QALQILYA, 26 July 2007 (IRIN) - Three years ago, in July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague issued an advisory opinion, which, by a vote of 14 to one, declared the barrier illegal, and expressed particular concern that parts of it were being built within the occupied Palestinian territory.
In the Qalqilya district of the northern West Bank, many Palestinians were separated from their agricultural land and livelihood, because the barrier did not always follow the internationally recognised ‘green line’ between Israel and the Palestinian area.
Others found themselves divided from the rest of the West Bank. Overall, about 15 villages remain in the ‘seam zone’ between the serpentine path of the barrier and the border. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 50,000 Palestinians will be located in that zone when the barrier is complete.
The ICJ observed that these pockets were created for the benefit of Israeli settlements, which it declared were also illegal under international humanitarian law.
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