Israel Unilateral steps to close 80,000 Dunums of Palestinian land In the West Bank

 While the entire world is busy in its efforts to combat terrorism, the Israeli government is exploiting the situation by further increasing its unilateral steps and creating facts on the ground that are aggravating Palestinians aspiration for peace and justice.

On 24 September, 2001, the Israeli government issued a military order numbered 01/01/s (see document in Arabic page1, page2) through which 80,000 Dunums of Palestinian land (1.4% of the total area of the West Bank) in the North of the West Bank were declared as closed military areas. (See map), ) through which 80,000 Dunums of Palestinian land (1.4% of the total area of the West Bank) in the North of the West Bank were declared as closed military areas. ()

According to this military order, an isolated sector along side the green line, including all property and people is now a closed military area: no one has the right to move without having special permission from the Israeli Defense Ministry. The total population residing in the mentioned area is 16,729 Palestinian inhabitants, distributed in the localities listed in the table below:

Table 1: Palestinians communities situated inside the closed area 

Another 15 villages and Palestinians communities will be also affected. Farmers from these villages who own agricultural lands inside the '' closed area'' will not be allowed to enter their fields unless they get official permission. This will increase their daily suffering and result in an enormous agricultural loss, especially when farmers start preparing for the olive-picking season. It is worth mentioning here that this is an area richen with good water resources. 

Table2: Palestinian communities that are indirectly affected.  

This unilateral step has an adverse effect on Palestinian society, especially for people who reside in the nearby villages and are dependent on nearby cities for their daily needs, such as employment, education, and health services. This policy of imposing restrictions on freedom of movement as collective punishment exacerbates the economic hardship among Palestinians. Palestinians see in this act another Israeli attempt to grab more Palestinian land and annex it to Israel which cast doubt about Israel's genuine aspirations for peace and its willingness to comply with UN resolution 242 and 338 which call for the withdrawal of IDF from all areas it occupied in 1967.  

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Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem