AL QUDS: Israeli human rights groups on Monday asked the country's supreme court to stop the construction of a vast "security fence" through the West Bank, on the grounds that it breaches international and Israeli law and creates a form of apartheid.

They argued that Ariel Sharon's government had spun a legal web to justify the "intolerable, illegal and immoral" barrier. The state responded by acknowledging that the steel and concrete wall had disrupted the lives of many Palestinians. It surrounds some villages and cuts tens of thousands of people off from their land, jobs and schools.

The state said it would make changes to the route to reduce their hardship, but defended the 600km fence, about a quarter of which has been completed, as a legal and necessary defence against suicide bombers.

Monday's hearing came two weeks before the international court of justice at The Hague is scheduled to judge a UN challenge to the barrier. Many of the same arguments are expected to be heard, although the Israeli government has yet to announce whether it will participate in The Hague hearings, after submitting a brief, backed by the US, Britain and the EU, claiming that the world court does not have jurisdiction in a "political" case.

One of the human rights groups at the Israeli supreme court, the Centre for the Defence of the Individual (HaMoked), argued that the government's declarations and military orders given for the construction of the fence breached international laws governing occupied land, and Israeli legislation, because of the unnecessary hardship imposed on Palestinians.

"The physical injury to the inhabitants of the enclaves goes hand in hand with the corruption of the law designed to administer the seam zone (1967 border)," it said.

"The web of the declaration and the orders has spun, in the seam zone, a legal apartheid which is intolerable, illegal and immoral. In other words, the discriminatory and oppressive topographical structure stands upon a shameful, normative infrastructure, unprecedented in Israeli law."

The court also heard a petition from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, demanding that the military drop a system of permits controlling movement through the fence of thousands of Palestinians trying to get access to their homes or land.

The government's lawyer, Michael Blass, told the court that the barrier had imposed hardship on Palestinians, but said life was also difficult for people living in areas hit by suicide bombers.

"Indeed, the life of the Palestinians living along the seam line is not easy," he said. "However it must not be forgotten that life on Gaza Road, in Jerusalem, is not easy either. Nor is it easy to conduct a normal lifestyle in the Maxim or Matza restaurants in Haifa. Sipping a cup of coffee in Moment cafe in Jerusalem can cost you your life."

A lawyer for HaMoked, Avigdor Feldman, said that the legal battle had already forced concessions from the government, irrespective of whether the group won the case.

"The government admitted the fence is causing harm," he said. "It didn't commit itself to anything concrete, but this admission that there are some problems is an improvement.

"Without this case, without The Hague proceedings, without the international pressure, nothing would happen because the Israeli government really doesn't care about the Palestinian population."

It was unclear whether the supreme court would rule before the case is heard at The Hague. Israel's chief justice, Aharon Barak, said he might refer it to a wider panel of judges, as frequently happens with politically sensitive issues, which would delay a decision.

The Israeli foreign ministry has geared up for the international public relations battle surrounding the case at The Hague by releasing shocking video footage of the most recent suicide bombing that killed 11 people. The film shows body parts scattered on the ground.

"We decided this was the only way to bring our message to the world," a ministry spokesman said. -Dawn/The Guardian News Service.