Executive Summary

On February 15, the government of Israel approved a process to register land in the occupied West Bank as Israeli “state property.” The decision builds on a cabinet resolution introduced in May of 2025 that established the framework for renewed land settlement proceedings on Palestinian land.

Implemented for the first time since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, this process enables Israeli authorities to declare land ‘state property’ when Palestinian ownership cannot be formally proven; a standard difficult for many Palestinians to meet. Even when landownership can be met, expropriative policies such as the Absentee Property Law allows Israel to confiscate Palestinian property and sell it to Israelis. A total of NIS 244.1 million has been allocated for this program, which has been stated to continue for decades. Israeli Government Resolution No. 3559 sets a first-phase objective of registering 15% of previously unregulated land within five years. [1]

This development follows the Israeli cabinet’s February 8th approval of a series of measures that expand Israeli control over land administration and acquisition in the West Bank, undermining the Palestinian Authority (PA) and amounting to de facto annexation. The details of the measures have not been released to the public, only communicated through a press release by government ministers.

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Introduction

Palestinian women in Gaza are subjected to overlapping forms of violence by Israel that converge into a single, coherent structure of domination. Starvation, sexual and gender-based violence, and reproductive violence do not occur as isolated abuses, but as an interlocking system enacted simultaneously and reinforcing one another. These practices operate across psychological, social, and biological dimensions of harm. While Palestinian women’s bodies are the immediate site of this violence, its intended target is Palestinian society as a whole. By systematically targeting women, Israel undermines collective survival, erodes social cohesion, and attacks the continuity of Palestinian life itself. Taken together, these practices constitute a gendered architecture of genocide that must be recognized and addressed as such.

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) has documented these three crimes throughout Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Firsthand testimonies collected from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank reveal the distinctly gendered impacts of these violations and their cumulative effects on Palestinian women.

I. Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Sexual and gender-based violence is systematically instrumentalized by Israel as a means of humiliating and isolating Palestinian women while dismantling family and community bonds. These violations should not be understood as isolated or aberrational incidents, but rather as part of a broader historical pattern in which sexual violence has been deployed as a tool of terror and social control against the Palestinian population.

Historical records document that during the 1948 ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine, Zionist paramilitary forces including the Haganah engaged in acts of sexual violence alongside mass killings and expulsions of Palestinians. The Haganah later became the institutional foundation of the contemporary Israeli military. This historical continuity underscores how sexual violence has long functioned as a weapon of war, embedded within military practices aimed at terrorizing civilians and facilitating population displacement.

Testimonies collected by MIFTAH fieldworkers across the West Bank and Gaza Strip reveal recurring patterns. Arrests conducted in family homes routinely transform domestic spaces into sites of domination. Soldiers storm houses, often in the middle of the night, restrain family members, destroy personal belongings, steal valuables, and dictate all movement within the home. Male relatives are frequently forced to witness or participate in the abuse of female family members, a tactic designed to emasculate men and dismantle the household from within.

Sexual violence also functions as a form of psychological torture in Israeli detention and interrogation settings. Alongside sleep deprivation, starvation, and physical assault, sexual violence is deliberately employed to induce psychological breakdown and assert total control. Testimonies describe forced strip searches, removal of hijabs, invasive bodily touching, slut-shaming, and explicit threats of rape against detainees or their relatives . Testimonies collected by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) describe in detail the systematic use of secual torture in Israeil detention settings. Sexual violence is further enacted through blackmail, including the use of nude or indecent photographs taken during interrogation to coerce compliance or enforce silence. These practices aim to strip women of dignity, break them psychologically prior to or during interrogation, and inflict lasting harm that weakens their sense of self long after release.

The full extent of sexual violence against Palestinian women today remains difficult to quantify, as survivors rarely disclose sexual assault or rape causing underreporting to be widespread. This silence reflects structural, legal, and social barriers rather than the absence of abuse. Palestinian survivors of violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers or settlers seldom pursue legal avenues due to the well-documented lack of accountability within Israeli law enforcement mechanisms, where investigations rarely result in prosecution or redress .

Social stigma also plays a role in silencing survivors. In a predominantly conservative social context, sexual violence carries stigma that extends beyond the survivor to her family and community. Israeli forces exploit this reality deliberately, using sexual violence and threats to women’s “honor” as mechanisms of coercion, intimidation, and social fragmentation. In this way, sexual violence operates not only as an assault on individual women, but as a strategic instrument of collective harm.

