BEIT JALA, (West Bank), June 30: Israeli soldiers shut down a liaison office with the Palestinians for the Bethlehem region on Sunday, ordering the staff out and locking the office, officials said.

Soldiers entered the building in Beit Jala where Israelis and Palestinians share the offices, ordered between eight and 10 Palestinian staff out, locked the room and left with the keys, a photographer at the scene said.

The Israelis also confiscated the furniture and filing cabinets and removed two Palestinian flags that flew over the building, he added.

Palestinian security sources later said the soldiers raised the Israeli flag on the building.

AL QUDS FENCE: Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, officially opened work on a fence on the edge of Al Quds that the government says will provide greater protection for the disputed city.

The controversial security barrier is aimed at thwarting would-be suicide bombers from infiltrating Israel from the West Bank, and the first leg of the construction kicked off on June 16 in northern Israel.

“This security fence aims to guarantee the security of the people who live in Gilo,” Ben Eliezer told reporters.—AFP