High Court rejects petition against security zone

The High Court of Justice rejected on Thursday a petition by four Palestinian villages in northern Samaria, who were protesting the defense establishment's decision to set up a special security zone around the Avnei Hefetz and Einav settlements to prevent terrorist infiltrators. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch rejected the claim that setting up the military zone was illegal, saying that the legality of Israeli settlers living in the area was not being ruled on at present, and that it was the state's obligation to protect the local Israeli citizens.