II. Reproductive Violence

Reproductive violence targets women’s capacity to give life through the systematic destruction of healthcare systems, maternity services, and the material conditions necessary for survival. It refers to deliberate actions intended to impair an entire population’s ability to reproduce and sustain itself. In Gaza, reproductive violence is not incidental to armed conflict; it is enacted through policy-driven destruction that reflects intentionality rather than collateral harm.

This violence is carried out through the systematic targeting of life-sustaining infrastructure, including hospitals, maternity wards, neonatal units, fertility clinics, and embryo preservation centers, as well as the blockade of medicines, medical equipment, and hygiene supplies. The consequences are visible in rising maternal mortality, increased miscarriages linked to malnutrition and extreme stress, untreated reproductive infections, and the repeated displacement of pregnant women seeking care within a collapsing healthcare system .

These measures directly undermine women’s ability to safely conceive, carry pregnancies to term, give birth, and raise children. Women’s reproductive health is further compromised by the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid and the collapse of sanitation and water infrastructure. The destruction of healthcare facilities, combined with ongoing bombardment and repeated displacement, has rendered movement dangerous and unpredictable, making access to medical care nearly impossible and severely limiting the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide reproductive and maternal health services.

As a result, there has been a sharp increase in preventable reproductive health complications. Women report rising cases of fever linked to untreated vaginal infections caused by inadequate hygiene and the absence of feminine hygiene products, as well as unnecessary hysterectomies . Women using intrauterine devices experience prolonged bleeding and infections due to unsanitary living conditions, yet no options for safe removal currently exist in Gaza, posing serious long-term risks to reproductive health and bodily integrity . Women have also been forced to undergo emergency hysterectomies to control excessive post- partum bleeding that could not be managed due to the lack of healthcare.

Reproductive violence in Gaza is therefore both biological and symbolic. It constitutes an assault on the present population and on the possibility of future generations. The objective of preventing Palestinian continuity is further evidenced by the sustained and disproportionate killing of children, who have consistently been the most targeted demographic group throughout the genocide. This killing is reinforced by an ideological framework that dehumanizes Palestinian women and children. Public statements by Israeli political and military officials have repeatedly framed the killing of women and children as militarily justified . Within this logic, women are targeted not for their actions, but for their reproductive capacity and their role in sustaining Palestinian continuity. Such rhetoric has informed and legitimized military operations in Gaza. Throughout the genocide, civilian spaces including schools, homes, and hospitals, have been deliberately targeted as a matter of state policy. These are precisely the spaces where women and children sought refuge. The systematic killing and endangerment of women and children is not a secondary effect of warfare but a central component of the broader genocidal strategy.

III. Starvation as a Weapon of Genocide

Another grave factor to the reproductive health of women in Gaza has been starvation. Prolonged malnutrition, combined with physical exhaustion, repeated displacement, and lack of healthcare infrastructure, have contributed to increased miscarriages, loss of amniotic fluid, and heightened maternal mortality . Numerous women have reported using prenatal supplements distributed by humanitarian organizations as meal substitutes for themselves or their families, or exchanging them for food and essential supplies. Breastfeeding has become increasingly difficult due to suppressed milk production associated with undernourishment, while infant formula remains largely inaccessible, placing newborns at heightened risk. Chronic stress and nutritional deprivation have also resulted in amenorrhea, fertility complications, and potential long-term reproductive harm.

For women in Gaza, starvation functions not only as a form of biological deprivation but as a structural assault on familial roles, social reproduction, and dignity. It undermines women’s capacity to fulfill caregiving responsibilities, destabilizes family life, and produces severe physical, reproductive, and psychological consequences. Women disproportionately experience the embodied impacts of hunger while simultaneously carrying the emotional labor associated with sustaining children and dependent family members.

Testimonies collected by MIFTAH from displaced women subjected to Israel’s forced starvation consistently begin with descriptions of pre-displacement life, including homes, employment, family routines, and domestic spaces. The loss of the home, particularly the kitchen, emerges as a recurrent theme, reflecting the erosion of women’s agency and identity. The destruction of homes and domestic spaces traditionally associated with women’s autonomy has contributed to a marked erosion of dignity and self-perception. Reported symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, hair loss, emotional dysregulation, and post-traumatic stress, with many women suppressing their own distress to maintain caregiving roles.

