Background / suicide bombs fuel pressure to fence off W. Bank

Two Palestinian suicide bombs in as many days have force-fed Israeli public support for fencing off the West Bank from the eastern border of the Jewish state, despite bitter opposition by settlers who fear a security fence may well be recognized in the future as the permanent border of an independent Palestine.

Responding to desperate pleas from leaders of Israeli towns and villages along the seam line [also known as the Green Line, Israel's pre-1967 border with the West Bank], Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer Monday set a six-month deadline for the erection of a long series of fences, electronic detection devices and other obstructions meant to foil the entry of suicide bombers and other militants into Israel proper.

At particularly sensitive points, the fence may be a solid, thick wall as much as eight meters, or 26 feet, tall.