Israel to build 42-kilometer wall in occupied W. Bank

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli government is currently building 42-kilometer barrier near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil), which officials say will be completed within one year.

According to a statement issued by the Israeli prime minister’s office, the planned barrier will stretch from the Palestinian town of Tarqumiyah (located 12 kilometers northwest of Hebron) to an Israeli settlement area near the Mitar military checkpoint.

The massive wall, the statement asserted, was intended to prevent the infiltration of "terrorists" and illegal immigrants into Israel.

According to a separate Israeli government statement, the 42-kilometer barrier -- which will be outfitted with electronic monitoring devices -- will be completed within one year.

Israel’s i24news online news portal reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday inspected the area on which the wall will be built.

"We will prevent undocumented workers and terrorists from getting into Israeli cities," Netanyahu was quoted as saying during the inspection.

The prime minister was reportedly accompanied on his visit by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman; Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan; Gadi Eizenkot, chief of Israel’s army general staff; and Avi Dichter, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the Palestinian West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War and has continued to do so despite UN resolutions calling for it to withdraw.