Editing Separation barrier (section)

===Israel===
{{Main|Israeli West Bank barrier}}
[[File:Israel - Jerusalem - Mount Zion - 03 (4261536735).jpg|thumb|230px|Israeli West Bank barrier between [[East Jerusalem]] and [[Abu Dis]]]]
[[File:BeitSurikJune032022.jpg|thumb|230px|Israeli West Bank barrier and [[Beit Surik]] behind it]]
[[File:Die Mauer von Bethlehem.jpg|thumb|230px|Israeli West Bank barrier in [[Bethlehem]]]]
[[Israel]] began building the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] in 2002, in order to protect civilians from [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian terrorism]] such as suicide bombing attacks which increased significantly during the [[Second Intifada]]. Barrier opponents claim it seeks to annex [[Palestine|Palestinian]] land under the guise of security and undermines peace negotiations by unilaterally establishing new borders. When completed it will be a 700-kilometres long network of high walls, electronic fences, gates and trenches. It is a controversial barrier because much of it is built outside the [[1949 Armistice Agreements|1949 Armistice Line]] ([[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]]), ''[[de facto]]'' annexing potentially 10 percent of Palestinian land, according to the [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs]]. It cuts far into the West Bank and encompasses Israel's largest settlement blocs containing hundreds of thousands of settlers.

In June 2004, the [[Israeli Supreme Court]] held that building the wall on West Bank Palestinian land is in itself legal, but it ordered some changes to the original route, which separated 35,000 Palestinian farmers from their lands and crops. The Israeli finance minister ([[Benjamin Netanyahu]]) replied that it was disputed land, not Palestinian, and its final status would be resolved in political negotiation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-06-30-israel-barrier_x.htm |title= Israel orders separation barrier changes |work=USA Today |date=2004-06-30 |access-date=2013-11-22}}</ref> In July 2004, the [[International Court of Justice]] at [[The Hague]] in an [[advisory opinion]] declared the barriers [[International law and Israeli settlements|illegal under international law]] and called on Israel to dismantle the walls, return confiscated land and make reparations for damages.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/07/09/israel.barrier/index.html |title=U.N. court rules West Bank barrier illegal - Jul 9, 2004 |publisher=CNN |access-date=2013-11-22 |date=2004-07-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/pdfs/Palestine.pdf |title=International Court of Justice - Legal consequences of the construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Written Statement submitted by Palestine|date=30 January 2004|page=364|publisher=CNN|access-date=2013-11-22}}</ref>  In spite of all this, the number of Arab terrorist suicide bombings continued to decrease with the gradual completion of segments of the Security Barrier as was initially stated it would by the Israeli authorities.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ministry of Defense|title=Israel Security Fence|url=http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm#q26|website=MoD|access-date=6 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003072906/http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm#q26|archive-date=3 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bard|first1=Mitchell|title=West bank Security Fence|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/fence.html|website=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=6 May 2015}}</ref>

Israel refers to land between the 1949 lines and the separation barrier as the [[Seam Zone]], including all of [[East Jerusalem]]. In 2003, the military declared that only Israeli citizens and Palestinians with permits are allowed to be inside it; Palestinians have found it increasingly difficult to get permits unless they own land in the zone.<ref name=ICJ>{{cite web|title=Israel's Separation Barrier:Challenges to the Rule of Law and Human Rights: Executive Summary Part I and II|publisher=[[International Commission of Jurists]]|date=6 July 2004|access-date=2012-05-27|url=http://www.nad-plo.org/userfiles/file/Document/walllawhr.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418135746/http://www.nad-plo.org/userfiles/file/Document/walllawhr.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=MFA>{{cite web|title=Cabinet Communique|date=1 October 2003|access-date=2007-08-31|url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2003/Cabinet+Communique+-+1-Oct-2003.htm}}</ref> The separation barrier cuts off east Jerusalem and some settlement blocs from the West Bank, even as Israelis and Arabs build structures and communities in eastern Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2013/03/palestinian_official_rejects_p.html |title=Palestinian official rejects partial Israeli settlement freeze to restart peace talks |publisher=OregonLive.com |access-date=2013-11-22 |date=2013-03-24}}</ref> Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have continued to protest the separation barrier.<ref>Ben Ehrenreich, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/magazine/is-this-where-the-third-intifada-will-start.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Is This Where the Third Intifada Will Start?], [[New York Times]], March 15, 2013.</ref>

The existing barrier cuts off access to the [[Jordan River]] for Palestinian farmers in the West Bank.<ref>Ferry Biedermann, [http://www.ipsnews.net/2004/11/mideast-environment-too-encounters-a-barrier/ Mideast: Environment Too Encounters a Barrier], [[Inter Press Service]], November 25, 2004.</ref> Due to international condemnation after the International Court ruling, Israel did not build an even stronger barrier, instead instituting permit-based access control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.btselem.org/settlements/20060213_annexation_of_the_jordan_valley |title=13 Feb. 2006: Israel has de facto annexed the Jordan Valley &#124; B'Tselem |publisher=Btselem.org |date=2006-02-13 |access-date=2013-11-22}}</ref> It has been opined that this change was to allow land to be annexed.<ref>Akiva Eldar, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-effectively-annexes-palestinian-land-near-jordan-valley-1.396225 Israel effectively annexes Palestinian land near Jordan Valley], [[Haaretz]], November 18, 2011.</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2019}} Israeli settlement councils already have de facto control of 86 percent of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=576374 |title=Beyond the E-1 Israeli settlement &#124; Maan News Agency |publisher=Maannews.net |access-date=2013-11-22}}</ref> as the settler population steadily grows there.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/eu-on-verge-of-abandoning-hope-for-a-viable-palestinian-state-28701935.html |title=EU on verge of abandoning hope for a viable Palestinian state |newspaper=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |date=2012-01-12 |access-date=2013-11-22}}</ref>