The aid agency said the barrier, whose proposed route cuts into Palestinian areas, went "far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power". ...Nevertheless, it remained, the BBC noted, "an unusually outspoken statement from a normally neutral body."
The ICRC's comments come just days before a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the legality of the controversial barrier. ...
The ICRC, a neutral, Swiss-based organisation, has been observing construction of the security fence.
It says that, where the barrier runs through occupied territory, thousands of Palestinians have been deprived of access to water, health care and education.
It has also caused extensive damage to Palestinian land and property, the agency adds. ...
The organisation stressed that it respected Israel's right to protect itself and the statement did not call for a halt to building altogether.
Israel, denying the Court's authority to hear what it claims is a "political" dispute, will not appear for the hearings but has submitted a written statement. Meanwhile, Israel's own Supreme Court is hearing a petition from Israeli human rights groups which are also protesting the intrusion of the barrier into the West Bank and the disruption and damage it has caused.
Previous posts on the issue of the fence were on January 18, January 22, February 2, and February 9.
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