US: The route of Israel's planned security barrier will put nearly 15 per cent of West Bank Land on to the Israeli side and disrupt the lives of nearly one-third of the Palestinian population, according to a United Nations report, writes Conor O'Clery in New York
The barrier of walls and razor wire under construction will trap 274,000 Palestinians in tiny enclaves and cut off another 400,000 from their fields, jobs, schools and hospitals, according to the report from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The United States has criticised the barrier's planned route deep into the West Bank, which Israel claims is needed for security but Palestinians say amounts to the mass seizure of their land. President Bush has said that it is a "problem".
The UN report was based on a map released by Israel showing the barrier twisting in and out of the West Bank for 430 miles. It will totally surround 12 Palestinian communities, leaving only gates controlled by Israeli security forces. About 90 miles of the barrier have been completed around the northern West Bank and near Jerusalem, and only 11 per cent will follow the green line, the boundary between Israel and the West Bank set after the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war.
The barrier will cut off 14.5 per cent of the West Bank and dip in some cases 14 miles into the West Bank, according to the report. "This land, some of the most fertile in the West Bank, is currently the home for more than 274,000 Palestinians," the report said.
Mr David Shearer, head of the UNOCHA office in Jerusalem, said people's lives would be seriously disrupted and the barrier would be disastrous for farmers, who would find it difficult to get to their fields and to bring their produce to market.
"For economic reasons, for education reasons, people will find it impossible to stay in these areas and they will choose to move out," Mr Shearer said.
The United Nations voted almost unanimously last month to demand that construction of the barrier be halted, but Israel has said it will ignore the resolution.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Defence Ministry told the New York Times: "We think the UN is toying with the numbers. We do have one number: the 6.5 million Israelis who will be better protected when the fence is finished."
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, said yesterday the wall was also meant to prevent "tens of thousands" of ordinary Palestinians from moving out of the West Bank into Israel.