Economic and social repercussions of Israeli settlements – ESCWA report – SecGen note

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 1996/40 of 26 July 1996, 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 occupied Syrian Golan", the Economic and Social Council requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, through the Council, a report on the implementation of the resolution.  The General Assembly, in its resolution 51/190 of 16 December 1996, reiterated 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 March 1996 to May 1997, which was prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

________________

 *A/52/50.

**E/1997/100.

ANNEX

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 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 of 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 and for the dismantling of existing settlements.

2. At its fifty-first session, 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/51/99 and Add.1-3), adopted resolution 51/134 of 13 December 1996, in which, inter alia, it expressed its concern about the continued violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel, in particular the establishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied territory, including Jerusalem.

3. The General Assembly, in its resolution 51/190 of 16 December 1996, aware of the additional, detrimental economic and social impact of the Israeli settlements on Palestinian and other Arab natural resources, especially the confiscation of land and the forced diversion of water resources, took note of the report of the Secretary-General on the 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 (A/51/135-E/1996/51), reaffirmed the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the population of the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land and water, and requested the Secretary-General to submit to it at its fifty-second session a report on the progress made in the implementation of the resolution.  The present report is submitted in response to that resolution and covers developments through May 1997.

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 (PLO) 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 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).  In the declaration, the issue of settlements was deferred to the permanent status negotiations phase, which should start no later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period.

6. On 4 May 1994, the Palestinians and the Israelis concluded an agreement in Cairo for the implementation of the Declaration of Principles (A/49/180-S/1994/727, annex).  On that date, the interim period formally began.  Soon after the signature of 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. On 28 September 1995, in Washington, D.C., Israel and the PLO signed the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, referred to hereafter as Oslo II.  This accord detailed the mechanisms, and the limitations, of the extension of Palestinian self-rule to significant portions of the West Bank.  The main feature of the Agreement was the provision for the division of the West Bank into three areas, each with varying degrees of Israeli and Palestinian responsibility.  Area A consists of the seven major Palestinian towns, Jenin, Kalkiliya, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, in which Palestinians will have complete authority for civilian security.  In area B, which comprises all other Palestinian population centres (except for some refugee camps), Israel will retain "overriding security responsibility", while in area C, which includes all settlements, military bases and areas and state lands, Israel will retain sole security authority.3/

8. Oslo II provided the opportunity for the redeployment of the Israeli army, allowing the Palestinian Authority to assume its civil and security responsibilities according to the schedule provided for in the Agreement.  The Israeli army began its withdrawal from Jenin on 13 November 1995, followed by Tulkarm on 10 December, Nablus and other villages in the Tulkarm area on 11 December, Kalkiliya on 17 December, Bethlehem on 21 December and finally Ramallah on 28 December.  Hebron was left as the last of the West Bank towns from which Israeli soldiers were to redeploy under Oslo II in order to allow time to work out the security issues arising from the presence of 450 militant Israeli settlers in the city's centre.  The Hebron Protocol, which does not constitute a new agreement, was concluded on 15 January 1997.  Under the provisions of the Protocol, the city is divided into two parts:  Israel retains full security control over the Jewish-sector settlement enclaves in downtown Hebron, the Kiryat Arba settlement just outside the city, and the surrounding area necessary for the movement of the settlers and the army, and the Palestinian Authority is responsible for security for the rest of Hebron, though this responsibility is limited in comparison with the other Palestinian towns.4/

9. Most of the settlers live near the Green Line and Jerusalem; others live in outlying areas.  The largest increases have occurred in the urban settlements located near the major cities (see appendix), since most of the settlers work inside the Green Line and have to commute everyday.  By mid-1992 the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip had reached 107,000.  The building of settlements in and around Jerusalem and near the Green Line did not stop during the Governments led by Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, despite continuous assurances that settlement activities would be frozen.  Following his election as Prime Minister in May 1996 and his establishment of a new government, Benjamin Netanyahu initiated a policy of building in areas where settlement construction had been frozen, negatively affecting the peace process.  By the end of 1996, the number of settlers had reached 150,000.5/  From the outset of his election campaign, Prime Minister Netanyahu had voiced support for settlement activities and expansion practices throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

10. Since Prime Minister Netanyahu took office, several actions have been taken which characterize the new Israeli strategies.  Thirty-five new decisions were taken to expand settlement activities;6/ more to the point, it was announced that 84 type A and B settlements7/ would be established in the West Bank.8/  Bulldozers were brought in to begin large-scale land-levelling operations and construction of the settlements started.  Settlement activities intensified throughout the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, where the escalation was justified under the pretext that Jerusalem was the eternal capital of Israel.  

