| United Nations | A/50/262-E/1995/59 |
General Assembly
Economic and Social Council
Distr. GENERAL
3 July 1995
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Fiftieth session Substantive session of 1995
Item 12 of the preliminary list* Item 8 of the provisional
REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC AND agenda**
SOCIAL COUNCIL
PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN AND OTHER ARAB TERRITORIES
Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli settlements
on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and on the Arab
population of the Syrian Golan
Note by the Secretary-General
In its resolution 1994/45 of 29 July 1994, entitled "Economic and social
repercussions of the Israeli settlements on the Palestinian people in the
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and on the
Arab population of the Syrian Golan", the Economic and Social Council
requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its
fiftieth session, through the Council, a report on the implementation of
the resolution. The General Assembly, in its resolution 49/32 of 19
December 1994, repeated that request. The Secretary-General has the honour
to submit to the members of the Assembly and the Council the annexed
report, covering the period from April 1994 to March 1995, which was
prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
* A/50/50/Rev.1.
** E/1995/100.
95-19952 (E) 140795/...
*9519952*
ANNEX
Economic and social consequences of the establishment
of settlements by Israel in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and the
Syrian Golan
Report prepared by the Economic and Social Commission
for Western Asia
1. The establishment of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian and other
Arab territories occupied since 1967 has been the subject of various
resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. In its
resolution 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, the Security Council determined
that the Israeli policy and practice of establishing settlements in those
territories had no legal validity and constituted a serious obstruction to
achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. That
position was reaffirmed unanimously in Security Council resolution 465
(1980) of 1 March 1980, in the preamble of which the Council took into
account the need to consider measures for the impartial protection of
private and public land and property, and water resources, and affirmed the
applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, 1/ to the Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem. In 1980,
the International Labour Conference also expressed concern regarding the
establishment of settlements and called for an end to that policy, as well
as the dismantling of existing settlements.
2. At its forty-ninth session, in 1994, the General Assembly, having
considered the reports of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other
Arabs of the Occupied Territories (A/49/67, A/49/172 and A/49/511), adopted
resolution 49/36 of 9 December 1994, in which, inter alia, it expressed its
concern about the continued violation of the human rights of the
Palestinian people by Israel and reaffirmed in particular that the Israeli
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and
the other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, were illegal and
an obstacle to a comprehensive settlement.
3. The General Assembly, in its resolution 49/132 of 19 December 1994,
took note of the note by the Secretary-General on the economic and social
consequences of the establishment of settlements by Israel in the
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and the
Syrian Golan (A/49/169-E/1994/73); recognized the economic and social
repercussions of the Israeli settlements on the Palestinian people in the
Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem,
and on the Arab population of the Syrian Golan; reaffirmed the inalienable
right of the Palestinian people and the population of the Syrian Golan to
their natural and all other economic resources, and regarded any
infringement thereof as being illegal; and requested the Secretary-General
to submit to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session, through the
Economic and Social Council, a report on the progress made in the
implementation of the resolution. The present report is submitted in
response to that resolution.
4. The building of settlements began shortly after the Six Day War in
1967, with the first being established in the Syrian Golan. Since that
time, that policy has been developed more or less intensively and has
accelerated since the beginning of 1990. 2/ Financial and tax incentives
offered by the Government encourage settlers to make their homes in the
occupied territories.
5. The signature on 13 September 1993 by the Government of Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization of the Declaration of Principles on
Interim Self-Government Arrangements (A/48/486-S/26560, annex) was a
landmark in the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Declaration
states in its article I that the aim of the Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations is "to establish a Palestinian Interim Self-Government
Authority, the elected Council ... for the Palestinian people in the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip, for a transitional period not exceeding five
years, leading to a permanent settlement based on Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973)". The Declaration deferred
discussion of the issue of settlements until the negotiations on permanent
status, which should start not later than the beginning of the third year
of the interim period, i.e., in May 1996.
6. On 4 May 1994, the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization concluded an agreement in Cairo for the implementation of the
Declaration of Principles signed in September 1993 (A/49/180-S/1994/727,
annex). Soon after the Cairo agreement, the Israeli army completed its
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but left some forces in the area
surrounding 16 Israeli settlements occupied by approximately 4,000
settlers.
