West Bank fence plans go ahead

The plan envisages the fortified separation of the West Bank from Israel

The Israeli authorities have stepped up efforts to build a fortified electronic fence along the line dividing Israel from the mainly Palestinian populated West Bank.

Israel radio says Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the allocation of nearly $25m for the project, which is already under way.

The Israelis say the 70km (45 mile) long fence will not constitute a political border but only a security barrier - to keep out suicide bombers and to funnel all goods traffic through legal checkpoints.

The recent violence has increased the urgency of separation for some Israelis

The alarmed fence is intended to run along the June 1967 ceasefire line between Israel and the West Bank.

The permanent sealing-off of the Palestinian-controlled areas from Israel - also referred to as "unilateral separation - is an important part of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's approach to the peace process.

Analysts say that the fact that it is being pushed ahead at a time when Israeli and Palestinian officials are considering a compromise peace plan proposed by US President Bill Clinton may be significant.

Sealing-off

Israeli officials have tended to deny the political significance of the line, saying that the line of the separation fence does not imply that Israel recognises what was its former border with a West Bank controlled by Jordan before 1967.

Palestinians have denounced the plan as a form of apartheid.

If nothing else the plan would cripple the Palestinian economy, which is heavily dependent on Israel, and put thousands of Palestinians out of work.

Some Israeli security chiefs have said that the fence would not necessarily be an effective way of preventing Palestinian attacks on Israel.

Analysts have said that such a "surgical break" is probably an illusion. But this has not stopped Mr Barak and his ministers from working on the details of how it might be done.

It has been reported that plans could include the following:

• Existing army roadblocks could be turned into international border crossings

• A $1bn system of roads, tunnels and bridges could seal off the West Bank, while providing access to Jewish settlements

• A $250m elevated highway - with no other exit - could link Gaza and the West Bank.