A/HRC/8/18 page 9 break the fast and observe the special Ramadan prayers in the mosque of their choice. Owing to the long queues, many people were obliged to offer their prayers and break the fast at checkpoints.19 19. Meanwhile in Gaza, the closure prevented the inhabitants from worshipping at sacred sites such as al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, the Ibrahimi mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of Nativity and other holy places in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Wall 20. In 2001, the Government of Israel announced its intention to build a barrier to separate Israel from the West Bank. The current planned length of the most recently approved route of the Wall is approximately 723 kilometres. As at March 2008, approximately 57 per cent of the planned route had been constructed. 21. When completed, some 80 per cent of the Wall’s length will run inside the West Bank. Approximately 250,000 Palestinians reside in villages and towns that will be totally or partially surrounded by the Wall, and about 9.5 per cent of West Bank land will be isolated by it.20 For Palestinians living in the closed area between the Wall and the Green Line, the Wall not only restricted their access to places of worship, but also affected their social relations, since family and friends on the “Palestinian side” required visitor permits to enter the closed areas, a fact which entailed significant distress for the population during times of particular religious and social importance, such as the Eid festivals, marriages and funerals. 22. Furthermore, prior to and during the reporting period, the construction of the Wall prevented access to, and endangered the preservation of, religious and cultural sites along its route or close by.21 The Wall also further separated Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Only West Bank residents with special permits could pass on foot through the four main checkpoints open for Palestinians. Thus, access to holy sites in Jerusalem for both Muslims and Christians residing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip became increasingly problematic.22 23. In its advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice concluded that the Wall gravely infringed a number of fundamental rights of Palestinians residing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that could not be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national 19 OCHA, East Jerusalem, The Humanitarian Impact of the West Bank Barrier on Palestinian Communities, January 2008, p. 38. 20 OCHA: Consolidated Appeal 2008, Occupied Palestinian Territory, p. 15. 21 See paragraph 55 below and “Monitoring Israeli Colonizing activities in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza”, a joint project between the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem (ARIJ) and the Land Research Center (LRC), funded by the European Union, 9 June 2005, http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=604. 22 OCHA. East Jerusalem. The Humanitarian Impact ..., p. 38.