Palestinian residents woke up to face the total closure of their territories for the Jewish holiday, raising tension already high due to the erection of a controversial security wall and Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. Israel also appeared determined Friday to extend the separation wall which will cut deep into the West Bank despite criticism from its US ally and fierce condemnation from the Palestinians. A first section of the barrier, which is aimed at preventing infiltrations by Palestinians fighters, was completed in July and the Israeli cabinet has just approved the phased construction of the next part. The separate horseshoe-shaped fences will be erected around the settlements which will be linked later up to the main barrier, meaning a de facto annexing of large swathes of land or splitting Palestinian villages in two. According to B'Tselem, the main Israeli group monitoring human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, some 11,000 Palestinians will end up on the Israeli side of the barrier, while some 72,000 will be surrounded by fences on both sides. In addition, the estimated 250,000 Palestinians who live in east Jerusalem will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank. The Palestinian group Hamas vowed Friday that the barrier would not put a stop to its attacks, including suicide bombings. "The wall built by Israel will not stop the operations and we will succeed in breaching it," the Islamic group's representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told hundreds of supporters at this southern Palestinian refugee camp. Washington, has threatened economic sanctions over the barrier, which it fears will complicate negotiations on the Palestinian state it has committed itself to. In another defiant move which Washington has promised to punish by deducting money from huge loan guarantees for Israel, Sharon's government announced that tenders had been issued for building more than 550 new homes in West Bank Jewish settlements. Russia also called on Israel Friday to stop the construction of its "security barrier" in Palestinian territory and halt the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemned the Israeli decisions, describing the barrier as the "wall of racism" while other Palestinians officials also denounced both decisions as an Israeli attempt to sabotage peace efforts and the two-state vision promoted by Washington. But the Palestinians lack a strong voice with the United States: prime minister-designate Ahmed Qorei is still struggling to form his new government. Qorei, again postponed the official presentation of the new cabinet line-up, which is expected to be announced on Wednesday and include only half the number of ministers initially planned. According to parliamentary sources, the repeated delays were caused by Qorei's attempts to seek US and Israeli guarantees over the fate of Arafat and differences within his own Fatah party over the composition of the government. In comments published Friday, Qorei hinted that the campaign against the West Bank barrier would be central to his government's action. He painted a bleak picture of peace prospects if Israel went ahead with its fence plans. "The Israeli government decision to continue building this wall shows it is not serious in its quest for a peaceful settlement and intends to unilaterally determine borders and prevent the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. "Without the creation, within the June 4 (1967) borders, of a geographically continuous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, there will be no solution with the Israelis," said the premier. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Israel's controversial security wall has stoked tensions in the West Bank as Palestinian residents face the closure of their territories for the Jewish holiday. (AFP/Hrvoje Polan)