted at changes in the fence's route, but the Government has still not said where or how extensive they would be.

Officials have said the changes would not affect stretches of fence already in place, including those on Palestinian land. That would not be enough to satisfy the Red Cross or other critics.

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