Israel to keep building barrier despite UN censure

Israel vowed yesterday to press on with construction of its vast barrier cutting into Palestinian territory in the West Bank despite a UN resolution demanding it be torn down.

"The fence will continue being built and we will go on taking care of the security of Israel's citizens," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israel Radio, reaffirming the position of Israel's right-leaning government.

Late on Tuesday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling the sprawling network of fences and walls a "contradiction to international law" and ordering Israel to "stop and reverse" its construction on Palestinian lands.

Olmert said the Israeli government would defy what he called "the dictates of an automatic, hostile, inconsiderate and misguided (UN) majority that always acts against Israel".

Israel says it is a security fence to keep out suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a new "Berlin Wall" that cuts deep into territory they want for a state. The United States, Israel's chief ally, has expressed misgivings about the project.

The UN resolution said the barrier could imperil efforts to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as called for in a US-backed peace plan, which has been stalled by persistent tit-for-tat violence.

Two days after deadly air strikes in Gaza, Israeli forces killed three militants in the West Bank yesterday, including a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). It vowed a "painful response with bombs and bullets".

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters: "The Israeli statement reflects an Israeli determination to continue violating international law and continue the path of occupation and settlement rather than peace and reconciliation."

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview last week that Israel would complete the barrier - which will eventually run 350 kilometres - despite a US threat to reduce $9 billion in loan guarantees to the Jewish state.

Washington is concerned the project prejudges borders that should be decided in negotiations.

Arab states took the dispute to an emergency session of the 191-nation General Assembly after the United States last week vetoed a similar measure in the 15-nation Security Council.

Tuesday's vote on the resolution was 144-4 with 12 abstentions. The United States and Israel voted "no".

Unlike the UN Security Council, the General Assembly is not empowered to pass resolutions that are legally binding and acts more as a bellwether of world opinion.