The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has published a Special Focus document, “The Humanitarian Impact of the Barrier since the International Court of Justice Opinion,” dated July 2007.
Three years ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion stating that the route of Israel's Barrier in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its associated permit and gate regime, constitute a serious breach of international law. In this Special Focus, OCHA looks at several communities in the northern West Bank that have been severed by the Barrier from their neighboring communities, from agricultural lands and livelihoods.
This link will take you to the full document (eight pages): http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ICJ3_Special_Focus_July2007.pdf
The report looks at Palestinian livelihoods and fabric of life in the closed areas of the barrier. In October 2003, the area between the Barrier and the Green Line in the northern West Bank was declared closed by military order and all Palestinians living there or wanting to enter were required to obtain a permit from the Israeli authorities.
Fifteen Palestinian communities are enclosed in these areas. They are physically separated by the Barrier from the rest of the West Bank and the majority of the people require ‘long term’ or ‘permanent resident’ permits to continue to reside in their homes on their lands.
Approximately 50,000 Palestinians will be located between the Barrier and the Green Line when construction is completed.
In 2006, an OCHA and UNRWA survey of 57 communities impacted by the Barrier in the northern West Bank, found that 94 individuals - mostly women and children - had not received these ‘permanent resident’ permits, resulting in their inability to leave their own community for fear of not being allowed back.
The report is full of new maps and color pictures as well as careful, thorough analysis of the implications of the separation barrier.
Contact information:
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Mac House
P.O. Box 38712
Jerusalem
Tel:++ 972-2-5829962/5853
email: ochaopt@un.org
www.ochaopt.org
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