A Palestinian woman walks in front of Israel 's separation wall in Al-Quds. (Reuters)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Israeli cabinet approved Sunday, July 10, a revised route of the controversial West Bank separation wall, leaving around a quarter of the Palestinian residents in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) cut off from the rest of the holy city.

The new route cuts through the Palestinian neighborhoods of Shaufat and Akab as well as the Qalandiya refugee camp on the eastern outskirts of the city, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).

This means that some 55,000 Palestinian residents of the holy city will no longer be able to travel freely throughout the city.

There are around 230,000 Palestinians living in Al-Quds, home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.

The status of the holy city has long been one of the thorniest issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Israel captured Al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed the city in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.

Palestinians maintain that the holy city will be the capital of their future independent state.

Condemnation

The new route of the controversial barrier drew immediate condemnation from the Palestinian Authority as a new deadly blow to the already troubled Mideast peace process.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel was trying to impose its own solution on the status of the holy city.

"This is a very critical development which has the potential to destroy the entire peace process," he told AFP.

Construction of the separation wall has been slowed down in the city following recent rulings by the Israeli supreme court that the fundamental rights of some civilians were being infringed.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made no secret of his intention to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank , especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds, in exchange for withdrawal from Gaza Strip.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation's highest legal body, has ruled that the 700-kilometer (435-mile) barrier violated international law.

The verdict said those sections of the wall constructed on occupied Palestinian territories should be torn down and Palestinians must be compensated for the damages caused.

Israel , which vowed to ignore the verdict, claims the barrier is essential for security reasons.

The Palestinians maintain that the wall is nothing but an Israeli attempt to pre-empt the borders of their future state.

More than 200,000 Palestinians are already suffering the humanitarian consequences of the wall, according to the United Nations.