ARCHIVED WEBSITE
This site was archived on Aug. 3, 2021. The two-state solution is no longer the most popular solution among the jurisdictions involved. A reconsideration of the topic is possible in the future.The Nov. 24, 2003 “Report of the [UN] Secretary-General prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution ES-10/13,” contained the following description of the “closed areas” of the Israeli barrier:
“On 2 October 2003, I.D.F [Israeli Defense Forces] issued a series of legal instruments (‘the Orders’) pertaining to land in the north-west part of the West Bank that lies between the Barrier and the Green Line (‘Closed Area’). The Orders provide that ‘no person will enter the seam zone and no one will remain there’ and will affect 73 square kilometres and approximately 5,300 Palestinians living in 15 communites.
The Orders introduce a new system of residency status. Only on issuance of a permit or I.D. card by I.D.F. [Israeli Defense Forces] will residents of the Closed Area be able to remain and will others be granted access to it. Israeli citizens, Israeli permanent residents and those eligible to immigrate to Israel in accordance with the Law of Return can remain in or move freely to, from and within the Closed Area without a similar permit.
At the date of writing, most residents in the Closed Area had received permits although they were only generally valid for a period of one, three or six months. As for those non-residents seeking access to the Closed Areas, indications are that a majority of those who need or want access to the Closed Area had not yet received permits.
Even with a permit or I.D. card, access and egress are regulated by the schedule of operation of the access gates, which is reportedly limited at present to openings of 15 minutes three times a day. However, if residents are denied regular access to their farmlands, jobs and services, a concern is raised that Palestinians may leave the area. In this connection, it should be noted that in the past, Israel has expropriated land for not being adequately cultivated, pursuant to military orders or through enforcement of domestic legislation in the West Bank inherited from the Ottoman and Jordanian regimes.”