Israel ends curfew on Palestinian town

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Israeli army lifted on Tuesday a curfew it imposed last week on the Palestinian town of Nilin, where violent protests had erupted against Israel's West Bank barrier.

"It was lifted early this morning," a military spokeswoman said.

The town's mayor confirmed the curfew, which was clamped on Nilin on Friday after violence erupted during protests at a barrier construction site, had ended and said soldiers had pulled out.

"We woke up and luckily we did not see their presence in all of the town and now we are inspecting the damage they have inflicted on us," Mayor Ayman Nafi told Reuters by telephone.

On Monday, Israeli soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades, wounding at least three Palestinians in Nilin as they attempted to stifle protests against the barrier Israel is construction in the occupied West Bank, residents said.

"There were discussions between the villagers and the army commanders and they decided to lift the curfew," the military spokeswoman said. "The villagers promised not to protest and to keep the village quiet."

Israel says the network of razor-wire fences and concrete barricades helps keep out Palestinian suicide bombers who killed nearly 300 Israelis in the three years between the start of an uprising in 2000 and the beginning of work on the project.

Palestinians say the barrier, which loops around Jewish settlements that dot the occupied territory, cutting off Palestinian villages from swathes of agricultural fields, is a land grab that could deny them a contiguous and viable state.

Four years ago this week, the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague ruled that construction of the 720-km (430-mile) barrier on occupied land was illegal. The United Nations says Israel has ignored that non-binding ruling.

The Israeli army said eight security personnel and two workers have been hurt in protests in the Nilin area over the past month.

The town of 5,000 lies some 20 km (12 miles) east of Tel Aviv.

(Additional reporting by Avida Landau in Jerusalem, Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Editing by Avida Landau)