GOI REMOVES CONCRETE BARRIER IN SOUTH HEBRON HILLS

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001684

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2017
TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER IS
SUBJECT: GOI REMOVES CONCRETE BARRIER IN SOUTH HEBRON HILLS

REF: A. 2006 TEL AVIV 01336


B. 2006 JERUSALEM 00438

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. On August 6, Poloffs saw workers removing a
41 kilometer-long, 82 centimeter-tall concrete barrier
between Shima and Karmel settlements in the southern Hebron
Hills area. According to the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel (ACRI),the barrier was dismantled and removed per
December 14, 2006 and July 24, 2007 Israeli High Court of
Justice (HCJ) rulings. The route of the concrete barrier
followed the original October 2003 separation barrier route,
although that route was revised in February 2005 following an
HCJ ruling. Palestinian residents in the southern Hebron
Hills area and human rights organizations argued before the
HCJ that the concrete barrier isolated 5,000 to 7,000
Palestinians from the rest of the West Bank and placed them
in a "seam zone" between the concrete barrier and the
separation barrier. End Summary.

Barrier is Removed
--------------


2. (C) On August 6, Poloffs drove along Route 317 in the
southern Hebron Hills area and witnessed cranes removing a 41
kilometer-long, 82 centimeter-tall concrete barrier between
Shima and Karmel settlements. According to B'Tselem, the
workers started removing the barrier July 30. On August 6,
PolOffs saw portions of it loaded, block by block, onto
flatbed trucks and taken away. ACRI reported that five of
the 41 kilometers of barrier remained as of August 7, and by
August 9, B'Tselem's Hebron fieldworker reported that all of
the barrier was removed.


3. (C) Removal of the barrier followed a July 24, 2007 HCJ
order that the GOI dismantle and remove it by August 6. The
court also awarded ACRI, Rabbis for Human Rights, and
Palestinian villagers 30,000 NIS in damages.

Construction and Impact of the Barrier
--------------


4. (C) Construction of the barrier began in early 2006
after the IDF issued military orders to confiscate 58 acres
of land in the southern Hebron Hills region to construct a
barrier. The concrete barrier's route resembled the original
October 2003 route of the separation barrier, although this
route had been revised in February 2005 following an HCJ
ruling. According to local residents, the construction
placed 5,000 to 7,000 Palestinians in a "seam zone" between
the concrete barrier and the separation barrier.


5. (C) According to Peace Now, residents were required to
pass through various gaps and gates along Route 317, some
several hours away on foot, in order to access roads to
Israel and/or the West Bank. They were also required to
cross Route 317 to reach a road leading to Yatta, a town of
20,000 that provides the area's Palestinian villagers with
medical care, employment, school and markets. (Note:
Palestinian vehicles are permitted to use Route 317, although
access from smaller roads is often closed. End Note.)
According to ACRI, the combined effect of concrete barrier
and the separation barrier was to isolate 80,000 dunams of
land and 21 Palestinian communities from the rest of the West
Bank.

Reaction: Small Step, Long Way to Go
--------------


6. (C) During an August 9 meeting, B'Tselem's Hebron
fieldworker told POLOFF that the removal of the concrete
barrier is a small step forward in improving West Bank access
and movement. He added, however, that Palestinian residents
in the southern Hebron Hills area are among the hardest hit
in terms of settlement expansion and freedom of movement.
WALLES