Repeated displacement has further exacerbated women’s vulnerability. Multiple forced relocations have resulted in the loss of personal possessions, kinship networks, and community-based support systems. Overcrowded shelters lack adequate privacy, sanitation, and safety, compelling women to manage childcare and food preparation under unsafe and degrading conditions. Everyday survival practices are thus shaped by constant exposure to risk and instability.

For women who serve as the primary caretakers of their families, providing for loved ones often comes at great personal risk. They are frequently reducing or skipping their own meals so that their children can eat, often continuing caregiving responsibilities despite severe physical exhaustion . In displacement, they prepare rudimentary meals using limited ingredients and improvised methods, such as cooking lentils over burning toxic materials like plastic. These practices function both as survival strategies and as efforts to maintain a sense of continuity and stability for children amid profound disruption. In these contexts, women disproportionately bear the responsibility of caring for sick, injured, or disabled family members, despite acute shortages of medical care, clean water, and shelter. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions contribute to widespread illness, while attempts to obtain food or humanitarian assistance expose women and children to ongoing risks of injury or death.

Starvation has additionally intensified gendered pressures within households. Men’s inability to secure food or protection has been associated with increased psychological distress, thereby expanding women’s emotional and caregiving responsibilities. For women whose spouses have been killed, detained, or disappeared, starvation enforces sole provider roles under conditions that systematically undermine the possibility of survival.

Conclusion

MIFTAH has documented violations of sexual violence, reproductive violence, and starvation at various points during the genocide in Gaza. These violations, however, do not occur in isolation; they operate simultaneously, reinforcing and amplifying one another as part of a single system of control. Sexual violence isolates women from themselves and alienates them within their communities. Reproductive violence deliberately targets women because of their childbearing roles. Starvation acts as both a biological and psychological assault. Taken together, these crimes compound one another, deepening harm and undermining the survival of Palestinian women and their communities. A single woman may experience all three forms of violence, being violated in detention, displaced and denied healthcare, and later starved while unable to feed her children. Together, these crimes transform daily life into a persistent site of punishment. They attack the Palestinian female spirit, disrupt women’s societal roles, and, in doing so, fracture society across generations, making recovery increasingly difficult.

The failure to confront these violations reflects a long colonial history, in which the rhetoric of “saving women” was used to justify empire while violence against women perpetrated by colonial powers was silenced or dismissed. To resist normalization and impunity, these crimes must be recognized and addressed as mutually reinforcing acts of genocide. Understanding these violations as an interconnected system of oppression is essential to grasp their full impact on Palestinian society. These gendered crimes are not about women alone; they aim to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian life. Women are targeted not only as individuals but as mothers, community anchors, and bearers of generational continuity, while Palestinian society is systematically weakened and broken at its core.

Sources and References

Executive Summary

On 17 November 2025, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2803, establishing a new governance framework for Gaza. The resolution endorses U.S. President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict (CPEGC) and the creation of a transitional international administration through a U.S.-led Board of Peace (BoP) and authorizes an International Stabilization Force (ISF). Rather than ensuring Palestinian sovereignty, this framework transfers control of Gaza’s civil administration, security, reconstruction, borders, and humanitarian aid to external actors, entrenching foreign oversight and further consolidating Israeli dominance over the occupied Palestinian territory.

This resolution raises grave legal and political concerns. It departs from foundational principles of international law and undermines the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination. By providing no mechanisms for accountability for Israel’s documented violations, offering no concrete safeguards for Palestinian rights, and presenting an undefined framework with no clear timeline or benchmarks, Resolution 2803 risks perpetuating systemic injustices, enabling a reconfigured form of occupation, and further entrenching the colonial-style control already in place.

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“Separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem and the rest of the world, will not bring peace." (Roman Catholic Patriarch Fouad Twal).

In many ways Bethlehem has become the quintessential Palestinian city under occupation: its population confronted with daily abuse, its historic geography and landscape ruined by the expansion of illegal settlements, the serpentine Israeli Separation Wall cutting deep into its heart and severing it from its ancient political, social, economic and religious links to Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, and its economic prospects are further challenged with every passing year. For the Palestinians living in Bethlehem and its environs each Christmas has become less of a reason to celebrate than a cause to reflect on the immense tragedy that has befallen this holy city, which is home to one of the oldest Christian communities on Earth.

