THE HAGUE, 26 June 2004 — The International Court of Justice said yesterday it would give an advisory ruling on the legality of Israel’s West Bank barrier on July 9, after hearings in the case were boycotted by the Jewish state.

The ICJ, the United Nations highest legal body, heard three days of testimony in February from 15 parties arguing against the controversial barrier.

The UN General Assembly called on the ICJ in December to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the barrier.

Israel insists its construction is necessary to prevent infiltrations by West Bank militants, but it cuts deep inside the territory, de facto annexing some of the region’s most fertile land and complicating the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

Regardless of the outcome of the ICJ case, Israel has insisted it will complete the barrier, which is eventually expected to stretch some 700 kilometers (430 miles), by the end of next year.

At the July hearing the ICJ judges will rule whether or not the court is competent to rule in the matter and if so, whether the barrier is legal under international law.

The ruling, known as an advisory opinion, will be non-binding but could have important consequences for public opinion about Israel and clarify international law.

Israel boycotted February’s proceedings, saying they were one-sided because they did not take into account Palestinian attacks on Israel. But it did enter written submissions to the court.

At the hearings the Palestinians asked the ICJ to declare that the barrier — a mix of concrete, razor wire and electric fencing — is illegal.

The head of the Palestinian delegation, Nasser Al-Qidwa, told the judges that the construction of Israel’s so-called security fence made the road-map peace plan that aims to create an independent Palestinian state “practically impossible”.

The United States, the European Union and Russia — co-sponsors of the road map with the United Nations — also did not attend hearings saying the ICJ was the inappropriate venue for the case.

However, both the United States and the EU have vehemently objected to the barrier, and in mid-June a US State Department spokesman reiterated the US position that it is a problem. “It’s a problem to the extent that it prejudices final borders, that it confiscates Palestinian property, or that it imposes further hardship on the Palestinian people,” Richard Boucher said.

Although 44 states and several international organizations entered written submissions to the court, in the end only the Palestinians, Jordan and a handful of African, Asian and Central American states spoke at the hearings.

Since Israel started erecting its barrier, which Palestinians have dubbed the “Apartheid Wall”, in June 2002 some 230 kilometers (140 miles) have been completed, mostly in the northern West Bank.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops yesterday in the West Bank town of Nablus during clashes with young stone-throwers, a Palestinian security source said.

Mohammed Sokha, 18, was shot in the casbah of the old city, where the army has been carrying out search operations since Thursday. Israeli military sources said Sokha had been preparing to throw a gas canister at troops.

Israeli forces dynamited the flat of a jailed Palestinian in the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem, an army spokesman and Palestinian security sources said yesterday.

The flat of Bassam Abu Aker, nabbed last month by troops, was completely destroyed and two other apartments partially damaged in the six-storey-high building, which remained standing however, the Palestinian sources said.

The army spokesman said Abu Akr was responsible for masterminding suicide bombings in Israel and had fired an automatic rifle against troops and settlers.