Jerusalem, Feb. 21 (Reuters): Israel will begin tearing down part of a barrier being built in the West Bank on the eve of World Court hearings over the legality of the controversial project, officials said today.

Work to remove an 8 km section of the barrier near the West Bank villages of Baka al-Sharqiya and Zeita would begin tomorrow, an Israeli defence ministry spokeswoman Rachel Niedak-Ashkenazi said. She called the timing of the barrier’s removal on the eve of the International Court of Justice deliberations a coincidence.