 | |  | | Source: ARIJ GIS Database 2007 |  | | Wall_2007 |  | | Anata |  | | Al Khader |  | | Gilo 300 |  | | Ar Ram |  | | Bethlehem |
The Israeli Segregation Plan in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ)
An overview
In June 2002, the Israeli Government launched its policy of unilateral segregation between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) by establishing a Segregation Zone along the western terrains of the occupied West Bank. The Israeli Segregation Zone covers substantial and significant land areas, rich with natural resources (water aquifers) as it runs along and through the western part of the West Bank from north to south, grabbing the most fertile agricultural lands, isolating Palestinian communities in enclaves, undermining the territorial contiguity between the Palestinian villages and cities, controlling the natural resources, and encapsulating most of the illegal Israeli settlements. At this time, an explanation of the term “Segregation Wall” is in order as it reflects two shapes of structures used by the Israeli Army to complete its territorial separation mission in the OPT: it is either a concrete partition of 8 to 12 metres in height or a multi-line fence. In both cases, the term Segregation Wall applies.
The Segregation Wall that cuts through vast agriculture lands is a type of fence that devastates an area of 40-100 meters in width along its route and includes double-layered fences that are reinforced with barbed wire, trenches, military roads, and footprint-detection tracks, as well as a four-to five-metre-high electrified metal fence, supplied with security surveillance cameras. Other parts of the Segregation Wall, which run through population centres, con¬sist of 8- to 12-metre-high concrete segments that are put together to form an immense solid concrete barrier with military watchtowers lined-up 250 metres apart.
Changes in the route of the Israeli Segregation Wall since 2002
Since Israel sanctioned the construction of the Segregation Wall in 2002, it has been subjected to several changes that aim to benefit the Israeli settlements rather than the Palestinian population. Each change has resulted in an increase in the length of the Wall and an expansion of the segregated area.
According to the latest revised plan of April 2007, the Wall in the West Bank will be 770 km in length, only 80 km of which (10.4 percent of its total length) will be built along the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line). When completed, it will isolate 713 km2 of the West Bank (12.6 percent of the total area - 5,661 km2) in what has come to be known as the Western Segregation Zone - the area that falls between the Wall and the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line). In addition, the Wall will enclose 107 Israeli settlements (including those in East Jerusalem) accommodating 425,000 people, more than 80 percent of the total Israeli settler population in the West Bank (530,000).
The revised map of the Wall that was endorsed in April 2007 was actually published in September 2007 on the Israeli Ministry of Defense website, five months after the endorsement date. It notes some significant changes in areas northwest of the Ramallah Governorate and in the southern parts of the Hebron and Bethlehem governorates (see map below) and increases the number of settlements that fall between the Segregation Wall and the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line). Previous changes that were made to the route of the Wall included some small cosmetic changes but nothing to ameliorate the devastating effects of the Wall on the Palestinians and their land.
A buffer zone along the path of the Segregation Wall
In September 2004, the Israeli Army issued military orders that created a buffer zone averaging 150-200 metres in width on the Palestinian side of the Segregation Zone where new Palestinian construction is prohibited. As a result, an additional 252 km2 of the West Bank area (4.4 percent) will become inaccessible to Palestinians.
The Eastern Segregation Zone
The Israeli Army has consolidated its control over the eastern terrains of the West Bank in what is known as the Eastern Segregation Zone (1,555 km2 - 27.5 percent of the West Bank) through 28 military-controlled checkpoints along 200 km stretching from north to south. After the 1967 War, Israel classified some 925 km2 as part of a “closed military area.” Furthermore, Israel has illegally classified an additional 632 km2 of the Eastern Segregation Zone as “State Land,” which includes the area of the settlements, the military bases, and some parts of the closed military areas. In total, the Segregation Plan appropriates more than 40 percent of the total West Bank area.
The status of the Segregation Wall in the West Bank
• More than 51.6 percent of the total length of the Wall (397 km) has been completed.
• Plans to complete an additional 39.3 percent (303 km) have been confirmed.
• At present, 9.1 percent of the total length of the Wall (70 km) is under construction.
• Approximately 80 km (10.4 percent of the total length) run along the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line).
Palestinian communities affected by the Segregation Wall:
• The boundaries of twenty-nine Palestinian villages, which include a total area of 216.7 km2, will be trapped in enclaves behind the Israeli Segregation Wall; in addition, the boundaries of 138 Palestinian villages, with an approximate area of 554.4 km2, are significantly affected and will be lost behind the path of the Segregation Wall.
• Forty-five Palestinian communities, including more than 43,000 people, will be isolated in the Eastern Segregation Zone.
Environmental Resources Appropriated by the Segregation Wall
• The Western Segregation Zone will isolate 29 wells and 29 springs.
• The Eastern Segregation Zone will isolate 204 wells and 43 springs.
• Up to 192 km2 of agricultural land are isolated within the Western Segregation Zone (6.8 percent of the total agricultural lands in the West Bank) in addition to 844 km2 within the Eastern Segregation Zone (29.9 percent of the total agricultural lands in the West Bank), both of which constitute 18.3 percent of the total West Bank area.
• Up to 246.8 km2 of forestland and areas with shrubs are included in the Western Segregation Zone (10.8 percent of the total forests and open-space areas in the West Bank) and 707.8 km2 in the Eastern Segregation Zone (31.1 percent of the total forests and open-space areas in the West Bank), both of which constitute 16.9 percent of the total area of the West Bank.
The Segregation Wall and illegal Israeli settlements
• The Western Segregation Zone contains 107 Israeli settlements (out of 199 settlements in the West Bank), with a combined population of approximately 425,000 (more than 80 percent of the total Israeli settler population in the West Bank).
• Settlements in the Western Segregation Zone cover an area of 106.7 km2 (15 percent of the Western Segregation Zone).
• Fifty-six settlement outposts are located in the Western Segregation Zone.
• Settlements in the Eastern Segregation Zone cover an area of 38 km2 (2.4 percent of the area of the Zone).
• The Eastern Segregation Zone contains 39 Israeli settlements, with a combined population of 12,550 settlers (2.4 percent of the total settler population).
• Thirty settlement outposts are in the Eastern Segregation Zone. | 