7. In July 1992, the Prime Minister of Israel announced a freeze on
official settlement activities. During the period under review, the Prime
Minister has continued to assert his Government's commitment to the freeze.
At a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee in
January 1995 he said: "We stand by our obligation that no building will
take place outside Israeli sovereign territory except for cases where it is
necessary in live settlements, and the building of 10,000 housing units
which had already been started". 3/
8. Despite such declarations, official and private settlement activity in
the occupied Palestinian territories has continued. International concern
about the issue was demonstrated by the debate convened in the Security
Council on 28 February 1995, in response to a letter dated 22 February from
the Permanent Representative of Djibouti addressed to the President of the
Security Council (S/1995/151).
9. During that debate, the Permanent Observer for Palestine stated that
Israeli settlements had been established on occupied Palestinian lands,
including Jerusalem, since 1967, in violation of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. In numerous resolutions, the General Assembly and the Security
Council had reaffirmed the applicability of the Convention to all the
territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and called on Israel, the
occupying Power, to abide by its provisions. Nevertheless, settlement
activity had continued until the present date, resulting in the existence
of approximately 140 settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,
inhabited by approximately 300,000 settlers, including those in East
Jerusalem. The Permanent Observer stated that a continuation of Israeli
settlement policy could not be reconciled with seeking to move forward in
the peace process. While the Declaration of Principles led to the
postponement of negotiations on a number of important issues, including
settlements, this did not mean any change in the Palestinian or
international community's position on the status of the settlements, which
were illegal and constituted a real obstacle to the achievement of a
comprehensive peace.
10. The Permanent Representative of Israel prefaced his remarks by stating
that the debate in the Security Council was incompatible with the
agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel to
resolve all outstanding permanent status issues, such as settlements and
Jerusalem, in direct and bilateral negotiations. In these same agreements,
the Palestine Liberation Organization had committed itself to settling
these issues at a specific time, in the negotiations on permanent status,
at the final stage of the process. The Permanent Representative of Israel
stated that, at the time of its formation in July 1992, the present
Government of Israel substantially changed Israel's settlement policy.
This was not done because of any external pressure or legal claims, and the
new policy was adopted long before the agreements with the Palestine
Liberation Organization. Israel had not established any new settlements in
the occupied territories since that time nor would it in the future. The
Government had stopped allocating public resources to support the extension
of existing settlements, and no land had been confiscated to establish new
ones.
11. The Israeli Prime Minister, in a written reply to a question addressed
to him by the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Israeli
Parliament (Knesset), stated that, since the signing of the Declaration of
Principles, the Israeli army had closed off areas totalling 38,000 dunums
Dunum is a measurement that equals approximately 1,000 m2. in the West Bank
for the purpose of expanding its training grounds. The army also
expropriated 750 dunums in order to establish camps and local command
centres and 2,560 dunums to build six military roads. 4/ In the Gaza
Strip, moreover, from the signing of the Declaration to the end of 1994,
the Israeli army expropriated 71 dunums, which it used for establishing
military positions. 5/
12. According to a report prepared by an expert and based on sources in
the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank and documents published
by that Administration, since the 1991 Madrid Conference, the Israeli
authorities have expropriated some 12,000 dunums on the pretext of setting
up nature preserves. The report notes that most of the quarries and stone-
crushing mills established in the West Bank since the Oslo Agreement are
situated in the western part near the Green Line, which indicates that
there is a plan to shift the Line east of its present location in order to
annex additional West Bank land. The report indicates that the land
expropriated for that purpose comprised a total area of 16,733 dunums. On
23 December 1993, building plan No. 16/52 was filed, which included 2,677
dunums of land belonging to Tarkumiye, Dura and Khirbet Jamrura in the
