DEIR GHSUN, WEST BANK - Israeli troops fired teargas at stone-throwing Palestinians on Monday as protests flared along Israel's West Bank barrier and the World Court began hearings on the disputed strip of fences and walls.
It was the biggest wave of demonstrations against Israel's tightening grip on the West Bank for months and echoed the early days of the Palestinian popular uprising launched in 2000.
"We say to the judges in The Hague: Listen to what the Palestinian people have to say. They won't compromise on their rights," Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told protesters at the wall abutting his home town Abu Dis just before clashes broke out.
Palestinians vowed a "Day of Rage" near the 180km of the barrier built so far to coincide with the start of the World Court hearings in The Hague on whether the structure is illegal and should be torn down.
Serpentine sections of the barrier, due to run more than 700km, have cut off tens of thousands of Palestinians from markets, services, neighbouring villages and farmland.
Israelis say it is meant to stop suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a grab for land they want for a state.
Palestinians chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as Israeli soldiers drove them back with teargas from a section of razor-tipped fence running past the village of Deir Ghsun, near Tulkarm. Scores of Palestinians were overcome by the gas and collapsed, while others threw stones at the soldiers.
Israeli military sources said hundreds of Palestinians shook the fence and threw projectiles at soldiers. "We reacted with non-lethal means and have received no reports of casualties," said one source.
Clashes also erupted at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem when some 2,000 Palestinians marched there to protest against Israeli plans to enclose the Jewish shrine within the barrier.
In Qalqilya, 5000 demonstrators rallied against the 8m wall that encircles their city.
"For over a year the wall has cut me off from my farm plot. Palestinians are helpless. Israel is strong. Israel has influence over the world and we don't expect a positive result from the World Court," said Ahmed Berwish, 45, in Qalqilya.
Israel says the barrier is a temporary security measure, not a bid to redraw borders, and shunned the hearing in The Hague, saying the UN tribunal had no right to give its opinion.
Hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators rallied outside the World Court, chanting prayers, waving Israeli flags and banners reading "Stop terrorism, start negotiation" and "When terrorism stops, the fence falls".
They bore a montage of colour photos of hundreds of suicide bombing victims. The skeleton of a Jerusalem bus shredded in a January 29 suicide bombing was exhibited outside the court, but was removed before a rally by Palestinians.
"We have to keep the murderers away from the people who want to make a decent living," said Carrie Devorah, sister of one of the 11 Israelis killed in that attack.
Several hundred Palestinian and European demonstrators rallied later outside the court's Peace Palace, crying "The wall must fall" and "No justice, no peace".
Around 1500 students and dozens of armed militants marched through the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in Lebanon and burned a model of the barrier.
About 200 people protested against the barrier in the Egyptian capital Cairo, and about 50 Palestinians and Syrians staged a protest near the EU mission in Damascus.