FACT: The Israeli Occupation has dramatically restricted the Palestinians’ freedom of worship and access to churches in the Holy Land. Following the completion of Israel’s Wall in the northern part of Bethlehem City, Bethlehem and Jerusalem have now been completely separated from one another.

The Governorate and City under Occupation

Neither the Bethlehem Governorate nor the City has been spared from the devastating impact of Israel’s occupation and relentless colonization of Palestinian land. Creating ‘facts on the ground’ that render a two-state solution impossible, Israel continues to implement a series of policies that combine elements of occupation, colonization and apartheid to deliberately suffocate and fragment Bethlehem and its environs. These include the ongoing confiscation of Palestinian land for the construction of Israeli settlements and Wall in violation of international law, as well as the imposition of physical and administrative restrictions on freedom of movement for Palestinians, ranging from an ever expanding network of checkpoints and roadblocks to a punitive permit regime that limits where Palestinians can live, move and work.

• Only 13 percent of the land falling within the Bethlehem governorate is under Palestinian control;
• In the Bethlehem area alone, 32 physical barriers erected by the Israeli military—including checkpoints, roadblocks, dirt mounds, and gates—prevent freedom of movement and access for Palestinian goods and people[1]. According to the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report issued by the US State Department, “the government of Israel continued to apply travel restrictions during the reporting period that significantly impeded freedom of access to places of worship in the West Bank and Jerusalem for Muslims and Christians.”
• There are 17 illegal Israeli settlements and numerous outposts scattered throughout the governorate, housing a combined population of approximately 91,500 settlers; the most prominent of them is the Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who is a resident of the illegal settlement of Noqdim, in the Western Bethlehem area.
• As part of the Israeli settlement enterprise Israel maintains military control over a number of Palestinian heritage sites, including several on Palestine’s list of world heritage sites to UNESCO. Within the Bethlehem District these include the the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb, the Herodion archaeological site, and the Qumran archaeological site where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. The heritage sites in Bethlehem were recently affirmed by UNESCO as belonging to Palestine.
• Since 1993, Palestinians have been required to obtain Israeli military permission on a case by case basis to enter occupied East Jerusalem for any reason. If granted, such permits stipulate specified and limited crossing times.
• The unemployment in Bethlehem is approximately 23%, the majority of which is related to sectors targeted by the closure of Bethlehem and its separation from Jerusalem, mainly tourism, trade and agriculture.

Land annexed by Israel in the Bethlehem Governorate

In 1967, Israel annexed approximately 10 km2 of the Northern Bethlehem Governorate in violation of international law. Much of this land was illegally incorporated into the expanded municipal boundaries of East Jerusalem. Israel’s unilateral expansion of East Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries is not recognized by the international community. Many Palestinian towns and villages heavily reliant on agriculture for their economic survival have seen their agricultural lands illegally confiscated by Israel for the construction of settlements, settlement related infrastructure, and the Wall. The Palestinian towns of Beit Sahhur, Bethlehem, Beit Jala,Walaja, Husan, Battir, Wadi Fukin, Jaba, Nahhalin, Artas and al-Khadr have lost 65 percent of their total land area west of the Israeli Wall. For example:

• Nearly 50 percent of the land traditionally belonging to the village of Beit Jala;
• Up to 75 percent of the land traditionally belonging to the village of Al Khader;
• Most of the olive groves traditionally belonging to the village of Beit Sahhur, which have been separated from their Palestinian land owners by the Wall and are accessible only to those who hold rarely issued Israeli military permits. Palestinian farmers who do receive a permit to farm their land must cross through specially designated gates in the Wall that have restricted operating times;
• In January 2009, Israel issued military orders declaring the land annexed to the Israeli-controlled side of the Wall in the Northern part of the Bethlehem Governorate a “closed zone”[2], meaning that Palestinian owners are not allowed to access their land without an Israeli permit;
• The major settlements of Gilo, Har Gilo, Har Homa, Betar Illit, Efrat, Geva’ot and Bat’Ayin, as well as the expansion of Gi’vat Hadagan and Gi’vat Hatamar in the Efrata settlement, all of which are located in the Bethlehem Governorate, are also slated for expansion. In addition to this, plans have been submitted for a new settlement to be established called Gi’vat Yael in the Al Walaja area.

