(Reuters/New York Times) The Hague-based World Court will hold three days of hearings beginning on Monday on the legality of Israel's West Bank security barrier. Israeli officials cite Sunday's Palestinian suicide bombing that killed eight people on a crowded Jerusalem bus as a grim example of why they must keep up construction of a barrier they say has already thwarted dozens of such attacks. The Israeli government has refused to attend the hearings, calling the case political and beyond the court's jurisdiction. The U.S., Britain, the EU, and many Western countries are joining Israel in shunning the hearings.
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