JERUSALEM, Sept 8 (AFP) - Senior security officials presented Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with an initial revised version of the route of the West Bank separation barrier Wednesday, the premier's office said.
The route had to be modified after a supreme court test case in late June, which led judges to rule that it currently infringes the fundamental rights of tens of thousands of Palestinian residents.
Sharon said after Wednesday's meeting that the final modifications to the path, which takes into account the court's ruling, would be later put to his government for approval," his office reported.
He also instructed the officials not to make any substantial changes to parts of the barrier that are currently being built before the final decision from his cabinet, the statement said.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon; Avi Dichter, who heads the internal security services, or Shin Beth, and state attorney Menachem Mazuz attended the meeting with Sharon.
The exact details of the new route were not revealed but it is understood that it will bring parts much closer to the Green Line, the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank.
Building work on the southern section began on Sunday, days after a double suicide attack in the Israeli city of Beersheva, which was perpetrated by Hamas members from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
While Sharon has vowed to ignore the non-binding verdict of the International Court of Justice, which pronounced in July that parts built inside the West Bank are illegal, the government has agreed to be bound by the advice of its own judges.
Israel insists that the barrier's sole aim is to prevent would-be Palestinian attackers from infiltrating its territory.
Palestinians say the montage of concrete blocks, barbed wire, watchtowers and trenches is more akin to a land-grab, as it often juts into their land and could thus significantly shrink the surface of their future state.