The Loss of Bethlehem’s Vital Tourism

Over the preceding two decades Bethlehem has become a shadow of its former self. Once a vibrant and open city, Bethlehem has been reduced to a ghetto beset by poverty, immobility and isolation. A walk through the Old Town of Bethlehem exposes one to a myriad of closed storefronts where shopkeepers once sold their wares to residents and tourists alike. The tourists that still enter Bethlehem are literally bused in and out within 2 hours for a specially coordinated visit, spending little to no time in Palestinian shops, restaurants and hotels before returning to Israeli hotels and restaurants to spend much of their time and money. In summary, the benefits of Bethlehem’s potential as a major tourist destination are exploited to serve a thriving Israeli tourism sector. This dire situation is most apparent during the holiday season falling between Christmas and Easter, when Bethlehem should be receiving most of its tourists.

• Contrary to the bilateral Palestinian-Israeli Interim Agreement (the Oslo Accords), of the 185 Palestinian tour guides licensed with the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, only 40 have permits to enter Jerusalem, Israel and Israeli-controlled heritage sites in the Palestinian territory. In contrast, there are approximately 7,150 full-time and part-time Israeli tour guides[3];
• Israel continues to promote hotels built in settlements, as well as settlement products to tourists and pilgrims visiting the occupied Palestinian territory, further undermining Palestine’s tourist industry[4];
• According to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, tourists and pilgrims need to stay for a minimum of 3-4 nights in the occupied Palestinian territory to effectively contribute to the growth of Palestine’s tourism industry;
• Israel has implemented a policy whereby tourists visiting Bethlehem, during most of the year must exit the city only from “Checkpoint 300”, which has only one exit and one entry line for buses and cars alike, as opposed to foreigners visiting settlements in the Bethlehem area that are allowed to enter and exit the region through any checkpoint. This has created further delays at the checkpoint for Palestinians, tourists and pilgrims, making a visit to Bethlehem a burden many tourists are not interested in enduring.
• Despite all these restrictions and the limits imposed by the occupation, the Palestinian Authority has achieved an increase in the number of tourists staying in the occupied territory.

• Located at the Northern entrance of Bethlehem, the heritage site houses both the Bilal Mosque and Rachel’s Tomb. This is an important heritage site for Christianity, Islam and Judaism. In violation of the Oslo Accords, UNESCO conventions and international law, the Israeli military restricts access to the site to Jews only;
• The route of the Wall cuts 2 km into the Northern municipal boundaries of Bethlehem to encircle Bilal Mosque / Rachel’s Tomb, severely affecting Palestinian neighborhoods in the vicinity of the site. Seventy out of eighty businesses located in the area have been forced to close;
• Bilal Mosque / Rachel’s Tomb is adjacent to a predominantly Palestinian Christian neighborhood. Now encircled by the Wall, many residents have been forced to relocate to other areas within Bethlehem or to leave due to the economic and psychological challenges created by the military occupation and the Wall;

Christian festivals affected by Israel’s closure of Bethlehem

• According to the International Religious Freedom Report of 2010 issued by the US State Department, the construction of the Wall has “significantly impeded Bethlehem residents from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and made visits to Christian sites in Bethany and Bethlehem difficult for Palestinians who live on the Jerusalem side of the barrier.”
• The same report states that the Wall and “checkpoints also impeded the movement of clergy between Jerusalem and West Bank churches and monasteries, as well as the movement of congregations between their homes and places of worship.”
• The Wall has also affected the Mar Elias Feast traditionally celebrated in August by Palestinian Christians and Muslims from Bethlehem, many of whom can no longer visit the monastery located only four kilometers North of Bethlehem;
• The second stop of the Christmas Procession with the Patriarchs coming from Bethlehem used to be a few meters after Bilal Mosque / Rachel’s Tomb. Today, due to the presence of the Wall, the Procession no longer waits for the Patriarch at this point.
• Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement have also affected the feast of the Virgin Mary, an annual procession that takes place in August, preventing Christians from the Bethlehem area from participating in the procession that ends at the Church of the Assumption in Gethsamene in Jerusalem.

