The Bush administration is engaged in "intense discussions" about how to respond to the barrier Israel is building in and around Palestinian territory to prevent suicide attacks, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published today.
He told The Washington Postthe administration, unhappy with the construction of the barrier Israel calls a security fence - was reviewing the construction process, where it was being built and what US obligations were under the law, amongother issues.
"If you want to put a fence on something that is arecognized border, the Green Line (which separated Israel andthe West Bank before 1967), then put a fence on your propertyline," Powell told the newspaper.
"But the more you intrude in Palestinian areas and the moreit looks like it could be contiguous intrusion around largesections of Palestinian land that would prejudge subsequentnegotiations as to what a Palestinian state may look like,that's a problem," he said.
Israel has said the barrier was meant to prevent attacks byPalestinian suicide bombers, but another struck ata crowded Haifa beach restaurant today, killing at least 18 peopleand wounding dozens.
A State Department spokeswoman had no immediate comment onthe latest attack.
The United States could subtract barrier construction costsfrom US loan guarantees to Israel, something theadministration has indicated it would do for settlementsIsraelis are building in Palestinian territory.