The wall will eventually snake some 700 kilometers along the West Bank

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, February 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – An official at Israel's state prosecutor office Friday, February 13, expected the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to come down against Israel's West Bank separation wall.

Irit Kahan, who heads the office's international affairs department, made the expectation to Israel’s public radio one day after the Israeli government decided to boycott the ICJ hearing, which will start in The Hague February 23, claiming that the world court did not have the right to adjudicate on the barrier's legality.

“The team of Ministers, under Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon, decided the declaration that Israel submitted on January 30 is enough (and that) ... the court does not have the authority to debate the terror-prevention fence which touches on Israel's basic right to self defense,” Sharon's office said.

The ICJ was asked to rule on the wall’s legality after the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in early December for a hearing.

Any findings are non-binding, but a negative outcome would be greatly embarrassing for Israel, especially as Sharon’s government came under a heavy dose of criticisms over the construction of the wall, said Agence France-Presse (AFP).

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had earlier called on Israel to halt building the wall, saying it is a blow to the long-standing conflict with the Palestinians. U.S. President George W. Bush slammed it as a “problem”.

Israel claims the wall is necessary for maintaining its security. But the Palestinians dismiss the allegation as deceptive.

The Palestinians – backed by international community – maintain that the wall, which cuts deep into the West Bank , is nothing but an Israeli land-grab and a bid to pre-empt the borders of their future state.

Dozens of Palestinian towns and villages, in addition to several quarters in occupied Jerusalem, will be surrounded by the barrier and cut off from the rest of the Palestinian territories, isolating some 350,000 Palestinians.

The wall will eventually snake some 700 kilometers along the West Bank and leave even larger swathes of Palestinian territory on the Israeli side.

‘Frustration, Anger’

In the meantime, criticism of the separation wall continues unabated.

French President Jacques Chirac reaffirmed in an interview with Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth published Thursday his opposition to the route of the wall.

“Israel is entitled to exercise its right to legitimate self-defense and security. But the chosen route for the barrier, which diverges from the Green Line, dispossesses thousands of Palestinians of their land,” Chirac said.

So, the wall will thus “trigger more frustration and anger,” he added.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said that the Israeli decision to skip the oral hearings at the world court is a “recognition that the Israelis cannot face the international community and international law and justice”.

“This wall is built on our land, and the Israelis should stop building it and tear down what has already been built,” Rdeneh told The Associated Press.

The Palestinians will insist before the court that the separation wall is illegal because it is built on occupied land, the news agency said.

In September, a U.N. report branded the wall as illegal annexation of Palestinian territory and must be condemned by the world community.

Fresh Casualties

On the ground, there was no let up in the violence as a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and another aged 11 wounded by Israeli gunfire in Rafah, Palestinian medical sources said.

The sources said the boy was killed in a tank shelling in the Gaza Strip 's impoverished and turbulent southern town of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the death but charged the boys were among a group of children sent by resistance fighters to lead soldiers into an ambush, a charge backed up by the Israeli commander for southern Gaza.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell put the burden on reviving Middle East peace moves squarely on the Palestinians and President Yasser Arafat.

“I put the blame squarely on chairman Arafat for his unwillingness to speak out, (to) use the moral authority that as a leader that everybody says he has,” Powell said.

The Bush administration has refused to deal with Arafat – the Palestinian elected President - charging he is irrelevant to peace moves.

But reacting to Wednesday's massive gun battle in Gaza, Annan urged Israel Thursday to restrain its troops.

“The Secretary General deplores the loss of life during Israeli military incursions in Gaza yesterday (Wednesday), which led to clashes in which at least 15 Palestinians, including civilians, were killed. More than 50 Palestinians have been reported injured so far, among them several critically wounded children,” his spokesman said.

“The secretary general urges Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. This includes ceasing to use disproportionate force in densely populated areas and taking greater care to avoid harm to innocent civilians,” he said.