We Palestinians make a special appeal at Christmas time for people around the world to do their part in helping us resist the ongoing closure of Palestine in general and Bethlehem in particular. We ask the world to redouble their efforts this Christmas to make Bethlehem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory open to visitors, to reconnect the ancient links between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to bring peace and justice to Palestine so that we may all share once again in the celebration of the holidays.

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[1]UN OCHA, Shrinking Space: Urban Contraction and Rural Fragmentation in the Bethlehem Governorate, May 2009, available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_bethlehem_shrinking _space_may_2009_english.pdf

[2]“Closed zones” are tracts of Palestinian land that Israel declares to be closed military areas, and are thus inaccessible to their Palestinian owners and farmers. Since 1967, Israel has declared more than 20% of West Bank land located east of the Wall closed military areas. For more information, refer to Barrier to Peace: The Impact of Israel’s Wall Five Years after the ICJ Ruling, July 2009, available at: http://www.nad-plo.org/news-updates/FINAL%20Anniversary%20of%20ICJ%20ruling%20on%20the%20Wall%20FINAL%209June09.pdf

[3] Statistics sourced from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

[4]In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. For further information, please refer to Barrier to Peace: The Impact of Israel’s Wall Five Years after the ICJ Ruling, July 2009, available at: http://www.nad-plo.org/news-updates/FINAL%20Anniversary%20of%20ICJ%20ruling%20on%20the%20Wall%20FINAL%209June09.pdf

Just one day after the official commencement of permanent status negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis and the reaffirmation of their respective commitments under the Road Map, Israel has intensified its aggression against the Palestinian people, killing at least 17 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and starting construction on 60 new housing units in Maaleh HaZeitim settlement in Ras El Amoud neighbourhood in Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat referred to today’s events as ‘‘the blazing destruction of Palestinian lives and property and a continuation of the Israeli policy of undermining the peace process and the efforts being exerted to revive hope in the minds of people that peace is possible.’’

Dr. Erekat reiterated calls for ‘‘concerted international efforts to stop the Israeli aggression against our people in Gaza and to pressure Israel to comply with its Road Map obligations, namely freezing all settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem.’’

Dr. Erekat also stressed that the current Israeli policies ‘‘undermine President Bush’s peace efforts.’’

‘‘Israel’s continuous attacks in Gaza and ongoing settlement construction in East Jerusalem highlight the enormous gap between official Israeli declarations and the deteriorating reality on the ground,’’ concluded Dr. Erekat.

Contact for more information:

Muzna Shihabi (English, French, and Arabic) Communications Advisor, Negotiations Support Unit
Tel: +972-2-296-3741
Mobile: +972-598-123-223
Email: mshihabi@nsu-pal.org

Wassim Khazmo (English and Arabic) Communications Advisor, Negotiations Support Unit
Tel: +972-2-296-3741
Mobile: +972-544-626-980
Email: wkhazmo@nsu-pal.org

“There is only one thing I can do. I will buy a tent and move with my wife to live on the other side of the fence among my trees. I don’t know if the Israelis will let me do it. They certainly won’t let me build a house. But perhaps I can live in a tent.”
–Sharif Omar, Palestinian Farmer

FACT SHEET:

Israel’s goal in building the “security” wall is twofold: (1) to confiscate Palestinian land in order to facilitate further colony expansion and unilaterally redraw geopolitical borders and (2) to encourage an exodus of Palestinians by denying them the ability to earn a living from their land, by denying them adequate water resources, and by restricting freedom of movement to such extent as to make remaining in the town or village an unviable option.

The first phase of the wall’s construction is complete. If the wall were truly about security, the wall would have been built on Israel’s 1967 pre-occupation border (the “Green Line”). However, the wall is not being built on the Green Line, but rather well within Occupied Palestinian Territory.

THE CASE OF JAYYUS – FORCED IMPOVERISHMENT THROUGH LAND CONFISCATION

For an accompanying map, see www.nad-plo.org/maps/focusqal.pdf

• Jayyus is located in the governorate of Qalqilya and has a population of approximately 3,100 Palestinians.

• The town is located six kilometers east of the Green Line.

