Israel Starts New Barrier Section

Israel began building a new section of its separation barrier in the southern West Bank on Sunday, days after two Palestinian suicide bombers from the area carried out the deadliest attack in nearly a year.

It was the first construction on the barrier in the southern part of the territory, and it revived Palestinian condemnations of the project. The 425-mile barrier is about one-third complete, all of it in the northern or central West Bank.

Israeli officials said the timing of the construction was unrelated to last week's suicide bombing in Beersheba, which killed 16 people. But they conceded that the attack, and a public outcry that followed, made construction more urgent.

Also Sunday, Palestinian gunmen seized local government offices in a Gaza Strip city for several hours, demanding the Palestinian Authority help families made homeless by a recent Israeli military operation. The incident, which ended peacefully, was the latest sign of chaos in Gaza ahead of Israel's planned withdrawal next year.

The separation barrier and Gaza withdrawal are the cornerstones of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan, meant to separate Israelis and Palestinians after four years of violence.

Israel says the barrier is needed to block Palestinian militants from reaching its towns and cities. Palestinians say the structure has caused extreme hardship for tens of thousands of Palestinians by cutting them off from their farmland and services.

The barrier has also drawn widespread international condemnation, and construction has been delayed by a string of legal setbacks. The U.N. world court issued an advisory opinion in July calling the barrier illegal, and the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the government to redraw the route to ease up on the Palestinians.

The original route of the barrier dipped far into the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967, in several sections. Amid the mounting criticism, Israel has moved the route much closer to the "Green Line," the cease-fire line dividing the West Bank and Israel.

Last week's bombing put pressure on the government to speed construction. The barrier hasn't yet reached the Beersheba area, across from the southern edge of the West Bank. The bombers came from Hebron, the main West Bank city in that section.

Israel is also stepping up army patrols in the southern West Bank following the bombing.

Work started Sunday on a 25-mile stretch of the barrier southwest of Hebron when two bulldozers cleared an area in Beit Awwa, a small village close to Israel. Three security guards and an army jeep secured the area.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the construction was not related to the Beersheba attack.

They said they began the work, originally scheduled for 2005, because other sections have been delayed. They said the bombers entered Israel from an area further south.

Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government decided to speed construction of the barrier in June. But he conceded that the bombing "gave a push" to move forward.

"Of course after this terrible bombing, it was decided to speed up even more," he said.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the latest construction.

"This action totally destroys the road map," he said, referring to a moribund U.S.-backed peace plan meant to bring about an independent Palestinian state next year.

The stretch begun Sunday, which is expected to take several months to complete, will run along the Green Line, officials said.

Also Sunday, Palestinian gunmen in Gaza seized the offices of the Khan Younis governor, demanding assistance for families left homeless by an Israeli army operation last week. The militants left the building four hours later, saying they had received "concrete promises" from the Palestinian Authority to address the problem.

Many Palestinians have grown frustrated with the Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, accusing officials of corruption and ineffectiveness. Palestinian factions are also vying for power ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal.

The gunmen Sunday came from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely linked to Arafat's Fatah movement.