ICRC BRIEFS CHARGE ON WEST BANK BARRIER REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 000336 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREF SUBJECT: ICRC BRIEFS CHARGE ON WEST BANK BARRIER REPORT Classified By: CDA Mark Storella for reasons 1.4 B & D ¶1. (C) Summary: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva has issued a new confidential report on the humanitarian consequences of the West Bank Barrier. ICRC is sharing the report with the Government of Israel (GOI) and a limited number of other countries through their missions in both Tel Aviv and Geneva in order to raise awareness of these issues and to ask governments to support ICRC's recommendations in their own bilateral discussions with Israel. A copy of the report is being sent to PRM/MCE. End summary. ¶2. (C) Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, ICRC's Head of Operations for the Middle East and North Africa, briefed the Charge April 27 on ICRC's recent report, "Humanitarian Consequences of the West Bank Barrier's Winding Route: The Case of Qalqilia and Salfit Districts." Megevand-Roggo said this report is being shared with the GOI and with a limited number of Embassies in Tel Aviv and Permanent Missions in Geneva, including the UK, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Norway, Germany, and the European Commission in Brussels. She explained that ICRC considers the Barrier, in so far as it deviates from 1949 Armistice Green Line, to be contrary to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as per the Fourth Geneva Convention, since it represents a permanent annexation of occupied territory. ¶3. (C) Megevand-Roggo continued that the current report is focused solely on the humanitarian consequences of the Barrier, in particular in Qalqilia and Salfit Districts where the Barrier extends "like two fingers" into Palestinian areas in order to encompass Israeli settlements. She stated that the Green Line is approximately 18km long while the Barrier's deviation covers some 50km. The ICRC report quotes the effects of the Barrier to result "in expropriation, damage and destruction of Palestinian property and curtailment of access" and that it "hinders the local Palestinian residents' access to their relatives, land, work and basic services." ICRC claims in the report that all of the humanitarian consequences of the Barrier taken together contravene Israel's responsibility as an "occupier" under IHL. ¶4. (C) The Charge asked Megevand-Roggo if ICRC intended to make the report public or if it was moving in the direction of a public statement by discussing this report with a larger circle of governments. Megevand-Roggo said the ICRC has no intention at the moment to make the report public. Exhibiting clear frustration, she said that for forty-two years ICRC had maintained its traditional approach of confidentiality with governments in conversations with, and providing reports to, the GOI. She said that ICRC believes this has had virtually no impact on GOI practices, pointing to the recent Gaza conflict where Israeli conduct of hostilities was even worse than the conduct for which ICRC had criticized the GOI confidentially after the 2006 Lebanon war. For this reason, ICRC has decided to share its new report with a small number of countries it believes to have influence with the GOI, in the hope that they will incorporate ICRC's recommendations into their own bilateral discussions with Israel. Megevand-Roggo said she could not guarantee that ICRC would not make some sort of public statement in the future about these matters should ICRC decide that such action is necessary. ¶5. (C) The Charge thanked Megevand-Roggo for sharing the report, noting that the Barrier is a difficult issue. He reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution and underscored the new Administration's active engagement in the Peace Process. He urged ICRC, as it determines how to handle dissemination of such information, to take into consideration the strong investment the U.S. and others are making in advancing the peace process. He encouraged ICRC to stay in close contact with us on these issues, particularly if ICRC decides to go beyond its usual practice of confidentiality and make any public comments. Megevand-Roggo expressed appreciation for the U.S. role in the region and promised to stay in touch. ¶6. (C) The ICRC report lists the following recommendations: - Refrain from building all planned sections of the Barrier as long as they deviate from the Green Line. - Re-route constructed segments of the Barrier, avoiding the isolation of houses and villages in all cases. - Wherever communities are landlocked, find viable solutions for ensuring their regular access to essential services. - Widen the criteria for the attribution of agricultural permits, drastically increase their numbers, and refrain from issuing gate-specific permits. - Increase the number of gates and locate them in line with agricultural roads. - Allow year-round access with flocks, vehicles, machines, GENEVA 00000336 002 OF 002 tools, fertilizers and pesticides to lands isolated by the Barrier. ¶7. (U) We have forwarded a copy of the ICRC report to PRM/MCE. STORELLA