Construction of Israeli separation barrier has speeded up, Security Council told
Israel has quickened the pace of erecting its separation barrier between itself and Palestinian territories, dividing
Palestinian communities and families and threatening to seal off Jerusalem from the West Bank, a senior United Nations
official told the Security Council today.
"Over the last month the speed of construction has accelerated," Kieran Prendergast, UN Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs, told the Security Council in his monthly briefing on the Middle East. "Palestinians along the
barrier's route face land loss and severely restricted access to jobs, markets and essential social services…We repeat
our call to the Israeli authorities to halt construction of the wall."
Yesterday the UN General Assembly reconvened an emergency session on the Middle East to consider the barrier's
construction as well as two draft resolutions on the question. One, similar to a version already vetoed by the United
States in the Security Council, would have the Assembly say the construction was illegal. The other draft proposed
asking the International Court of Justice in The Hague for an advisory opinion on whether Israel should cease
construction of the barrier and dismantle the portions it has already built.
A recent report from the three co-chairs of a Local Aid Coordination Committee said that around East Jerusalem the
barrier "affects tens of thousands of Palestinians as it divide communities and families and threatens to seal Jerusalem
off from the rest of the West Bank," Mr. Prendergast said in his Council briefing. He named the co-chairs as the World
Bank, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and Norway.
Earlier this month, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had issued an order on the areas between the barrier and the Green
Line specifying that "people aged 12 years and older who resided in these areas before the military order was issued
must now have entry permits to continue doing so. Free access will be granted only to Israelis," Mr. Prendergast said.
"This order marks an unacceptable deepening of restrictions against Palestinians caught between the Barrier and the
Green Line."