GAZA CITY, January 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian law experts poured cold water on a UN decision to register Palestinians' complaints on damages caused by the Israeli separation wall, pressing, instead, for the implementation of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on tearing down the barrier and then compensating Palestinians.

“This decision is tantamount to a recognition of the Israeli land grab,” Fathi Al-Waheidy, a law professor of Al Azhar University in Gaza, told IslamOnline.net.

“The UN is telling Palestinians to accept the status quo and rest with compensations,” he added.

The expert underlined the need to immediately implement the Hague-based ICJ ruling on tearing down the Israeli separation wall first and paying compensations to the Palestinians harmed by the barrier.

Israel claims the wall is necessary for maintaining its security.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has began setting up a registry to keep records of reparations complaints by Palestinians over damage caused by the Israeli controversial barrier, which cuts deep into vast swatches of the Palestinian lands.

“The UN registry will only be to record claims of damages by the Palestinians and not to evaluate or pay them,” said the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

He added that the payment would be left to Israel's existing compensation mechanisms.

The UN spokesman said the UN registry is likely to be set up in the West Bank so as to be close to Palestinians filing damage complaints.

Annan had not hired any staff or even found office space for the registry and it was as yet unclear when the registry would start operating.

A Palestinian passes by the separation wall in occupied east Jerusalem. (Reuters)

The Palestinian law expert drew comparison between the proposed registry and Israeli attempts to dodge UN resolution 194 on the Palestinian refugees' right of return.

The resolution clearly stipulates that Palestinian refugees “wishing to return to their homes [inside what is now Israel] and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.”

However, Israel staunchly opposes the right of return and is only showing readiness to negotiate about compensations.

Palestinian lawyer Taleb Ahmed Al-Moghney also warned that the UN move carries grave consequences.

“The separation wall should be dismantled first, before talking about paying compensations for damages.”

He cautioned the Palestinian Authority against accepting any compensations before dismantling the Israeli barrier.

“This would mean that the Palestinian Authority accepted the construction of the wall and render the ICJ verdict meaningless,” Al-Moghney said.

The Israeli separation barrier is a mix of electronic fences and concrete walls of which 120 miles (200 km) have been built.

The 600km-long wall will cut occupied Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank.

It will eventually snake some 900 kilometers (540 miles) along the West Bank and leave even larger swathes of its territory on the Israeli side.