"The barrier is a war crime," Kidwa

NEW YORK, December 9 (IslamOnlin.net & News Agencies) - Israel was faced with more international pressure as the U.N. General Assembly late Monday, December 8, approved a resolution calling for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give a legal ruling on Israel's controversial West Bank separation wall, a move cheered by the Palestinians but jeered by the Israelis.

The Arab-backed resolution passed with 90 votes in favor and eight against with 74 abstentions, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

According to the resolution, the court would be asked about the "legal consequences" of the barrier being built on Palestinian land, "considering the rules and principles of international law", including the Geneva Convention.

Only Israel, the United States, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands voted against an assembly resolution last month demanding a halt to construction of the barrier.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding and the International Court of Justice at The Hague would not be obligated to issue an opinion if the measure passes as expected.

But its approval would be another sign of international displeasure with the wall, which snakes through vast swathes of Palestinian land, leaving them on the Israeli side.

The Palestinian Authority fears the real aim is to pre-set the boundary of any future Palestinian state.

Palestinian U.N. representative Nasser al-Kidwa again called the barrier a "war crime" and insisted: "This wall cannot be a means of achieving security".

The measure came few days after France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said that the European Union was mulling the possibility of bringing Israel's West Bank separation wall to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Israel Dissatisfied

Israel regretted the move, while the Palestinians welcomed the decision to seek a World Court ruling.

"It is regrettable that a group of countries should make cynical use of the U.N. General Assembly to de-legitimise a member state," said Israeli government spokesman Raanan Gissin, shortly after the vote was passed in New York.

"The Jewish state is alone in having been called upon to make a case to a court over its legitimate right to defend itself," he told AFP.

Israeli ambassador to the world body Dan Gillerman also took aim at U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who in a report last month said the barrier was harmful to both hopes for Middle East peace and the Palestinian population.

"We believe this assessment to be mistaken and unjustified," Gillerman claimed. 

But the Palestinian Authority, in a statement, hailed it as "a victory for right" and "a message from the international community for Israel to stop construction of the wall and its aggressions".

The wall will eventually snake some 900 kilometers (540 miles) along the West Bank and leave even larger swathes of Palestinian territory on the Israeli side.

The first phase of the barrier was completed in July 2003 in the northern West Bank.

The defiant Israeli government of Ariel Sharon approved in October a new 100-million-dollar section of the controversial barrier.