Hebron region. On 11 August 1994, building plan No. 24/55 was filed for a
digging and stone-cutting project covering an area of 9,685 dunums in the
Tulkarm region. On 26 August 1994, building plan No. 29/52 was filed for
the Telem quarry covering an area of 1,744 dunums and situated on lands
belonging to Dhahiriyya and Dura in Hebron. The enterprises situated in
the eastern portion of the West Bank, moreover, pose a real threat to the
agricultural lands in the Jordan Valley region, owing to the fact that they
produce environmental pollution, especially since the prevailing winds in
the region are from the west throughout the year. These enterprises
include the Mabsur Basa'il quarry, situated on land belonging to the
village of Majdal Bani Fadil, for which the related building plan No. 10/52
was filed on 31 March 1994 and which covers an area of 127 dunums; and the
Kawkab al-Sabah stone-grinding enterprise, covering 2,500 dunums on land of
Kafr Malik, for which the building plan was filed on 20 May 1994. 6/
13. The Israeli authorities issued a military decree carrying the number
93/4 on Saturday, 30 July 1994, 7/ closing an area of approximately 12,000
dunums of agricultural land in the Jiftlik/Jordan Valley district, in the
pretext of security reasons, forbidding Palestinian inhabitants and farmers
to enter their lands for a period of 10 months (from September 1994 to June
1995), precisely the period during which winter crops are grown in that
warm region. The area that was closed off contains 17 artesian wells and
is considered the principal source of agricultural products to supply the
markets of the West Bank during the winter season. This closure decree,
which, according to Palestinian sources, will be repeated every year, 8/
will deprive approximately 3,000 Palestinian farmers of their principal
livelihood, and will create many difficulties for families that own houses
within the closed area. It will also have a negative impact on the
Palestinian economy in general, with the loss of the agricultural season,
higher prices, increased importation of agricultural products and a rise in
the number of unemployed persons. 9/
14. With regard to settlement roads, the Israeli authorities continue
their policy of expansion of roads throughout the occupied Palestinian
territories. It is estimated that more than a billion Israeli shekels
(approximately 331 million United States dollars) will be spent for the
building of a network of settlement roads during the next three years in
preparation for the application of the second stage of the Declaration of
Principles. 10/ The purpose of the expansion of these roads is to build a
network of roads and streets connecting the Israeli settlements with one
another, on the one hand, and to link those settlements to cities within
Israel, on the other hand. However, the roads will bypass Palestinian
cities, villages and agglomerations, so as to ensure the greatest
protection for the Jewish settlements. Palestinian experts view this plan
as an attempt to prejudice in Israel's favour the results of the
negotiations on the occupied lands in the final stage, inasmuch as it will
tend to consolidate a new geographical situation that will be difficult to
change and whose implementation will involve the expropriation of thousands
of dunums of land in Arab districts. 11/
15. With a view to the execution of the plans for settlement roads, the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee has budgeted 30 million
Israeli shekels (approximately 10 million United States dollars) to build a
settlement road in the Ramallah area during the current year (1995). 12/
In a report that it published in early 1995, the Peace Now movement
affirmed that a plan existed to build such a settlement road, which is to
make a detour around the city of Ramallah on the east, connecting the
settlements of Ofra, Pesagot and Adam with highway number 60, and that the
plan calls for the expropriation of 2,640 dunums. 13/ On 17 January 1995,
Palestinians from the town of Bira staged a protest against this project in
the areas threatened with expropriation. The Israeli army intervened in
order to disperse the protesters, the soldiers using tear-gas bombs and
beating participants. 14/ Israeli analysts feel that this road and the
three other roads whose creation has been announced by the Israeli
authorities, in addition to involving the expropriation of vast areas of
Arab land, will encourage more Israelis to reside in the Jewish
settlements, which will offer them safe routes that do not pass through
Palestinian towns. 15/
16. The execution of the building plans for settlement roads did in fact
begin in the southern part of the West Bank in mid-December 1994. One of
these is plan No. 956 for highway 356, which forms part of highway 80, and
another is the project for highway 35, which will link Taqwa` and Hebron
without passing through the Arab villages of Si`ir and Shuyukh. 16/
