Jerusalem ? Army mapmakers presented new options Tuesday for Israel’s West Bank barrier, moving it closer to Israel and aiming to minimize hardships for Palestinians.

The world court has denounced the barrier; the government said it was responding to an Israeli court order.

Also Tuesday, the opposition Labor Party approved formal talks to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government, a party official said. Such an alliance would strongly boost chances of Sharon’s Gaza withdrawal plan. Sharon lost his parliamentary majority over the pullout proposal.

Early today, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a metal workshop in Gaza City, sparking a fire and sending plumes of black smoke over the town, residents said. No casualties were reported.

The Israeli military said the building contained several workshops where Hamas and other militant groups made rockets, which are often fired at Jewish settlements in Gaza and Israeli towns just outside the territory.

The military put forth options for changing the West Bank barrier route in a meeting between U.S. envoys Elliot Abrams and Steve Hadley and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, officials said.

Two weeks ago, Israel’s Supreme Court said the separation barrier could be built to keep out Palestinian attackers, but its planned path violated international law and should be redrawn to ease the lives of Palestinians.

“We’re looking at ways to bring the fence closer to the Green Line,” Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir said, referring to Israel’s pre-1967 Mideast War frontier with the West Bank.

The barrier is about one-quarter completed, and Israel said it already had contributed to a reduction in Palestinian attacks. During four years of conflict, hundreds of Israelis have been killed in bombings by Palestinians who infiltrated from the West Bank.

Last week, the International Court of Justice issued a nonbinding ruling declaring the barrier illegal and saying it must be dismantled.

Israel rejected the ruling. Sharon said Israel would continue to build the planned 425-mile complex of concrete walls, wire fences and trenches.

“What counts is the decision of the Supreme Court of the state of Israel,” Meir said.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, said Israel must build the barrier entirely on its territory, and that any changes falling short of that are unacceptable.

Palestinians say the planned route, which in places dips deep into the West Bank, amounts to a land grab.

In its ruling, the Israeli high court said the barrier should not run next to Palestinian villages or separate Palestinians from their fields and schools.