Israel's Supreme Court opened a formal hearing this morning on the legality of a West Bank barrier the government says stops suicide bombers but civil liberties groups claim is causing Palestinian hardship.
The Israeli court session came ahead of World Court deliberations on the issue scheduled for later this month.
Civil rights groups have appealed to the Supreme Court to stop the construction inside the West Bank, land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and sought by the Palestinians for their independent state.
Palestinians call the barrier a land grab and have appealed to the International Court of Justice, based in Hague, to discuss its legality. The Hague hearing opens on February 23rd.
