The Note of the Secretary General on the Economic and Social Repercussions of the Israeli Occupation on the Living Conditions of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the Arab Population in the Occupied Syrian Golan

Prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western AsiaPresented by Tarik AlamiDirector, Emerging and Conflict Related Issues Division

Economic and Social CouncilSubstantive Session

July 2013

Legislative MandateECOSOC Resolution 2012/23: • Concern over Israeli practices that violate international humanitarian law

– Movement restrictions [including the Gaza blockade]– Violence against civilians– Incarceration of Palestinians, including children under harsh conditions– Destruction of homes and properties, and agricultural lands and orchards – Expansion of Israeli settlements– Construction of the wall – Exploitation of natural resources

GA Resolution 67/229: • Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the peoples under Israeli occupation

over their natural resources– Demanding a halt to the exploitation, damage, or endangerment of natural resources – Stressing the illegality of the wall and the Israeli settlements– Calling upon Israel to desist from altering the character and status of the occupied

territory, including East Jerusalem– Calling for the cessation of all actions harming the envireonment– Calling for the cessation of the destruction of Palestinian vital infrastructure

Inputs and contributions by:UNCTAD, UNRWA, OCHA, ILO, FAO, WHO, UNSCO, UNEP, UNESCO, OHCHR, UNFPA, DPA

Legislative Mandate

“… there is no presently applicable international legal framework that captures the extent to which

the interests and wellbeing of the civilian population are severely jeopardized, perhaps irreversibly, if the

occupation lasts longer than five years…”Richard Falk

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967

The Occupied Palestinian Territorya. Israeli Policies

OPT: Israeli Policies

• Policies and practices which “amount to de facto segregation”– Two entirely separate Israeli legal systems and sets of institutions– Unequal use of roads and infrastructure– Unequal access to basic services and water resources– A matrix of military orders applied only to Palestinians

• Discrimination against Palestinians – Planning and construction permits – Land expropriation and demolition of houses – Revocation of residency permits and social benefits of Palestinians

• Palestinian construction effectively allowed on 1% of Area C (60% of the West Bank)– Palestinians forced to build without permits

• Residency status of 265,000 Palestinians since 1967

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryb. Excessive Use of Force and Detentions

OPT: Excessive Use of Force and Detentions

• 268 Palestinians including 42 children killed 4483 others were injured (30 March 2011 - 29 March 2012)

• 14-21 November 2012 Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip: – At least 99 Palestinian civilians killed – 13 women and 33 children

OPT: Excessive Use of Force and Detentions

• 4713 Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli prisons (Feb 2013) – 253 children– Denial of due process rights – Physical and psychological pressure to sign confessions– Cases amount to torture

• Palestinian child prisoners: institutionalized ill-treatment– 87% of denied bail– Solitary confinement for 12%– Discrimination between Palestinian and Israeli child prisoners

UNICEF: “In no other country are children systematically tried by juvenile military courts”

Israel’s frequent use of administrative detention amounts to a policy of widespread and systematic arbitrary detention.

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryc. Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and

Population Displacement

OPT: Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement

• November 2012 offensive: displacement of 3,000 Palestinians whose homes had been destroyed or severely damaged.

• 189 Palestinian homes demolished in Area C and East Jerusalem in 2012: displacement of 815 people

• Emergency shelters and other emergency items demolished/confiscated

• 93,100 East Jerusalemites at potential risk of displacement

• Plans to “relocate” approximately 27,000 Bedouin and herding Palestinians living in Area C

The Israeli government supports forced eviction of Palestinians and takeover of their homes by settlers in East Jerusalem

OPT: Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement

Since 1967, Israel has seized over 40 per cent of the West Bank and placed it within the jurisdictional

boundaries of settlement councils prohibiting Palestinian access to that land.

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryd. Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence

OPT: Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence

• 536,932 settlers (2011) in 150 settlements and 100 unauthorized outposts in the oPt

• Setter growth rate: 5.3% (1.8% for the Israeli population as a whole).

• Israeli settlers now represent approximately 19% of the West Bankpopulation.

• E1 settlement plan: – several thousand housing units– completely sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank

– Sever northern and southern West Bank

• Aim at forcing Palestinians off their land• Increase in “racist violence and acts of vandalism” • Settler perpetrators enjoy impunity• Attacks against mosques, churches and burial grounds• 355 settler violence incidents recorded in 2012• 5,832 trees destroyed/uprooted (March 2012 - January 2013)• Israeli military focuses on dispersing Palestinians

OPT: Israeli Settlements and Settler Violence

In a single night, Israeli settlers uprooted 210 olive trees in a Palestinian village near Nablus

OPT: Home Demolitions, Property Confiscation and Population Displacement

Impunity: Of 162 monitored police investigations of cases of

vandalism of Palestinian-owned trees in the West Bank since 2005, only one resulted in an indictment.