17. Regarding the expansion of Jewish settlements, a report prepared by
the Peace Now movement disclosed the filing of 11 building plans with the
Israeli Civil Administration in 1994, including the creation of thousands
of new housing units in the Jewish settlements over an area of 4,000
dunums. This indicates the intention to provide housing for tens of
thousands of new settlers. The report states that it appears from the
study of those plans that the aim behind them is to create a Jewish
demographic settlement bloc along the entire line from the Kafr Kasem
interchange to Givat Ze'ev, north of Jerusalem, by expanding the
settlements of Kedumim, Elkana 2, Nahleil, Dolev and Beit Horon, which will
result in the creation of an enclave containing tens of Palestinian
villages peopled by thousands of Palestinians, cut off from the rest of the
West Bank. Building in the vicinity of Efrat, south of Jerusalem, moreover,
and the improvement of the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion road, which includes
tunnels and bridges, reveals a plan to create a similar enclave in the
southern area. 17/
18. In September 1994, the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing
announced that 87 apartments were being offered for rent in three
settlements located near the Green Line. In addition, the Israeli Prime
Minister approved the preparation of new land for the building of
additional housing units in Alfe Menache, a settlement located 3 kilometres
from the Green Line. 18/
19. The results of a study done by two Israeli experts for Knesset member
Dedi Zucker showed that settlement-building operations in West Bank
settlements were proceeding at an unprecedented rate, in contrast to the
policy adopted by the Israeli Government. The study, which was carried out
at the beginning of 1995 and included 49 settlements, indicated that the
building operations were being carried out by private companies, without
any financing by the Israeli Government but with permits from the local
councils and Israeli ministry officials. Thus, at present 325 new housing
units are being built in the settlements of Elkana, Alfe Menache, Saffarin
Tekfa, Berman, Ari'el and Hashne'em. Knesset member Zucker believes that
private building has been practised since 1992 as an effective way of
circumventing the government decision to freeze the building of settlements
and turn that decision into a concept devoid of content. The study, he
went on to say, showed not merely that the Israeli ministries turned a
blind eye to what was going on, but that they cooperated effectively with
the settlers in the attempt to thwart the government decision to freeze the
construction of settlements. The findings of the study also showed that
the Government was facilitating the sale of the housing units built by
private enterprise and continued to install public utilities and provide
the necessary infrastructure on an open, regular basis, thus helping to
stimulate the settlement movement. 19/
20. Of particular importance from the standpoint of expansion of Jewish
settlements is the report prepared by the Israeli Ministry of Construction
and Housing, details of which were published by the Israeli press.
According to the report, during 1994 the Ministry allocated 140 million
shekels to infrastructure development and construction in settlements in
the West Bank. During the current year, the Ministry will allocate 95
million shekels for the same purpose, including 60 million shekels for the
building of 3,200 housing units in three settlements in the Jerusalem area
and 19 million shekels for the construction of housing units and
infrastructure works in settlements in the Jordan Valley. 20/ The report
stated that in 1994 the Ministry had built 1,833 new housing units,
including 1,026 in Betar, 796 in Ma'aleh Adumim and 10 in the Jordan
Valley. During the current year, 900 units are to be built in Betar, 1,080
in Ma'aleh Adumim, 400 in Kiryat Sefer, 800 in Givat Ze'ev, 300 in Givat
Hezet and 50 in the Jordan Valley. This intensive construction is expected
to result in an increase in the number of Jewish settlers by approximately
12,000. 21/
21. Furthermore, the Jewish settlers, through their various organizations,
the most important of which is the Jewish Settlements Council, have
prepared a master plan for promoting Jewish settlement during 1995 based on
enterprises either already carried out or currently being planned and
including the construction of 6,262 new housing units in 20 settlements in
the north, centre and south of the West Bank. 22/
22. The plans for settlement in Jerusalem for 1995 involve the proposed
building of thousands of housing units in Jewish settlements on the
outskirts of Jerusalem within a circle about the city of Jerusalem having a
diameter of 23 kilometres. 23/ As Israeli authorities issue conflicting
statements regarding the legitimacy of the term "Greater Jerusalem", the
work of expanding existing Jewish settlements and establishing new
