Israel's security cabinet today approved the route of the first section of the electrical fence being erected between the West Bank and Israel, a defence ministry official said.
The stretch approved will extend 107 kilometres along the northern West Bank, mainly next to Jenin.
The fence, which will also mostly stretch inside the West Bank, will encompass half a dozen Jewish settlements.
Defence ministry Director General Amos Yaron told Israeli public radio that work on the fence, which is aimed at preventing Palestinian suicide bombers from infiltrating Israel, was due to "start in full in a week or two."
He said the first section would be completed "within eight or nine weeks."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer decided last week to erect the fence along the Green Line, which marks Israel's borders before it captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
That was contrary to the wishes of Israel's ultra-right-wing ministers who have lobbied to move the fence further inside the West Bank to not leave settlers isolated.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina slammed Israel for going ahead with the project, describing the fence as "an obstacle to peace."
"The fence which is being erected by Israel is an obstacle to the peace process and the politics of the present seamline, which doesn't follow the 1967 borders, will not lead to peace, nor to security and stability in the area," he said.
AFP