Monday, June 27th

AP PHOTOS: Israel's separation barrier, 20 years on

By ODED BALILTY Associated Press

Palestinians cross into Israel from the West Bank through an opening in the Israeli separation barrier between the West Bank town of Qalqilya and the Israeli Kibbutz Eyal Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

JERUSALEM (AP) - Twenty years after Israel decided to build its controversial separation barrier, the network of walls, fences and closed military roads remains in place, even as any partition of the land appears more remote than ever.

Israel is actively encouraging its Jewish citizens to settle on both sides of the barrier as it builds and expands settlements deep inside the occupied West Bank, more than a decade after the collapse of any serious peace talks.

Palestinians living under decades of military occupation, meanwhile, clamor for work permits inside Israel, where wages are higher. Some 100,000 Palestinians legally cross through military checkpoints, mainly to work in construction, manufacturing and agriculture.

Israel decided to build the barrier in June 2002, at the height of the second intifada, or uprising, when Palestinians carried out scores of suicide bombings and other attacks that killed Israeli civilians. Authorities said the barrier was designed to prevent attackers from crossing into Israel from the West Bank and was never intended to be a permanent border.

Eighty-five percent of the still-unfinished barrier is inside the West Bank, carving off nearly 10% of its territory. The Palestinians view it as an illegal land grab and the International Court of Justice in 2004 said the barrier was "contrary to international law."

Jewish settlers who live in the Rachel's Tomb compound enjoy their playground located next to a section of Israel's concrete barrier, separating them from the West Bank city of Bethlehem in the background, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

The United Nations estimates that some 150 Palestinian communities have farmland inside the West Bank but west of the barrier. Some 11,000 Palestinians live in this so-called Seam Zone, requiring Israeli permits just to stay in their homes.

The U.N. also estimates that about 65% of the roughly 710-kilometer (450-mile) structure has been completed.

The security benefits of the barrier have long been subject to debate and while the number of attacks has fallen sharply, other factors may be at play.

The intifada began winding down in 2005, after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died and was replaced by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is opposed to armed struggle. Most leading militants were captured or killed, and under Abbas, the Palestinian Authority cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israeli troops regularly operate in all parts of the West Bank, and Israel often announces that it has thwarted attacks before the assailants ever left the territory.

Vegetation grow by a section of Israel's concrete barrier separating Shuafat refugee camp from Jerusalem, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Earlier this year, during a renewed wave of violence, Israeli media reported that authorities have long ignored gaps in the barrier because they are used by Palestinian laborers. Those are now being closed, but the barrier is not expected to be completed anytime soon.

Last week, Israel began construction on a new barrier, some 45 kilometers (almost 30 miles) long in the northern West Bank, to replace a security fence built two decades ago. It says the new barrier will be 9 meters (30 feet) high - more than twice as high as the Berlin Wall.

Concrete walls that high can already be seen snaking through Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other urban areas. Near a main Israeli highway, the barrier is concealed behind dirt embankments planted with trees and flowers. In other rural areas, it consists of barbed wire fences with surveillance cameras and closed military roads.

Workers rebuild a section of Israel's separation barrier after a part of it collapsed, between Jerusalem and the West Bank village of A-Ram, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state.

In Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Hamas militant group seized power from Abbas' forces in 2007, Israel recently completed a high-tech barrier that runs along the 1967 boundary.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by the international community and views the entire city as its capital. But towering concrete walls cut off dense Palestinian neighborhoods that are within the Israeli-drawn municipal boundaries and have largely severed the city from the occupied West Bank.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in major population centers, but Israel retains total control over 60% of the territory. There it has built more than 130 settlements that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers. Many live on the other side of the barrier but have access to a rapidly growing highway system linking the settlements to Israeli cities.

With any peace process effectively frozen, the government has instead pursued what it refers to as goodwill gestures - mainly the issuing of more permits so Palestinians can enter through checkpoints and work inside Israel.

Palestinians walk by a section of the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Abu Dis in the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Kufr Aqab, a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem located on the West Bank side of Israel's separation barrier, is seen through a broken window of the city's shuttered Atarot airport, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A vendor sells goods to Palestinian laborers as they cross from Israel back to the West Bank at the end of working day, next to a section of Israel's separation barrier in Meitar crossing in the West Bank, Thursday, March 10, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Strawberries are offered for sale on a section of Israel's concrete separation barrier at the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Arabic on the wall reads " Palestine is all ours, water and salt". Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Goats graze in east Jerusalem, backdrop by a section of Israel's separation barrier surrounding Shuafat refugee camp, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A Palestinian man sits on a ladder next to a section of Israel's separation barrier, at the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian women sit on a section of Israel's concrete separation barrier next to a small market at the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian students wait for transportation next to a section of Israel's concrete barrier separating between Jerusalem and the West Bank village of A-Ram, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint on their way to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on the fourth Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Friday, April 29, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinians cross into Israel from the West Bank through an opening in the Israeli separation barrier between the West Bank town of Qalqilya and the Israeli Kibbutz Eyal Sunday, Feb 27, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra Orthodox Jews peek through a small gap in the concrete separation barrier built by Israel to secure the Rachel's Tomb Judaism's third holiest shrine, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, March 3, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

The West Bank city of Bethlehem behind a section of Israel's separation barrier is seen from Jerusalem, Friday, March 4, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra Orthodox Jews wait for transportation next to the concrete separation barrier built by Israel to secure the Rachel's Tomb Judaism's third holiest shrine, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Friday, March 4, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Metal sheets attached to a repaired a section of the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Abu Dis in the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Bushes grow over an abandoned car next to section of the Israeli separation barrier in the northern Israeli Arab town of Baka Al-Gharbiye, separated from its neighbouring West Bank village of Nazlat Issa, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian laborers wait for transportation after crossing into Israel from the West Bank at Eyal crossing between the West Bank town of Qalqilya and the Israeli Kibbutz Eyal Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A section of Israel's separation barrier cuts between Israel kibbutz Kramim and the southern West Bank village of Arab al Fureijat, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A section of Israel's separation barrier cuts between Shuafat refugee camp, in the back, and the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A section of Israel's separation barrier cuts between Israel kibbutz Kramim and the southern West Bank village of Arab al Fureijat, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A Palestinian woman hangs laundry at her house located next to Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Abu Dis in the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Stones, a tire and other objects are caught on top of Israel's eight-meter-tall separation barrier after they were thrown by Palestinians toward Israeli security forces who were patrolling on the other side of wall, between Jerusalem and the West Bank village of A-Ram, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A car wash station located next to Israel's separation barrier with Shuafat refugee camp behind it, in Jerusalem, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian man crosses into Israel from the West Bank through an opening in the Israeli separation barrier near Meitar crossing south of West Bank, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinian passengers get on a bus next to a section of Israel's separation barrier after crossing into Israel through Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Deer graze next to section of Israel's separation barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank village of A-Ram, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Kufr Aqab, a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem located on the West Bank is seen behind Israel's separation barrier, from the Qalandia crossing between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Twenty years after Israel decided to built its controversial separation barrier amid a wave of Palestinian attacks, it remains in place, even as Israel encourages its own citizens to settle on both sides and admits tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)