11. The (Har Homa) Jebel Abu Ghneim project in East Jerusalem represents a specific example of this policy.  Though Israel's decision to establish the new settlement at Jebel Abu Ghneim has been opposed in resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Government has declared that it has no intention of halting or suspending the project.  It is intended to become one of the largest settlement projects ever initiated.  It is located south of Jerusalem and overlooks the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour.  The area of the land set aside for the project amounts to 1,850 dunums (a dunum is equal to approximately 1,000 square metres); the master plan covers an area of 2,056 dunums.  In the first stage, this settlement is expected to accommodate 30,000 settlers, gradually increasing to 100,000 in the final stage.9/  The execution of the project is expected to result in the following:

(a) The southern entrance of Jerusalem will be sealed off and the City's continuity with its Palestinian surroundings will be blocked, preventing any future connection of the City with the rest of the Palestinian land;

(b) The Palestinian areas located within the boundaries of the Jerusalem Municipality will be isolated.  Any decisions affecting Jerusalem should be left for the final stage of the peace negotiations; however, with the establishment of the Har Homa settlement, the settlement belt around the City will be completed before the final stage of negotiations regarding the status of Jerusalem is carried out;

(c) The population structure of the City will change in favour of the Israelis.

12. Israeli settlement activities carried out during 1996 will create new geographical and demographic realities before the start of the final stage of peace negotiations.  For this purpose the Government of Israel has confiscated large amounts of land and has carried out a number of other activities:  master plans have been drawn up; settlements have been expanded; quarries, bypass roads and a separation line have been established; and certain areas have been sealed off for military purposes.

13. A total of 121.13 dunums was confiscated in 1996 under military orders or seized for a period of one to five years to be used for different purposes.  The table below shows the amount of land confiscated or seized, its location, and the number of the military order under which each piece was confiscated or sealed:

14. In 1996 the total amount of land confiscated or seized under military orders to be used for public projects and for the construction of bypass roads was around 1,180 dunums (not including an unspecified amount confiscated in Hebron under military order T/36/96).  The following table shows the location and size of each piece of land confiscated and the number of the military order under which it was confiscated:

Source:  Israel, various military orders.

15. Large areas of West Bank land were sealed off for military purposes under military order S/1/96 issued by Mr. Ilan Biran, the Israeli military commander.  While the order does not specify the exact area of the land marked, there are indications that it is more than 170,000 dunums.

16. The table below gives the numbers of the military orders and the location and area of the land confiscated to establish the separation line:

Source:  Israel, military orders.

17. The following table provides some information taken from the master plans for Israeli settlements announced in 1996:

Source:  Israel, various civil and military authorities and local militia.

18. In 1994, master plans were announced for the establishment of six quarries covering a total area of 16 square kilometres.  The implementation of these master plans was announced in 1996.  One of the most important of the quarries is the Wadi Teen quarry in Tulkarm, which covers a total area of 9,685 dunums, distributed as follows:

Source:  Israel, Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria, No. 52/24.

a/  Area affected by quarrying/excavation activities.

19. Settlement expansion can be divided into different area categories, as follows:

(a) Settlement expansion around Jerusalem Municipality boundaries:

(i) A plan was announced to expand the Givat Zeev settlement through the building of 800 new housing units, bringing the total number of housing units in the settlement to 4,600, which will allow it to absorb 20,000 settlers;10/  

    (ii) There are plans to build 750 to 800 housing units in the Har Adar settlement, established on Biddo and Qattaneh land north-west of Jerusalem;11/  

(b) Settlement projects within Jerusalem Municipality boundaries:

(i) A total of 6,500 housing units will be built on 2,056 dunums of land in Jebel Abu Ghneim (Har Homa);12/  

    (ii) A total of 3,600 housing units will be built on an area of 980 dunums on Beit Safafa land (Givat Hamatos);

   (iii) In the new quarter of Ramat Shlomo in the Reches Shu'fat settlement, 2,165 housing units were built on an area of 1,198 dunums; 1,680 of the units are at present inhabited;13/  

(c) Israeli expansion outside Jerusalem Municipality boundaries and within the "Greater Jerusalem" project:

(i) The Mordechai Aviv company is building 68 housing units as part of the huge "Build Your Own House" project in the Givat Zeev settlement.  The project is called Hod Hagev'a;

    (ii) There are plans to build 130 housing units in Beitar Ilit on Housan and Nahalin village land, within the Maaleh Beitar project;14/  

   (iii) A total of 42 villas will be built in the Neve Menahim quarter, within the large-scale "Build Your Own House" project known as Sibioni Givat Zeev;

(d) Settlement expansion (the addition of new housing units) in the West Bank:

(i) Maaleh Adumim (the building of the 6,500 units listed below will bring the total number of units at Maaleh Adumim to 11,000):15/  

a. A total of 2,000 units in the Tseimeh Hasadia quarter;

b. A total of 3,500 units in a new quarter (currently at the planning stage);

c. A total of 1,000 units in the Magadim quarter (completed);

    (ii) Gush Etzion:

a. A total of 250 units in Elazar;

b. A total of 100 units in Alon Shvut;16/  

   (iii) Nablus area:

a. A total of 70 units in Alon More;

b. A total of 350 units in Kadumim;17/  

c. A total of 50 units in Yakir;

d. A total of 100 units in Shavei Shomron;

e. A total of 150 units in Elkanah;

f. A total of 800 units in Alfei Menasheh;

    (iv) Southern Hebron:  a total of 50 units in Beit Hagai.