• Jayyus is a farming town that provides produce to 60,000 Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

• In 1986, Israel confiscated 1,362 dunums of Jayyus land. The illegal Israeli colony of Zufin was built on the town’s confiscated lands.

• In 1990, Israel confiscated 30 dunums of Jayyus land. It is now being used as a dump site for the nearby Israeli colonies.

EFFECTS OF THE WALL ON JAYYUS

• The Israeli Army has built a militarily-fortified barrier 6 kilometers east of the Green Line, currently the furthest point into Occupied Palestinian Territory of the first phase of the wall.

• The wall has been built between Jayyus homes and Jayyus farmland, thereby separating Jayyus farmers from their fields.

 Approximately 9,000 dunums of agricultural land are separated from their owners, of which 2,500 dunums are irrigated crop lands on the other side of the wall. These irrigated crops provide 90% of the town’s total economic revenue.

 The wall separate Jayyus farmers from 120 greenhouses, 15,000 olive trees and 50,000 citrus trees. This area annually produces 17 million kilograms of vegetables and fruits.

• All seven of the town’s water wells are behind the wall. As a result, the town receives running water only two hours every three days, with an average per capita water consumption of 20 liters per day, five times below the World Health Organization’s daily per capita minimum health standard of 100 liters per day.

• Due to the wall and the accompanying travel restrictions, Jayyus residents are denied basic services, such as access to medical care located outside Jayyus.

• 480 of 550 families (87%) have lost their sole means of livelihood.

• 180 families are receiving humanitarian aid.

• In order to farm their lands, 32 farmers are living in tents on their land, separated from their homes and families.

1 Chris McGreal, The £1m-a-Mile Wall that Divides a Town from its own
Land of Plenty, THE GUARDIAN (UK), November 26, 2002.
2 1 dunum = ¼ acre.

“You don’t simply bundle people onto trucks and drive them away…I prefer to advocate a positive policy, to create, in effect, a condition that in a positive way will induce people to leave.” [1]
–Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel

Fact Sheet:

Israel’s goal in building the “security” wall is twofold: (1) to confiscate Palestinian land in order to facilitate further colony expansion and unilaterally redraw geopolitical borders and (2) to encourage an exodus of Palestinians by denying them the ability to earn a living from their land, by denying them adequate water resources, and by restricting freedom of movement to such extent as to make remaining in the town or village an unviable option.

The first phase of the wall’s construction is complete. If the wall were truly about security, the wall would have been built on Israel’s 1967 pre-occupation border (the “Green Line”). However, the wall is not being built on the Green Line, but rather well within Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Case of Azzun Atma – Encircling the Village From All Sides

For an accompanying map, see http://www.nad-plo.org/maps/qalazzunatma903.pdf

* Situated within three kilometers of the Green Line, the village of Azzun Atma has a population of 1,500 Palestinians with half of the population under the age of 18. The village, and its neighboring village, Beit Amin, share two schools and a mosque.

* In 1982, Israel constructed the illegal colony of Sha’are Tiqwa between the two villages. The effect was to isolate the two villages from one another and disrupt territorial contiguity between the villages. The colony is located within meters of the village.

* The village yields the highest produce per dunum of land in the Occupied West Bank, and, as a result, the village is largely dependent upon its agricultural industry. Prior to September 2000, ten trucks of produce left the village daily: nine went to cities within the Occupied Palestinian Territories and one truck exported produce to Israel. Today, the main roads to the village have been completely blocked off, thereby preventing the shipment of produce.

* On March 13, 2003 Israel issued military orders for the construction of the wall.

Effects of the Wall on Azzun Atma

* Settlers living in the neighboring illegal Israeli colony of Sha’are Tiqva will have complete freedom of movement to and from Israel, while the Palestinians will be militarily caged into their village, unable to travel throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories or even visit neighboring villages.

* 25 homeowners have been forced to stop building their homes in order to create the wall.

* Part of the village’s high school (constructed in 1964) will be destroyed.

* 33 of the 36 schoolteachers will be denied the ability to enter the village, thereby impacting the education of the village’s schoolchildren.

* Nine homes, housing 49 Palestinians, will be outside of the wall and will be completely isolated from the remainder of the village, thereby separating families and denying the children the ability to attend school.

1 David Bernstein, Forcible Removal of Arabs Gaining Support in Israel, THE TIMES (LONDON), August 24, 1988, at 7.