In summer 2002, in the context of continuing attacks on civilians in Israel, the Government of Israel began construction of a separation barrier (“The Wall”) – a complex series of walls, barriers, trenches, and fences – within the western border of the occupied West Bank. The international community requested a report on the Wall out of concern at the impact it could have on Palestinian livelihoods and the viability of local economies, as well as on humanitarian assistance and donor development projects.

The Local Aid Coordination Committee (LACC) commissioned the study, which was carried out under the direction of a Steering Group composed of members of the donor Humanitarian and Emergency Policy Group (the European Union Presidency (HEPG chair), the European Commission, the Government of Norway, the US Government, UNSCO, and the World Bank), plus the International Monetary Fund.

Thus far, the Government of Israel has initiated two construction phases. Phase One passes through the northwestern governorates of Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqiliya and Salfit, and Phase Two extends the Wall’s alignment 45 km east of Salem checkpoint in Jenin governorate. The Wall’s construction is also progressing in the Bethlehem and Jerusalem areas. While approximately 147 km of the Wall are under active construction as part of Phase One, as of early April only relatively small portions of the Wall had been completed – 4.5 km of electronic fencing in the northern section running south from Kfar Salam, over 4 km of wall to the west of Qalqiliya and to the northwest of Tulkarm, and about 3 km near Jerusalem. The future alignment of additional sections of the Wall – primarily east of Jerusalem and along the central and southern portions of the “seam area” separating the West Bank from Israel – remains under discussion, complicated by the number of large settlement blocs surrounding Jerusalem and south of Hebron. A second “eastern fence” that would incorporate other settlements and, in the process, sever Palestinian population concentrations in the West Bank from the Jordan Valley, is also reportedly under consideration, although not yet approved nor budgeted.