JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians can use a high-traffic road in the West Bank connecting Jerusalem with Modiin, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the court agreed with a petition filed by Palestinians living in six towns and villages along the route of Highway 443, which connects Jerusalem with Modiin and several Jewish towns in the West Bank is a popular alternative route for travel between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
“The judges ruled today that the army was operating outside the boundaries of its authority by prohibiting Palestinians from traveling on 443. We are hopeful that the High Court’s decision will put an end to West Bank separation roads and to the shameful decision to ban Palestinians from using a West Bank road that was paved on their lands and for their own use,” said attorney Limor Yehuda from Association for Civil Rights in Israe, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Palestinian plaintiffs.
The land for the nearly 14-mile stretch of highway was expropriated from Palestinian villages, according to reports. The court gave the army five months to implement the ruling.
The road built in the 1980s was closed to Palestinian traffic in October 2000 after the launching of the second Palestinian intifada.
Last week, the army found a homemade bomb set along the road.
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