Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon has ordered a cut of 170 km to the route of Israel's controversial West Bank barrier, a senior political source said this evening.
News of the proposed change to the planned route of the 720 km strip of wire and concrete broke on the eve of a visit by US envoys to discuss Mr Mr Sharon's plan for unilateral steps to separate from the Palestinians if peace talks fail.
Israel has completed over 180 km of the barrier, which it says it needs to keep out suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a land grab that would deny them a viable state by looping deep into the West Bank around Jewish settlements.
The latest changes would bring the barrier nearer the "Green Line" that formed the boundary before Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War. Adjustments to the route have been suggested before, but none so big.
Palestinians said they would still not go far enough.
The political source said Sharon had given instructions to the Defence Ministry, which is building the barrier, but that any changes to the route would still face government approval.