The U.N. says the wall harms 30% of the Palestinians (AFP)

GAZA CITY, January 19 (IslamOnline.net) – The Israeli government is poised to reexamine the route of a controversial West Bank separation barrier ahead of a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israeli press said Monday, January 19.

Israel's move to possibly reconsider the route came after senior justice officials said they would have a hard time defending the barrier at the world court, the Haaretz daily reported.

They pointed to the fact the barrier would expropriate Palestinian territory, enclose whole villages and block a number of Palestinians from their land and livelihoods.

At a meeting with his inner capital Sunday, January 18, Sharon said that it could be that "additional thought is needed about the possibility of changing the route".

But he said that any discussion of changes in the fence's route "will happen, if it happens, because of second thoughts on the cabinet's part, not in response to demands by the Palestinians, the United Nations or the International Court of Justice".

Acting Attorney General Edna Arbel said she would have trouble defending portions of the fence's route to the High Court.

Justice Minister Tommy Lapid has also publicly denounced the current route of the fence and demanded that it be made some 200 kilometers shorter and ensure it closely follows the 1948 Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank.

Lapid warned that the court hearing will be "a battle for international public opinion".

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, in contrast, opposes any change in the fence's route.

"I am capable of defending every centimeter of the current route and showing why it is necessary to defend Israel's citizens," Haaretz quoted him as telling the meeting.

Following an Arab-backed resolution, the United Nations General Assembly asked the ICJ to rule on the legality of the barrier.

The construction of the wall is at full swing (AFP)

Although the court can only give an advisory opinion and its rulings are not legally binding, a negative verdict would be hugely embarrassing to Israel.

Ahead of the world court hearing, judges from Israel's Supreme Court will also debate the legality of the barrier in what the Israeli media has dubbed a "dress rehearsal" for the ICJ hearing.

The wall will eventually snake some 700 kilometers 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 last October a new 100-million-dollar section of the controversial barrier.