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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: March 22, 2006 |
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A U.N. report released Tuesday said West Bank Palestinians who are cut off from their farmland by Israel's security barrier are abandoning their plots.
The study by the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and U.N. Relief and Works Agency covered the Palestinian regions of Qalqiliya and Tulkarem, where 180,000 Palestinians live. Because of the rural nature of these areas, many Palestinian residents rely on farming for their livelihoods.
The report did not say how many Palestinians have left their land.
After a wave of suicide bombings in Israel in 2001, Israel began constructing fences and walls along the West Bank to keep Palestinian attackers from entering the country. The barrier that cuts into the West Bank at several points to include Jewish settlements on the "Israeli" side.
Palestinians charge that the barrier is a land grab, and human rights groups have frequently complained about it.
"Palestinians ... have faced increased difficulty accessing their farmland," according to the report. "The result is widespread loss of agricultural livelihoods." In the past, UNOCHA has greatly exaggerated the number of people directly affected by the barrier, once putting the number at 400,000, a figure later repudiated by the U. N. itself.
Israeli security forces often open the gates at limited or unpredictable times, according to the report.
Adam Avidan of the Israeli military's civil administration said that in general, Palestinians who need permits receive them, though sometimes security considerations cause delays. He said the gates are opened several times a day for farmers, students and others.
AP contributed to this report. |
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