The Occupied Palestinian Territory

e. The Wall

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryf. Mobility Restrictions and Closure Policies

Map Courtesy of OCHA-OPT

The Gaza Strip: Blockade and Access Restrictions

•Blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since June 2007:

• collective punishment in direct violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention

• 1.6 million people ‘locked in’

•Most fundamental parameters of Israel’s blockade remain in place

• Movement of Palestinians in and out difficult and largely banned

• Limited access of humanitarian assistance• Importation of basic construction materials

heavily restricted

•Buffer zone with in the Strip • Denying Palestinians access to 35% of the

Strip’s agricultural land

•Sea areas beyond 3 nautical miles barred for Palestinians

• Denial of access to 85% maritime areas (under Oslo Agreements)

• 80% decline in catch

Map Courtesy of OCHA-OPT

Mobility Restrictions in the West Bank:Closed Areas/Natural ReservesRoad ObstaclesThe WallRestricted RoadsSettlements

• 40% (settlements) + 18% (firing zones) + (10% wall)

= 68% of West Bank off limits to Palestinians

• By the end of 2012:

• 542 obstacles hindering Palestinian movement

• 180,000 Palestinians have to use 2 to 5 times longer detours

• Segregated roads within Hebron

• Palestinians with West Bank IDs require special entry permits to access East Jerusalem

• 60,000 Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea remain de facto isolated

Fragmentation

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryg. Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment

OPT: Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment

In the West Bank:• Israel controls Palestinian water resources:– 11% allocated to the Palestinians– Installing, upgrading, protecting denied by Israel– The Wall damaged/destroyed vital water resources or made them inaccessible– 33 water and 16 sanitation infrastructure demolished (first 9 months of 2012)

70 litres/day for a Palestinian v/s 450 litres/day for an Israeli settler

In the Gaza Strip:• The blockade and military strikes increase pressure on water

resources:– 90-95% of ground water unfit for human consumption– Gaza will have no drinkable water in 15 years

Ramallah receives more annual rainfall

than London

Map Courtesy of OCHA-OPT

OPT: Impact on Natural Resources and the Environment

Impact of the Blockade on sanitation infrastructure in the Gaza Strip:• 89 million litres of untreated sewage

discharged into the sea every day• 84% of 40,000 cesspits in use in Gaza

manually emptied• In 2012, 3 children drowned in pools of open sewage

In the West Bank:• Israeli refusal of permits to develop

sanitation infrastructure:• 31% of Palestinians are connected to the

sewage network• 40-50 million cubic metres of untreated

sewage into natural drainages annually• Israeli settlements and industries dump

wastewater and solid waste• The wall impacted natural habitats :

• Very rare floral and faunal species potentially disappearing altogether

• 22 animal species under threat of extinction

Moving on to the economic and social impact of the occupation…

The Occupied Palestinian Territoryh. Social and Economic Indicators

OPT: Social and Economic IndicatorsWest Bank and Gaza Strip:• Economic growth: unsustainable and restrained• Unemployment: 22.9% (Q4 2012)• Average real wages 8.4% lower than their level five years earlier• 25.8% below the poverty line (2011)• 12.9% below the deep poverty line (2011) East Jerusalem:• 78% (84% of children) below the poverty line –worst rates on record • More than 5,000 Palestinian businesses closed down since 1999

OPT: Social and Economic IndicatorsThe November 2012 offensive on Gaza (and

blockade):• 40% of essential drug items 50% of medical

consumables out of stock• 13 primary health care centers and 2 hospitals

partially damaged, 1 field hospital directly hit• 25,000 to 50,000 people will need some form of

psychological intervention to address the long-term effects of the offensive

• Anaemia: 58.6% of school children, 68.1% infants (9-12 months), 36.8% of pregnant women in (Gaza)

• Stunting (chronic malnutrition): 10% of children under five in (Gaza)

• Iron deficiency anaemia: 50% of children under 2 years of age (West Bank and the Gaza Strip)

40% of Palestinian households are food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity

OPT: Social and Economic IndicatorsIn Gaza:• 250 new schools needed • 87% of UNRWA schools operate double shifts• Shipping containers utilized as classrooms• 286 schools, kindergartens…etc. damaged or destroyed In the West Bank:• Shortage or inadequate school infrastructure • 38 schools received verbal and written stop-work/demolition orders• Access to school hindered by physical obstacles, threats and harassment by

the Israeli army and settlers

The Occupied Syrian Golan

The Occupied Syrian Golan

• Israeli incentives and services for settlers residing in the occupied Syrian Golan

• 5 Syrian villages deprived of physical space for organic growth:– New construction not authorized – Houses are either renovated or new floors are added – 11,000 Syrian citizens live in 1,200 houses in Majdal Shams

• Inequality regarding access to land, housing and basic services• 750 cubic metres of water/dunam for Israeli settlements v/s 200

cubic metres/dunam for Syrians • Cost of water to the Syrian farmers 400% more than to the cost to

the settlers• Family ties for Syrians interrupted due to the Israeli Citizenship Law

Israel to authorize drilling for oil on the occupied Golan Heights

Recommendation

The international community should:• Exert all efforts to ensure the implementation of

international law and relevant UN resolutions• Support initiatives that seek to end the Israeli

violations of international law in the occupied territories, especially Israeli settlement activities