settlements within the confines of the map of Greater Jerusalem is being
stepped up. At the same time that the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs
declares that "Greater Jerusalem" is "not a political term" and that
Jerusalem's borders are those defined by the government decision of 1967
and the 1981 Jerusalem law, which does not include such places as the
settlements of Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev or Betar, the Israeli
Construction and Housing Minister reaffirms his commitment to the map of
Greater Jerusalem and to efforts to strengthen the surrounding Jewish
settlements. 24/
23. The settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, which lies 7 to 8 kilometres east of
Jerusalem, is an example of the intensified settlement activity taking
place on the outskirts of Jerusalem. At the end of 1994, the Israeli
Ministry of Tourism approved the building of 4,000 hotel rooms in areas
belonging to the settlement. The Israeli Ministry of Construction and
Housing, moreover, has begun the construction of 2,000 new housing units
there and is planning to build 3,000 more units and to use 6,000 dunums of
land added to the settlement in December 1994, pursuant to a military
decree issued by the Military Commander of the Central District. 25/ A
main bypass is being built at the junction leading to the settlement,
involving a government investment amounting to 15 million shekels, and
newspaper sources have noted that the Israeli Civil Administration intends
to transfer the present military checkpoint, located near the village of
Ze'em on the road to Jerusalem several kilometres to the east, beyond the
settlement. The Israeli Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing,
commenting on these reports, said that as far as he was concerned, Ma'aleh
Adumim and its area of influence were not part of the West Bank but were
considered a settlement in the centre of the country. Thousands of housing
units would be erected in Ma'aleh Adumim every year, including the current
year, he said, in order to link the town to Jerusalem. 26/
24. In addition, there have been repeated reports of plans to build new
settlements in the area surrounding Jerusalem, including Har Homa and
Rekhis Shuafat. 27/ The Israeli press has carried reports of a plan
prepared by the Israel Land Department involving the building of more than
30,000 housing units in Jerusalem over the next five years, most of them in
Arab areas of the city and its surroundings. Construction is expected to
begin on 10,000 housing units during the current year. 28/
25. The number of settlers living in Jewish settlements increased over the
past year, the bulk of this increase being recorded in settlements in the
area around Jerusalem. 29/ According to the Jewish Settlements Council, as
of October 1994 the total number of Jewish settlers was approximately
140,000, including 135,000 living in 125 settlements in the West Bank and
6,000 in 20 settlements in the Gaza Strip. The information provided by the
Settlements Council, which is based primarily on the payment of local
taxes, conflicts with the figures announced by the Israeli Central Bureau
of Statistics in its bulletin of 21 March 1995, according to which the
number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip had undergone
a 9 per cent increase over the past year, reaching 127,000. 30/ In the
first half of 1994, 1,637 new Jewish immigrants moved to East Jerusalem out
of a total of 41,291 who arrived in Israel during that period. 31/ The
number of Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, according to "official and
unofficial Israeli sources, together with press reports", has reached till
the end of 1994, more than 170,000 settlers. This brings the total Israeli
settler population living in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip to more than 300,000. 32/
26. The policy of stepped-up Jewish settlement and relocation of thousands
of Jews to the city of Jerusalem is being implemented at the expense of
Palestinian residents of the city and Arab villages. The clearest evidence
of this is furnished by the operations of destroying Palestinian homes
built without permits in the Jerusalem area. Owing to the limited land
allocated for building by Arabs, the difficulty of obtaining a building
permit and the high cost of such permits, Palestinians usually have no
choice but to build their homes without a legal permit. In September 1994,
hundreds of Palestinians and sympathetic Israelis held a demonstration near
homes in the Tur district whose destruction had been ordered by the Israeli
authorities. In a joint statement issued by them, the demonstrators
affirmed that since 1986 the Israeli authorities had destroyed a total of
210 Arab homes in the city of Jerusalem for reasons relating to permits,
and that destruction of homes was currently going on at the rate of 50 per
year. The statement added: "Increased building of settlements,
