Israel to boycott barrier hearing

Israel says it will not attend a World Court hearing on whether it should tear down a barrier taking in Jewish settlements on occupied West Bank territory that Palestinians want for a state.

Israeli officials say the barrier being erected inside the West Bank is meant to keep out suicide bombers and has thwarted dozens of attacks.

Palestinians call it a bid to annexe land they need for a viable state, since it snakes deep into the West Bank.

The stalemate underlined the paralysis in Middle East peacemaking and came after Israel killed 15 Palestinians in a major Army assault into the Gaza Strip, triggering vows of large-scale suicide attacks by vengeful Palestinian militants.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, announcing the abstention, said special legal advisers feared the World Court session would lend credence to a case that Israel sees as politically motivated and beyond the tribunal's jurisdiction.

Israel would make do with an affidavit it filed with the court last month outlining these misgivings, the office said. A court spokeswoman said hearings would go ahead as planned.

Any ruling by the tribunal, based in The Hague, would be non-binding, but Israel fears a finding against it would be so influential as to spawn UN Security Council action against it.

The World Court hearing, due to begin on February 23, was scheduled at the request of the UN General Assembly, where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong. But the barrier has drawn wider criticism, including from Britain.

"I hope this Israeli decision will not affect the court's endeavour to carry out its obligation," Palestinian Labour Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said.

The violence in Gaza damaged efforts to arrange an Israeli-Palestinian summit in the hope of reviving the roadmap for peace and came amid signs of Israeli Army concern about Sharon's plan to remove settlers from Gaza.

Hamas' armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, urged its cells in all West Bank and Gaza cities and refugee camps to carry out "major martyrdom operations" as retribution.

- REUTERS