The Independent, Israel has swatted aside a formal complaint by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, over its refusal to halt construction of a wall that cuts deep into the West Bank and slices through Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem.
Mr Annan said the fence “could damage the longer-term prospects for peace by making the creation of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state more difficult”.
Israel said it was speeding up construction and may take other “unilateral steps” if the Palestinians delay peace talks. “Our patience is running out,” the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, declared.
Israel claims the barrier of concrete, razor wire, ditches and electric fences is needed to stop suicide bombers who have killed more than 450 people in the three-year Palestinian Intifada. But Palestinians say the fence is a crude attempt to annex territory as well as being a strategic blunder that will only bring more bloodshed.
Last week the US punished Israel by cutting nearly