expropriation of Palestinian land and destruction of homes constitute a
carefully thought-out [Israeli] policy aimed at driving out the Arab
population and upsetting the demographic balance in favour of the settler
presence in Jerusalem". The number of Palestinian families in Jerusalem
who have no shelter or live in inadequate housing as a result of the policy
of destruction and expulsion followed by Israel is estimated at
approximately 21,000. 33/
27. In the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, a new Israeli settlement was
established in August 1994 and named "Dor Ha Golan", bringing the number of
Israeli settlements built in the Golan Heights since 1967 to 33. 34/
Construction work to expand existing settlements continued, and 2,000 new
housing units, the construction of which began before 1992 during the Likud
rule, are near completion. Construction work in those units was halted for
about seven months, from July 1992 when the new Labour Government issued an
order to freeze construction work until March 1993, when the freezing order
was rescinded in the Golan. Work also continued to develop the
infrastructure of the settlements, and private and public funds were
invested in roads as well as in agricultural, industrial and tourism
enterprises. The Israeli Minister of Industry confirmed in October 1994
the Government's continued support for the development of the Golan: "The
government policy by which the Golan Heights was termed a national priority
'A' region [entitled to the most generous development and housing benefits]
must be upheld". 35/
28. Israeli sources estimated that the number of settlers in the Golan
increased during 1994 by 10 per cent. A study carried out by the Jaffee
Centre for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv in 1994 reveals that the number of
settlers during the period July 1991 to March 1994 increased by 2,143, as
their number rose from 11,017 in July 1991 to 12,000 in 1993 and reached
13,160 in March 1994. 36/
29. In addition to land seizure and the establishment and expansion of
settlements, the utilization of water resources in the occupied Palestinian
territories is an important issue that negatively affects the lives of
Palestinians and their economic and social conditions. According to
Palestinian estimates, the per capita water consumption among Palestinians
in the West Bank ranges between 22 and 28 cubic metres as compared with 165
cubic metres for the Israeli population. This great disparity is due to a
series of military orders that restrict the utilization of available water
resources by Palestinians and prevent them from drilling new wells or
developing existing ones while allowing Israeli settlers to drill new wells
in their settlements and pump large quantities of water without control or
restriction. 37/
30. According to Palestinians, the Israeli water policy in the Gaza Strip
has led to a "dangerous" and "distressing" situation. Riad al-Khodary,
Head of the Palestinian Delegation to the Multilateral Talks on Water,
says: "Israel's infringement on water resources in the Gaza Strip is
embodied in the following three major steps: first, diverting the course
of the Gaza river before it reaches the Green Line, which entails the loss
of 20 million cubic metres of rainwater; second, the drilling of 25 wells
along the eastern border of the Strip, which deprives it of half of the
water flowing to it from the West; third, the pumping by the Gush Katif
settlements of Palestinian groundwater through the 14 wells existing in
those settlements". 38/ Water experts believe that the depletion of water
reserves in the Gaza Strip and sea-water intrusion have caused the salinity
of the water to be six times higher than the internationally accepted level
and thus 60 per cent of the water is no longer suitable for drinking or
irrigation purposes. 39/
31. The uprooting of fruit trees by the Israeli occupation authorities and
Israeli settlers is a daily Israeli practice in the West Bank as it was in
the Gaza Strip previously. It is estimated that, during the period of the
intifadah, the Israeli authorities uprooted more than 117,000 olive trees
in order to build settlements and for security reasons. Sewage leaking
from Israeli settlements spoiled more than 500 dunums of vineyards in the
West Bank. The annual loss resulting from these practices was estimated at
$1.5 million, the overall loss exceeding $10 million. 40/
32. The occupied Palestinian territories were sealed off by the Israeli
army several times during 1994 and the first months of 1995. The closure
led to the breakdown of all productive sectors and public services in the
Palestinian areas, in addition to preventing tens of thousands of
Palestinian workers employed in Israeli economic sectors from reporting for
work, which contributed to raising unemployment rates, especially in the
Gaza Strip, where 65 per cent of the active population is unemployed.
