Israel's top court ruled today the state had a right to build a barrier on occupied West Bank land to effectively reject a World Court ruling that the project was illegal.
But the High Court of Justice said Israel only had the right to build sections of the barrier where the army had established security reasons for its construction.
Israel had already said it would not abide by the World Court's ruling last year and has continued erecting the planned 600-kilometre network of fences and concrete barricades, much of it on territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The High Court ruled in June last year that the barrier was legal but ordered some parts rerouted to reduce Palestinian hardship.
Israel says the barrier keeps out Palestinian suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a land grab, a complaint that the World Court endorsed in a 2004 ruling. Israel boycotted the hearings at the Hague, accusing the World Court panel of bias.
The Israeli High Court said the World Court had ruled without full access to the facts. "The main difference between the legal conclusions stems from the difference in the factual basis laid before the court," it said.