UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29: One day after Israel vowed to speed up construction of its controversial West Bank barrier, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday denounced it as a setback to peace.

In a report to the UN General Assembly, Kofi Annan said the 600-kilometre barrier was seriously harming the Palestinian people and undercutting hopes for the two-state Middle East peace plan backed by the United Nations.

Mr Annan said he recognized Israel’s “right and duty” to protect its people but added: “That duty should not be carried out in a way that is in contradiction to international law.”

Parts of the barrier — a combination of walls, fences, trenches and barbed wire — slash into the West Bank, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians cut off from their jobs, farms, hospitals and schools.

Mr Annan said Israel was violating a non-binding resolution passed last month by the assembly that demanded an immediate halt to construction, and that the barrier was hurting the chances of the roadmap.

“When each party should be making good-faith confidence-building gestures, the barrier’s construction in the West Bank cannot... be seen as anything but a deeply counterproductive act,” he said.

The Israeli cabinet last year approved the barrier, which the Palestinians claim will pre-determine the borders of any future independent state. Israel says the wall is necessary because of continuing Palestinian attacks.

General Assembly resolutions have no legal force, and Israel had already announced it would ignore last month’s measure. The United States earlier vetoed a council resolution, which is binding, making the barrier illegal.

Israel has had strained relations with the United Nations since seizing Palestinian land in the 1967 war, and on Friday lashed out at the criticism of its actions.—AFP