JERUSALEM, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have decided to adjust the route of the security fence near Jerusalem so as not to encroach Palestinian villages, the State Prosecution said Thursday.

    The government decision demands that the fence near Ma'aleh Adumim, a large settlement on the east of Jerusalem, be moved westward to allow 1,000 acres (about 405 hectares) of Palestinian land to remain unseparated, according to Israeli media reports.

    The prosecution submitted the decision to the Supreme Court, in response to petitions filed by residents of nearby Arab villages Abu Dis and al-Azaria, who claimed that the original route encroaches on their freedom of movement and robs them of their land, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported.

    While recognizing the necessity of erecting a security barrier, the Council for Peace and Security, a voluntary association of national security experts which joined the petitions informally last year, said the fence unfortunately does not satisfy the security needs.

    "The daily needs of the Palestinians and the security needs of the Israelis clash throughout the entire region. We can not ignore the fact that the current route turns Abu Dis and al-Azaria into a surrounded enclave that is detached from east Jerusalem and the northern West Bank," local news service Ynet quoted the council assaying in an affidavit.

    Israel claims that the construction of the security barrier is aimed at preventing infiltrations of militants, while many Palestinians insists that the fence severs them from their own land and that the construction project amounts to a land grab.

    Also on Thursday, nine protestors were lightly wounded when Israeli troops fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of activists who were demonstrating against the separation fence near the West Bank village of Na'alin, a place frequented with demonstrations.