Israeli Supreme Court imposes freeze on barrier construction

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Supreme Court has imposed an open-ended freeze on construction of a 15-mile section of the country's controversial West Bank separation barrier, a lawyer in the case said Thursday.

The court issued its order Wednesday in response to a complaint by Palestinian and Israeli opponents of the barrier, said their lawyer, Mohammed Dahla. The order affects an area around eight Palestinian villages northwest of Jerusalem near the invisible line separating Israel from the West Bank.

The opponents say the planned route of the barrier will severely disrupt the lives of 30,000 Palestinians by virtually imprisoning them in their villages and cutting them off from Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah. Israel says it needs the barrier of razor wire, concrete walls and trenches to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from entering its towns and cities.

Meanwhile, a 27-year-old Palestinian man in Gaza died of shrapnel wounds suffered in an Israeli missile strike Wednesday, Palestinian medical workers said.

Adli Abu Taha was the fifth Palestinian fatality from a pair of helicopter strikes in the Rafah refugee camp. The medical workers said Abu Taha was a civilian bystander.

Israel launched a new offensive into the Gaza Strip this week after suicide bombings Sunday that killed 10 Israelis in the Ashdod seaport. Security officials have also said they want to strike hard at militants ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said if peace talks remain stalled, he might order a pullout from Gaza and impose a boundary in the West Bank. Violence in Gaza has been increasing, with both sides intent on portraying a pullout as a victory.

Top security officials recommended to Sharon on Wednesday that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip be complete, except for three settlements in a northern section and a strip along the border with Egypt, the Haaretz daily reported.

The Ashdod bombing has alarmed Israeli security officials. It was the first successful strike on a strategic target in Israel, and it was also the first suicide bombing in more than three years of fighting to originate in Gaza.

Security officials said the two bombers might have hidden in a cargo container that entered Israel through a crossing from Gaza.

Investigators' suspicions were raised after they discovered a container with a hidden compartment Wednesday at the port. The compartment contained five grenades, mattresses, drinking water and scraps of food, the security officials said.

The Palestinians do not have their own port in Gaza and must use the Ashdod port to ship items overseas.