Amnesty says Israel should tear down wall

Amnesty says Israel should tear down wall
Mon Jun 4, 2007 5:24PM BST
By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - The barrier Israel is building in the occupied West Bank has caused deaths and suffering among Palestinians and should be torn down, the Amnesty International rights group said in a report on Monday.

Israel's Justice Ministry called the report

"one-sided, immoral, and ... full of factual and legal falsehoods, including rare mentions of Palestinian terror".

The 50-page report, coinciding with the eve of the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War, broke no new ground but cautioned that continued construction of the project risked prolonging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Israel's ... legitimate security concerns are no excuse for blatant violations of international law, nor the mistreatment of thousands of Palestinians in a massive programme of collective punishment,"

said Amnesty's British director Kate Allen.

Israel has said the barrier, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice because it runs through occupied territory, has stopped Palestinian suicide bombers from reaching its cities and could be removed under a future peace agreement.

"The report does not address Israel's right for self defence and to its legitimate security needs, but mentions it in a minor way without giving those concerns their true weight,"

the Justice Ministry said in a statement issued in Jerusalem.

• The barrier, mostly razor wire-tipped fences and shorter sections of concrete walls, already stretches for 220 miles (350 km) and is planned to cover 450 miles (720 km) when finished.

Amnesty said the barrier, if completed to plan, would encircle 12 West Bank villages and 31,400 people, with more than half a million Palestinians living within a kilometre (half-mile) of it.

The report, "Enduring Occupation -- Palestinians under siege in the West Bank", criticised Israel's policy of mobile checkpoints which it said had directly caused deaths by imposing unnecessary delays on Palestinians trying to get to hospital.

The Israeli military says its soldiers are under orders to render assistance in humanitarian cases.

• The report said the barrier had been deliberately built to seize Palestinian land amounting to 10 percent of the West Bank in what it described as a state-sponsored land grab.

• Palestinian homes were being bulldozed and Israeli settlements -- also judged illegal by the International Court of Justice -- were in effect being sanctioned as fences and walls are diverted round them, the document said.

Amnesty called on Israel to end movement restrictions on Palestinians, stop building the barrier and tear down those parts on Palestinian territory, cease building settlements and destroying Palestinian homes, and ensure justice for all.

The Justice Ministry said

"Israel sees great importance in preserving human rights and invests immense resources to preserve them, all stemming from an obligation to international law and values".

(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem)