Thaindian News

WEST BANK (BNO NEWS) — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday began dismantling a section of the security fence bordering the West Bank village of Bil’in, the IDF said in a statement.

The IDF began the dismantling of the section four years after the Supreme Court ruled that the fence had to be moved. Israeli soldiers will have to relocate and replant dozens of Palestinian olive trees before the construction of the new route, which will enlarge the Palestinian territory, begins.

According to the statement, the new route will put the security barrier within 400 meters of Modi’in Illit and is estimated to cost NIS 31 million (about $9 million).

The Palestine Telegraph reported that witnesses told local sources that Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of Palestinian citizens who gathered at the site on Sunday.

The area has been the site of violent weekly protests against the fence. The IDF said that over the past several years over 200 Israeli security personnel have been injured at these riots. The Palestine Telegraph said that many of the villagers who joined the weekly rallies were victims to Israeli gunfire.

Israel began building the fence in the West Bank in June 2002 following a wave of militant attacks. According to the IDF, the fence prevented “thousands of suicide bombers from carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians.” Meanwhile, the Palestine Telegraph said the attacks were launched by Palestinian fighters who where defending “their lands and properties from Israeli ongoing confiscations.”