Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said Sunday that terrorist infiltrations had been reduced to "zero" in areas in which the West Bank separation fence had been built.

Boim was speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting Sunday to discuss construction and evaluation of the barrier.

He said 200 kilometers of the barrier along the Seam Line border with the West Bank had been operating for 10 months. "It has gone from a situation of 600 terrorist operations and criminal activities a year, to zero. It saves lives, and creates quality of life."

The heavily populated Jerusalem section poses the thorniest issues. Work is being carried out on only 14 of the projected 64 kilometers of the Jerusalem section, with most of the rest tied up in legal challenges.

"It's true that in the area of Jerusalem it's more complicated and difficult, but it must be understood that Jerusalem is a focus of operations of terrorist organizations, striking at Jerusalem."

The cabinet is to hear reports on the three major sections of the fence, beginning with the northern sector, which includes areas near the militant focus of Nablus.

In the southern sector, from the Tunnels Road in Bethlehem area, south along the Hebron-Be'er Sheva highway, work is to be completed by the end of next year.

Construction of the central sector, a 106-kilometer stretch from Elkana settlement to Jerusalem, has been stalled by demonstrations and petitions to the High Court of Justice over the route, which in many areas cuts eastward from the pre-1967 war Green Line border, effectively placing many Palestinians and much of their land on the "Israel" side of the fence.

Boim conceded that the fence "does weigh on some of the population. We are not ignoring this." But he said that walls had been built in some areas in order to avoid demolishing houses, because a fence would require a large area to be cleared on the West Bank side.