A section of the wall running through occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. (Photo: Christopher Hazou)

What is Israel’s West Bank wall?

• In 2002, under the pretext of security, Israel began unilaterally building a wall to separate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from Israel and Palestinian occupied East Jerusalem, and from Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land in the West Bank. (See here for a map of the wall.)
• Human rights organizations and others have accused Israel of designing the winding route of the wall - which has been dubbed the "apartheid wall"- to put as much Palestinian land and as many Israeli settlements as possible on the western, or Israeli side, while placing as many Palestinians as possible on the eastern side, effectively annexing large swathes of Palestinian land. As noted by B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories:

“A key factor in determining the barrier’s route was the location of settlements, thereby laying the groundwork for the de facto annexation of most of the settlements and much land for their future expansion. The barrier thus became a major political instrument for furthering Israeli annexationist goals.”

• In addition to stealing Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s wall is designed to sever occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem from the West Bank, preventing East Jerusalem from becoming the capital of a Palestinian state as part of the “two-state solution” in Palestine/Israel supported by the international community, while increasing the number of Jewish Israelis and reducing the number of Palestinians in the city. (See here for a map of the wall around Jerusalem.) As noted by Israeli NGO Ir Amim:  

“the separation of East Jerusalem from the West Bank undermines the possibility of a political settlement in which East Jerusalem would be the capital of a Palestinian state… [W]hile the barrier surrounding the settlements serves to increase the ratio of Jews in the Greater Jerusalem, the barrier also extracts neighborhoods from the city with the goal of reducing the portion of Palestinians… Erecting the barrier within this framework is one more tool for Israel’s "divide and rule" policy, as a result of which Palestinian Jerusalem has been shattered to pieces.” 

Is it legal?

• Israel’s West Bank wall is illegal under international law and has been repeatedly condemned as such by the United Nations (UN), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and human rights groups.
• In 2004, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion ruling that the wall is illegal because most of it is built on Palestinian land inside the occupied West Bank, rather than along Israel’s internationally recognized pre-1967 border with the West Bank. The opinion read in part: “​​The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law.” The court called for the wall to be dismantled and for Israel to compensate Palestinians harmed by its construction.
• In a 2004 statement entitled, “West Bank Barrier causes serious humanitarian and legal problems,” the ICRC declared:

“the West Bank Barrier… is contrary to IHL [international humanitarian law]. The problems affecting the Palestinian population in their daily lives clearly demonstrate that it runs counter to Israel's obligation under IHL to ensure the humane treatment and well-being of the civilian population living under its occupation. The measures taken by the Israeli authorities linked to the construction of the Barrier in occupied territory go far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power under IHL.”

• As noted by Amnesty International in a 2004 report: “Amnesty International believes that the construction by Israel of the fence/wall inside the Occupied Territories violates international law and is contributing to grave human rights violations. In 2007, Amnesty issued a report entitled “Enduring occupation. Palestinians under siege in the West Bank,” which focused on Israel’s destruction of Palestinian property and forcing Palestinians off their land for the construction of the wall, noting: 

“The destruction of property by an occupying power is prohibited ‘except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations’... Furthermore, the seizure of Palestinian land for the fence/wall without adequate notice, consultation and due process of law, amounted to forced eviction – a further violation of international law.”

What impact has it had on Palestinians?

• Israel’s wall has caused enormous harm to Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel stole Palestinian land to build it. It restricts the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank and separates their communities from one another and the outside world, impacting their ability to work, study, and access medical care.
• In the West Bank, more than 10,000 Palestinians in some three dozen communities live in a state of limbo in the so-called “seam zone,” trapped between the wall and Israel’s internationally-recognized pre-1967 borders. Israel imposes a discriminatory bureaucratic regime on Palestinians in these areas intended to pressure them to leave their homes. As noted by B’Tselem:

“Virtually all aspects of life for the residents in these communities… are contingent on getting permits from [Israel]... Nearly all Palestinians over the age of 16 must obtain ‘permanent residency permits’ in order to continue living in the homes that their families have lived in for generations. The permits are valid for a fixed period, ranging from a single day to two years. Permits must be constantly renewed before they expire so the permit-holders can keep living in their own homes. In contrast, Israeli citizens or non-Israeli Jews are allowed to enter these areas and stay in them freely, even if they have never previously set foot in the place.”

• Thousands of Palestinian farmers have had their land taken from them or are unable to access it because of the wall. Approximately 34,000 acres of Palestinian farmland are located in the seam zone, amounting to about 12% of the potential arable land in the West Bank. Palestinian farmers with land in these areas require difficult to obtain permits from Israel and have to pass through Israeli-controlled gates, which are rarely open, to reach it. According to the UN:   

“Agriculture-based livelihoods of thousands of families have been undermined due to the gate-and-permit regime, which hinders farmers from accessing their farming and grazing lands in the ‘Seam Zone’. Permit applications are regularly rejected on grounds that farmers failed to prove their ’connection to the land‘ to the satisfaction of the Israeli authorities, as well as citing security concerns. The almost permanent closure of all agricultural gates, with limited exceptions, has forced permit-holders to stop cultivation or to shift from labour-intensive to rain-fed and lower-value crops.”

• The wall surrounding occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem cuts its Palestinian residents off from the occupied West Bank and leaves many Palestinian neighborhoods on the eastern side, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the city. separating tens of thousands of Palestinians from their families, property, jobs, schools, medical facilities, and holy places in Jerusalem. According to Ir Amim:

“The barrier’s path disconnects eight Palestinian neighborhoods from the city, even though they are within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, and their residents are Palestinian Jerusalemites… An estimated 80,000 Jerusalem Palestinians currently live in those neighborhoods…  their de facto physical separation from the city has led to a near-total halt in municipal services, development of physical and social infrastructures, emergency services and more. Thus, tens of thousands of Jerusalem residents, with the status of permanent residents of Israel, live in no man's lands that are gradually turning into pockets of poverty and neglect, do not receive the most basic services to which every resident is entitled and are required to go through checkpoints every time they wish to enter their own city.”

• Israel’s wall has also had a disastrous impact on the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Along with Israeli settlements, the wall almost completely encircles Bethlehem, cutting it off from its surrounding lands and from Jerusalem, which historically it was closely connected to economically and culturally. As a result, Palestinians are able to use only about 13% of the land in the Bethlehem district.
   

Israel’s West Bank wall: By the numbers

• Between 422 and 440 miles: Projected length of the wall once it’s completed. That’s more than twice the length of Israel’s border with the West Bank, as the wall snakes deep inside the West Bank to encompass many Israeli settlements on the western side, or Israeli side. (As of 2022, about 65% of the wall had been finished.)
• 125 miles: Length of the wall that surrounds occupied East Jerusalem.
• Approximately 85%: Amount of the wall that has been built or planned that is on occupied Palestinian land inside the West Bank rather than along Israel’s internationally-recognized  pre-1967 border.
• Approximately 10%: Amount of the occupied Palestinian West Bank that is on the western, or Israeli, side of the wall.
• Approximately 85%: Amount of the Israeli settler population projected to end up on the western, or Israeli, side of the wall once it is completed.
• Approximately 34,000 acres: Amount of  Palestinian farmland that is located in the “seam zone” between the wall and Israel’s internationally-recognized border with the West Bank, which Israel makes it extremely difficult for Palestinian farmers to access.

See also

• Explainer: Israel’s Settlement Enterprise (West Bank & East Jerusalem)
• Quick Facts: Israel's Settlement Enterprise (West Bank & East Jerusalem)
• Fact Sheet: Israeli Settlements & International Law
• Fact Sheet: Israel’s E1 Settlement