33. After a suicide attack carried out by Palestinians in October 1994 in
Tel Aviv, the Israeli Prime Minister called for "complete separation of the
Israeli and Palestinian peoples in order to curb terrorism". In the wake
of another suicide attack carried out last January, the Israeli Prime
Minister established a military security committee headed by the Minister
of Police and entrusted with the task of formulating plans for implementing
the total separation of Israel and the Palestinian areas. The committee
submitted a plan that includes the building of a security fence, the
deployment of soldiers and border guards as well as the establishment of
checkpoints and an early warning system and barbed wire. In addition, it
prohibits Palestinians from working in Israel, bans travelling and
transport and shuts off Jerusalem. The proposed security zone will be 30
kilometres long to the east of the Green Line, where Israeli soldiers will
be stationed, and will use advanced technological means as well as trained
dogs. Eight to 10 crossing points will be established along the separating
zone. The implementation of the plan will cost half a billion United
States dollars. 41/
Appendix
Encroachment and seizure of Palestinian lands and the building
of settlements on them
(April 1994-March 1995)
LocationArea
(in dunums)MeasuresSourceRantis village/
Ramallah districtHundreds of dunumsLands that were seized in November 1993
were cleared, and dozens of olive trees were uprooted in order to build two
roads to serve the settlers.Al-Quds, 14 April 1994Shuafat and Beit
Hanina380Land and real estate were seized pursuant to the decision taken by
the Organization and Construction Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality
in order to complete the building of road No. 1, which links the southern
and northern parts of Jerusalem.Al-Nahar, 20 April 1994Al-Musafir village/
Yatta/Hebron district30 000The village was sealed off by the army, and its
8,000 inhabitants grouped in 12 units were evacuated and prohibited from
undertaking agricultural and pastoral activities.Al-Quds, 23 April
1994Taquu village/ Bethlehem12The land, which is planted with hundreds of
fruit trees and contains a cemetery belonging to one of the families living
in the village, was seized and fenced.Al-Quds, 4 May 1994Yasuf village30The
land, which is planted with olive trees, was sealed off by the army.Al-
Quds, 27 April 1994Qaryut villageUnspecifiedSettlers from the nearby Raheel
settlement built a road 4 kilometres long and uprooted dozens of olive
trees, whereas settlers from the "Ilia" settlement built another road to
the east of the village.Al-Quds, 31 May 1994Siniria village/
Tulkarm district400The Civil Administration informed the inhabitants of the
village of its intention to close the site for security reasons.Al-Quds, 9
June 1994Area of Wadi Shubash between Mghir and Raba villages32 000The area
was sealed off by the army, and farmers and shepherds were expelled
forcibly.Al-Quds, 10 June 1994Al-Walja18The land was seized under the
pretext that it was situated behind the Green Line. The confiscated land
is planted with olive and apricot trees.Al-Quds, 24 June 1994Kafr Qaddum1
000It was announced that the land had been seized and annexed to the
"Kadumim" settlement in the context of the general organization plan of the
Mutsibih Kadumim district in the settlement.Al-Quds, 23 June 1994Taqwa`
village/
Bethlehem district5Settlers from the neighbouring Taqwa` settlement seized
the land and erected power lines on it.Al-Quds, 4 July 1994Haris
village/Nablus district100The land seized was fenced with barbed wire, and
its owners were prohibited from entering it; work started in order to build
a road to serve the settlers.Al-Quds, 14 July 1994Jiftlik
North Jericho Jordan Valley12 000The area was closed by the army pursuant
to military order 93/4, which prohibits the inhabitants and farmers of the
region from entering it during the period 1 September 1994 to 1 June 1995,
the period during which winter crops are cultivated in this warm region.
Some 500 families will be affected by this decision, which will also lead
to the closure of a primary school managed by UNRWA.Al-Quds, 31 July
1994Kafr Laqif60Settlers from the "Kerneh Shamron" settlement are building
sports fields on the land, which belongs to the inhabitants of the
village.Al-Quds, 5 August 1994Khidr village/
Bethlehem districtHundreds of dunumsThe cultivated area was cleared in
order to build road No. 60 to serve the settlers.Al-Quds, 2 August 1994Kafr
al-Labad/
Tulkarm200The land was seized in order to expand the Anab settlement
