A/HRC/19/20
their Israeli counterparts (A/66/364, para. 29). Israeli authorities in the West
Bank have the sole responsibility, capacity and jurisdiction to ensure effective
prevention and accountability for settler violence in the West Bank.
3.
The Wall and the case of Al-Walaja
32.
In the advisory opinion Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of 9 July 2004 issued upon the request of
the General Assembly, the International Court of Justice concluded that the
construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its associated
regime contravene international law (para. 42). The Court also concluded that
Israel is obligated to cease construction of the Wall inside the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, to dismantle the existing portions which lie inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, and to make reparations for damages caused by
the construction of the Wall (paras. 150-153). As of July 2011, the total length of
the Wall was approximately 708 km, which is more than twice the length of the
320-km Green Line (the 1949 Armistice Line) between the West Bank and
Israel. According to OCHA, when completed as per the planned route, 85 per
cent of the Wall will run inside the West Bank. Almost 62 per cent of the Wall is
now completed.28 Israel has not complied with the advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice.
33.
The situation of the village of Al-Walaja illustrates the situation of many
communities affected by the Wall. Al-Walaja is located 9 km south-west of the
Old City of Jerusalem and has a population of about 2,200 people. In 2006, the
Israeli authorities confirmed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) the plan of Israel to encircle the
village with the Wall, effectively isolating it as an enclave between Jerusalem
and the Etzion settlement block.29 Construction of the Wall resumed in 2010,
after years of inactivity, and hundreds of trees of different types were uprooted to
make way for the Wall, depriving dozens of families from an important source of
income. Since July 2011, the Israeli authorities uprooted at least 90 olive trees
and at least 100 trees of different types from the lands of the village of AlWalaja, directly affecting the livelihoods of many Palestinian families.30 The
community of the village continues to challenge the legality and the effects of
the Wall by petitioning the Israeli High Court, so far in vain.
4.
The situation of Bedouin communities
34.
Pressure levied by the Israeli authorities on Bedouin communities living
in Area C of the West Bank increased during the reporting period. The SecretaryGeneral recently noted that “over the last 30 years the Bedouin community has
experienced gradual, systematic dispossession of its land. Today Bedouins face
constant attempts to displace them from their homes and increasingly restricted
access to natural resources” (A/66/356 para. 44). Recent plans announced by the
Israeli authorities targeting the transfer of 20 Bedouin communities, including a
total of 2,300 people, from the Jerusalem periphery are of immediate concern.
28
29
30
12
OCHA, Barrier Update, Special Focus, July 2011, p. 3. Available from
www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_barrier_update_july_2011_english.pdf.
UNRWA, Al-Walaja: An Analysis under International Law, May 2011, third page.
Available from www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2011081763638.pdf.
UNRWA, Al-Walaja: Community at Risk of a Second Forced Displacement, October
2011.
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