Applied Research Institute: 28.5% more land cut off by Wall

Tuesday September 18, 2007 15:33 by Manar Jibrin - IMEMC News& agencies

A report issued Thursday by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), an NGO based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, has revealed that more adjustments have been made to the route of the illegal Israeli wall in the West Bank than were approved in April 2006.

The report states that changes to the Wall's route have increased the area of land isolated behind the illegal structure to 712,920 thousand dunums, up 28.5% on the previous year. The Wall itself has been lengthened by 67 kilometers and is now 770 kilometers long, an increase of 9.5% on 2006.

The report adds that much of the land now cut off is located in the south eastern areas of the West Bank and in the eastern part of the Jordan Valley, adjacent to what naturally forms part of the southern West Bank.

It clarified that the 53.5 km extension heading north-east from the Hebron district had annexed 153,780 dunums between the Wall and the Green Line and which, according to the report, denies Palestinian rights to part of the area by the Dead Sea.

Another change occurred in the area to the north-west of the city of Ramallah where a 13.5 km section of the Wall was added, annexing the settlements of Neli and Ne'lieh and isolating a further 4,140 dunums.

In its report, the Institute asserted that the changes the Israeli army is making on the ground repeatedly fail to take into account political developments. The army is also guilty of ignoring agreements made between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Israelis are taking advantage of the upheavals in Palestinian politics and the tense international situation to redraw their borders, thereby imposing de facto changes and by-passing bilateral, regional and international attempts to make progress in the continuing Palestinian –Israeli conflict.

Translated by Manar Jibrin – IMEMC News Room

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