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Tel Aviv, Monday (AFP)

Israel officially kicked off work on a controversial fence along the West Bank aimed at thwarting would-be suicide bombers amid fears Palestinian militants planned to step up their attacks.

Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer made a brief inspection tour to launch the first stage of the project in northern Israel, a day after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Palestinian attack on the Gaza Strip.

The fence has drawn bitter criticism from both Palestinians and right-wing Israelis and further raised tensions in the region with all eyes on Washington awaiting the latest US strategy for Middle East peace.

Work began on the first 120 kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the barrier aimed at cutting Israel off from the northern West Bank towns of Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya, considered hotbeds of Palestinian militancy.

"The terrorist attacks that have been haunting Israel have obliged us to build a continuous obstacle to stop the infiltration of terrorists into Israel," Ben Eliezer told reporters after visiting the worksite near the town of Kfar Salem.

But as the long-delayed project finally got off the ground, the National Religious Party, on the influential right-wing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, demanded it be shut down at a stormy cabinet meeting Sunday.

The NRP fears the fence will become the acknowledged border between Israel and a future Palestinian state, pre-empting eventual negotiations and leaving Jewish settlers on the West Bank isolated

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