situated to the east of the village.Al-Quds, 8 August
1994HusanUnspecifiedThe Israeli army built a fence 2 kilometres long and 6
metres high around a large area of the village under the pretext of
protecting the inhabitants of the neighbouring "Bitar" settlement from
stonethrowing. The land that was fenced is planted with olive trees.Al-
Quds, 28 August 1994Deir BalutUnspecifiedThe inhabitants of the village
received an order from the military authorities authorizing the seizure of
an unspecified area of their lands in order to use it for military
purposes.Al-Quds, 23 August 1994Al-Dhahiriya40Settlers from the nearby
"Tineh" settlement seized the land and fenced it with barbed wire.Al-Quds,
11 September 1994Beit Anan/Ramallah350The land was seized under the pretext
that it was situated behind the Green Line in no man's land, and work
started in order to build a road to serve the settlers.Al-Quds, 9 October
1994Dura and al-Dhahiriya/Hebron4 000The land was seized in order to
establish a quarry.Al-Quds, 29 October 1994Aqraba/Nablus1 500The land,
which includes three drinking-water wells, was seized by settlers.Al-Nahar,
15 December 1994Kafr Qaddum6The land was seized by settlers from the nearby
Kadumim settlement.Al-Quds, 20 December 1994Iskama70The land was cleared in
order to build a security fence around the nearby Areel settlement.Al-Quds,
28 December 1994Husan and ar-Rachaida/
Bethlehem district100The land was closed by the army in order to build a
road linking the settlements of the region to road No. 60. Some 2,286 olive
and fruit trees and vines were uprooted.Al-Quds, 30 December 1994Al-
Isawiya/
Jerusalem6 000The governor of the central region ordered the annexation of
this area to the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement in order to build a new district
for the settlers.Al-Quds, 9 December 1994; Ha'aretz, 21 December 1994Al-
Lubban al-Sharqiya/
NablusUnspecifiedLands were cleared, and more than 700 olive trees were
uprooted in order to build a road linking the nearby Areel settlement.Al-
Quds, 6 February 1995BiraUnspecifiedThe municipality of Bira received a
notification regarding the seizure of an unspecified area of land to the
north of the town in order to build a road 11 kilometres long and 100
metres wide. The road will also cross the lands of Yatin, Ain Yabrud,
Salwad, Barqa and Deir Dabwan villages.Al-Quds, 26 December 1994
Notes
1/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2/ Clyde Mark, "Soviet Jewish emigration", CRS Issue Brief (Washington,
D.C., Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 1994).
3/ The Jerusalem Post, 18 January 1995, p. 2.
4/ Al-Quds, 6 March 1995, p. 1.
5/ Land Research Committee of the Arab Studies Society, Special report
on land confiscation and settlement in the West Bank -Palestine (in Arabic)
(Jerusalem), p. 11.
6/ Al-Nahar, 5 September 1994, report by Khalil Al-Tafakaji, settlement
affairs expert, Jerusalem, pp. 1-9.
7/ Al-Quds, 31 July 1994.
8/ Ibid., 8 August 1994, p. 6.
9/ Ibid.
10/ Foundation for Middle East Peace, Report on Israeli Settlement in
the Occupied Territories (Washington, D.C., May 1995), p. 1.
11/ Ibid., 3 December 1994, p. 6.
12/ Ibid., 13 December 1994, p. 6.
13/ Peace Now, Report on Planned Expansion of Settlements (Jerusalem,
January 1995), p. 2.
14/ The Jerusalem Post, 18 January 1995, p. 1.
15/ Ibid., p. 2.
16/ Al-Quds, 13 December 1994, p. 5.
17/ Peace Now, Report on Planned Expansion of Settlements (Jerusalem,
January 1995), p. 1.
18/ Al-Quds, 1 October 1994, p. 9.
19/ Ibid., 18 January 1995, p. 6.
20/ The Jerusalem Post, 18 January 1995, p. 1.
21/ Al-Quds, 18 January 1995, p. 6.
22/ Yedioth Aharonoth, 18 January 1995, report by K. Petersburg, p. 1.
23/ Ibid., 20 January 1995, "Map of settlement in Greater Jerusalem", p.
2.
24/ The Jerusalem Post, 19 January 1995, pp. 1-2.
25/ Al-Quds, 22 December 1994, p. 23.
26/ Ibid., 6 January 1995, p. 24.
27/ The Jerusalem Post, 13 December 1994, p. 1.
28/ Al-Quds, 25 November 1994, p. 7.
29/ Ha'aretz, 14 November 1994.
30/ Ar-Rai, 22 March 1995, p. 1.
31/ Foundation for Middle East Peace, Report on Israeli Settlement in
the Occupied Territories (Washington, D.C., November 1994), p. 2.
32/ Ibid., p. 8.
33/ Al-Quds, 11 September 1994, p. 6.
34/ Foundation for Middle East Peace, Report on Israeli Settlement in
the Occupied Territories (Washington, D.C., February 1995), p. 9.
35/ Ibid.
36/ Ibid.
37/ Al-Quds, 25 August 1994, p. 9, and 22 April 1994.
38/ Ibid., 26 September 1994, p. 4.
39/ Ibid., 19 April 1994, pp. 1 and 18.
40/ Ibid., 2 March 1995, pp. 1 and 22.
41/ Ar-Rai, 18 March 1995, p. 26.
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