'Devastating' Israeli Wall: UN

The UN report said the barrier cuts off thousands of Palestinians from their jobs, land or key services. (Reuters)

"The Barrier compounds the fragmentation of the West Bank by creating non-contiguous enclaves of Palestinian communities and territory, which are isolated from each other and from the remainder of the West Bank," said the UN report released on Thursday, July 10.

The UN report, compiled by the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCH) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said the wall swallows vast swathes of Palestinian lands.

"The majority of the route, approximately 87%, runs inside the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), rather than along the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line).

It said the wall isolates nearly 9.8 percent of the West Bank, including Al-Quds.

"Approximately 35,000 West Bank Palestinians will be located between the Barrier and the Green Line, in addition to the majority of the approximately 250,000 residents of Al-Quds."

The UN report said the barrier cuts off thousands of Palestinians from their jobs, land or key services.

"Health and education services are generally located on the east, or ‘Palestinian’ side, of the Barrier, so children, patients and workers have to pass through gates to reach schools, medical facilities and workplaces and to maintain family and social relations."

The UN report was released to mark the fourth anniversary of a ruling by the International Court of Justice branding the 900 kilometers (540 miles) steel and concrete wall as illegal.

After the ICJ resolution, the UN General Assembly has asked Israel to tear it down and compensate the Palestinians affected.

But Israel is defiantly pressing ahead with the construction under the pretext of protecting Jewish settlements, also considered illegal under UN resolutions.

Devastating

The UN report cited the devastating impact of the Israeli wall in the northern city of Qalqilya.

"Since completion of the Barrier in mid-2003, Qalqiliya City has been surrounded on its northern, western and southern sides by a concrete wall and a system of electronic fences, trenches and patrol roads.

"Access in and out is only possible through a narrow ‘bottleneck’ opening on the eastern side of the city," it added.

The UN said that the Israeli barrier severely impacted the economic situation in the city.

"The Barrier has had a negative impact on the living conditions of the population, primarily on two groups.

"The first consists of those who own or used to work the land which is now located in the ‘closed area’ between the Barrier and the Green Line, and whose access is now limited by the permit and gate restrictions described in this report.

"The other consists of workers who were previously informally employed within Israel, mainly in the construction sector, and who have lost access to their places of work."

The report also cited the impact of the agriculture life in the Salfit governorate in the West Bank.

"Close to 100 square kilometers, almost half of the governorate land area, will be effectively cut off on the ‘Israeli’ side of the Barrier.

"As a result, the geographical contiguity of the governorate will be disrupted and its territory dissected into three disconnected pockets: north, south and west undermining access to land, water resources and markets."

The UN report also said that the Israeli wall has caused to turn the agricultural village of Jayyus into a food-aid recipient.

"Reduced opportunity for cultivation has led to the dismantling of greenhouses, and a change to lower-maintenance but lower-yield crops.

"As a result, there is increased unemployment, evidence of displacement especially among young men, and the transformation of a community which formerly exported food to a recipient of food aid."

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