Jerusalem ? Israel announced plans Monday for 500 new housing units in the West Bank, after an apparent U.S. policy shift that has infuriated the Palestinians. The Palestinians oppose all Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, lands where they hope to establish an independent state.

And in the latest sign of trouble for Israel’s contentious West Bank barrier, officials said construction of a large section would be significantly delayed because of a court ruling highlighting the hardships the structure has imposed on Palestinians.

The barrier and settlement construction are linked to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “disengagement” plan to separate Israel from the Palestinians.

The plan includes a full withdrawal from Gaza next year. At the same time, Sharon wants to strengthen large blocs of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He says the moves will boost Israel’s security and preserve its Jewish majority.

The barrier is a centerpiece of the disengagement plan. Israel says the structure, which is about one-quarter complete, is meant to keep Palestinian suicide bombers from entering the country.

But sections would stretch into the West Bank, separating tens of thousands of Palestinians from jobs, hospitals and farmlands. The Palestinians say the structure is an illegal attempt to prevent them from creating a viable independent state.

The barrier has suffered a string of legal setbacks in recent months, putting pressure on Israel to move the route closer to its 1967 frontier. Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.

In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered military planners to redraw the route of a planned 20-mile stretch near Jerusalem, saying the original plans would cause too much hardship on local Palestinians.

The precedent-setting decision forced Israel’s defense establishment to re-examine other sections of the barrier.

As a result of that review, Dany Tirza, one of the barrier’s chief planners, told lawmakers Monday that Israel would make changes to 12 places along a roughly 60-mile stretch from the Jewish settlement of Elkana to Jerusalem.