20. Settlement expansion which intensified during 1996, is summarized below, with representative examples given based on the available information.

21. In March 1996, settlement activities were mainly concentrated within Jerusalem Municipality boundaries; the following are two examples:

(a) A plan was announced to build 662 housing units on an area of 722 dunums on French Hill in the Wadi al-Joz area;18/

(b) A housing project known as Ramot D was announced and will involve the building of 130 housing units in the Banina Ramot quarter.  The Hatsiba Company is supervising the project.19/

22. In May 1996, settlement activities continued.  An announcement was made on 14 May, that 8,250 dunums of Mukhmas village land in the Ramallah area had been confiscated for public purposes under seizure order 96/3/5, signed by Mr. David Shahaf, Head of the Civil Administration.  A reservoir measuring 35 x 37 metres will be constructed, along with a road 1,396 metres long and 5 metres wide.20/

23. One example of the settlement activities in June 1996 was the approval and announcement of a plan to establish Shimrot settlement as part of the larger Oranit settlement, involving the building of 450 housing units.  Oranit is located inside the Green Line and is one of the settlements of the "seven stars" project – a project initiated by Mr. Ariel Sharon, the present Israeli Minister of Infrastructure and the former Minister of Housing.21/

24. In August 1996 the Government of Israel announced its intention to publish an invitation for interested parties to submit tenders to market pieces of land in the settlement.  The Head of the Engineering Department of the Council refused to release the exact date for the publication of the invitation to tender because the subject had not yet been discussed in the Council.  It has been decided that 900 housing units will be built on about 100 dunums of the land of Hill A and the area around it; other pieces of land will be marketed for the building of 200 villas with an area of 180 to 200 square metres each.22/ These units and villas will be constructed under the "Build Your Own House" project.  There are currently only 24 villas in Beitar Ilit and the existing 2,200 housing units are not sufficient to meet demand.  Each new villa will be built on an area of 500 to 700 square metres, and prices will start at $216,000 (180 square metres at $1,200 per square metre).  On Hill B, 5,000 additional housing units will be built, which will eventually bring the total number of housing units in the settlement to 8,300.

25. In sum, a number of settlement activities were carried out during the different months of 1996; some were announced publicly, while others were carried out quietly, with no details released.

26. There are at present 19 settlements in the Gaza Strip, established on 23,000 dunums of land and surrounded by an additional 23,000 dunums (security zones), bringing the total land area used for settlements to 46,000 dunums.  This area constitutes 41.8 per cent of the state land and 12.6 per cent of Gaza Strip land (the total area of the Gaza Strip is 365 square kilometres).  There are about 5,000 settlers living in the 19 settlements, most of which are clustered around the Gush Katif settlement.

27. The placement, existence and activities of these settlements create an atmosphere that leads to friction between the Palestinians and the settlers, thus aggravating the security situation.  Security zones have been established around each settlement in the Strip and the roads that serve the settlements are under the control of the Israeli forces.

28. The number of settlers in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has increased substantially in spite of the peace process.  The settlements are distributed according to specific settlement plans, in particular the Sharon Plan, which states that settlements should be distributed in a way that will turn the Arab areas into isolated pockets that can be easily controlled.

29. The establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip has had a negative impact on the economic and social situation of the Palestinians:

(a) Palestinian farmers have been prevented from using agricultural land located near the settlements;

(b) Social and health conditions among the Palestinians have deteriorated, mainly as a result of the ongoing Israeli closure practices and the imposition of additional restrictions on the movement of the Palestinians living near the settlements;

(c) The prolonged closure practices have made the already serious economic situation of the Palestinians much worse.  Since the Israeli authorities control the sea coast and frequently impose curfews and closure policies, fishermen are prevented from performing their jobs and will ultimately experience decreases in their incomes.  In addition, thousands of Palestinian labourers are regularly prevented from going to their jobs inside Israel, further exacerbating an already disastrous situation.

