Barrier rerouting in Qalqiliya governorate completed

Majority of community’s land remains isolated

The rerouting of the Barrier in Jayyus (population 2,894) in Qalqiliya governorate was completed on 7 September. Jayyus has 13,000 dunums of land and more than 50 per cent of the population depend totally on agriculture for their livelihoods.[1] Around 2,400 dunums of land and two artesian wells (one unused) have been returned to the ‘Palestinian’ side of the Barrier. This land can now be accessed by farmers without permits for the first time since 2003. According to the Village Council, the rerouting resulted in the uprooting of approximately 75 fruit trees and 350 olive trees, the majority of which have been replanted.

Although renewed access to the land is a positive development, the rerouting was conducted to comply with a decision issued by the Israeli High Court of Justice rather than the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (see box), and the rerouted sections of the Barrier remain within the West Bank rather than following the Green Line or inside Israel. Around 6,000 dunums of prime agricultural land and five artesian wells remain isolated behind the rerouted barrier, including two wells that will be connected to Jayyus for domestic consumption. Access by farmers to this land still requires a permit. In Jayyus, permit applications are turned down on the grounds of security, a lack of ‘connection to the land’, not having ‘enough land’ or because the land is not considered to be located behind the Barrier. While comprehensive data on the number of permits granted are unavailable, the approval rate in the northern West Bank in 2013 was approximately 50 percent, consistent with figures collected by OCHA over the preceding three years.

For those granted permits, entry to the area between the Barrier and the Green Line is channelled through a gate designated on the permit. A new gate (935) was installed in the rerouted Barrier section through which approximately 350 famers with permits can access their land behind the Barrier. Limited allocation of permits, combined with the restricted number and opening times of the Barrier gates, continues to curtail agricultural practices and undermine rural livelihoods throughout the West Bank.

The International court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion

On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ recognized that Israel “has to face numerous indiscriminate and deadly acts of violence against its civilian population” and that it “has the right, and indeed the duty, to respond in order to protect the life of its citizens. [However], the measures taken are bound nonetheless to remain in conformity with applicable international law”.

The ICJ stated that the sections of the Barrier route that ran inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, violated Israel’s obligations under international law. The ICJ called on Israel to cease construction of the Barrier “including in and around East Jerusalem”; dismantle the sections already completed; and “repeal or render ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto”.

The Court also obligated member states not to recognize the illegal situation created by the Barrier and to ensure Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.