30. Among Palestinians in the occupied territories, there has been an increase in unemployment and a significant decrease in real wages.  According to a report submitted by the Secretary-General of the Brussels-based Parliament Association for Euro-Arab Cooperation to the United Nations-sponsored Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, held in Jordan from 20 to 22 May 1997, "unemployment in Gaza is currently estimated at a depressing 50 to 60 per cent, with the highest unemployment rate in the refugee camps.  The situation in the West Bank is less depressing, as the rate is only 24 per cent.  In addition, a further 10 to 12 per cent are severely underemployed."23/

31. Palestinian incomes have dropped sharply since the Oslo Agreement in 1993, from $1,800 to $950 a year in the West Bank, and from $1,200 to $600 a year in the Gaza Strip.  If families earning less than $998.5 annually are regarded as living below the poverty line, the poverty rate can be estimated at 20 per cent in the West Bank and 40 per cent in the Gaza Strip.24/  An increasing number of Palestinians are being forced to live in slums, where miserable social, living and health conditions prevail.

32. As for settlement activities and expansion in the occupied Golan Heights, it is reported that officials of the Golan Regional Council have made continuous and intensive efforts since 1994 to develop and expand existing infrastructure and increase workplaces, particularly in industry, tourism and agriculture, to meet the newcomers' needs.25/  According to the most recent data made available by Israel, as at mid-1994, 33 Israeli settlements had been built in the Golan Heights (since 1967), inhabited by a total of 13,160 Israeli settlers.26/

33. Settlement activities have intensified in the Golan Heights since Prime Minister Netanyahu took office in June 1996.  Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to support the settlers in the Golan and elsewhere:  "It is our responsibility to continue and to develop the settlement enterprise in the Golan at every opportunity."  Such statements and guarantees serve to encourage the settlers in the Golan; on 21 May, Ha'aretz reported that the Chairman of the Golan Regional Council had presented him with a four-year plan to increase the Golan population by 10,000 through the construction of 3,000 units in existing Golan settlements.

34. It can be concluded that Israeli plans to build new settlements and expand existing settlements in the occupied territories are aimed at achieving the following:

(a) Decreasing the land area on which Palestinians can build, gradually propelling them outside the boundaries of Jerusalem;

(b) Providing the Israelis with the opportunity to control most of the West Bank and enabling them to demarcate the boundaries;

(c) Allowing the Israelis to extend their presence and influence, altering the demographic and geographical features of the area.

Notes

 1/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.

 2/ Clyde Mark, "Soviet Jewish Emigration", CRS Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1994.

 3/ Foundation for Middle East Peace, Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied

Territories (Washington, D.C., November 1995), p. 1.

 4/ Lamis Andoni, "Redefining Oslo:  negotiating the Hebron Protocol", Journal of

Palestine studies, vol. 26, No. 3 (spring 1997), pp. 17 and 18.

 5/ Peace Now, Settlements of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Jerusalem, March 1997).

 6/ Civil Administration master plan 4/420 of Maaleh Adumim, for an area of 12,443 dunums to build 3,500 housing units.

 7/ Type A settlements are characterized by more favourable conditions with respect to tax and loan obligations and the provision of educational, health and industrial facilities.

 8/ Master plan 220/4/3 of Pisgat Zeev, master plans 220/13, 220/9 and 220/14, to build 1,550 housing units; master plan 118 of the Yakir settlement, to build 30 housing units; master plan 61/117 of the Karnei Shomron settlement, to build 53 housing units; and master plan 226/2 of the Almon settlement, to build 833 housing units on an area of 1,541 dunums.

 9/ Planning Department of Jerusalem Municipality, Jebel Abu Ghneim master plan No. 5053.

10/ Master plan 220 of Givat Zeev.

11/ Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria master plan 214/3 (stage B) of Har Adar, with an area of 630 dunums, issued on 13 February 1993, to be implemented in 1996.

12/ Jerusalem Municipality master plan 5053, issued in 1996.

13/ Jerusalem Municipality master plan 1973 of Reches Shu'fat.

14/ Within master plan 426/1/3/1.

15/ Within master plan 420/1983 of Maaleh Adumim, with an area of 35 square kilometres.

16/ Civil Administration master plan 405/7, issued on 22 August 1996.

17/ Civil Administration master plan 113/10, issued on 17 July 1996.

18/ Jerusalem Municipality master plan 4351.

19/ Jerusalem Municipality master plan BM-4192 A.

20/ Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria master plan 5/3/96.

21/ Civil Administration in the West Bank master plan 121/7, with an area of 146.4 dunums.

22/ Master plan 1/3/1/426.

23/ "Promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development", paper presented at the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, Amman, 20-22 May 1997 (SAPP(97)/6; AMM.97-015), pp. 2 and 3.

24/ Ibid.

25/ The Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1995.

26/ Foundation for Middle East Peace, op. cit. (February 1995), p. 9.

APPENDIX

Expansion of Israeli settlement between 1994 and 1996

Source:  Various official statistics and press publications.

—–

Nahallin

ECOSOC/5739

chrlist.97

sett.pub

Nahalin Nahhalin