1. Over the course of the past six months (May- October 2009), the Israeli authorities continued to implement measures that increased the freedom of movement of Palestinians between most Palestinian urban centres in the West Bank. However, during the same period, there has been no significant improvement when it comes to access to land and use of space by Palestinians. In particular, Area C, which covers 60 percent of the West Bank has remained, to a large extent, off-limits for Palestinian use and development. Moreover, access of Palestinians to and from areas behind the Barrier, including East Jerusalem, and the Jordan Valley, as well as within the Israeli controlled area of Hebron City (H2), continued to be severely restricted.
2. The most significant measures improving the flow of Palestinian traffic between the main cities and towns throughout the West Bank, implemented mostly during June and September, were the following:
- the removal of two staffed checkpoints that controlled access into Qalqiliya and Nablus cities;
- the shifting of four staffed checkpoints that controlled access into Ramallah, Jericho, Qalailiya, and Salfit into "partial checkpoints", that are checkpoints staffed at an ad-hoc basis only;
- the relaxation of the crossing procedures at most checkpoints to the east of the Barrier, including the lifting of permit requirements, the extension of opening hours, and the performance of searches and documentation checking on a random basis only;
- The removal of 46 earthmounds and roadblocks that prevented vehicular access to main routes from various communities. The majority of these communities are located in the southern West Bank, particularly along roads 60 and 35.
3. The above measures added up to other movement easings implemented by the Israeli authorities, mostly since April 2008, which have resulted in a significant reduction in travel time between the main Palestinian urban centres (excluding East Jerusalem), as well as in the level of friction between Palestinians and Israeli forces at checkpoints.
4. The gradual relaxation in Palestinian movement between cities, which has been ongoing for the last year and half, has taken place alongside a process of entrenchment of some of the mechanisms used to control and restrict Palestinian movement. This process includes, among other elements, the expansion of the alternative ("fabric of life") road network and of key permanently staffed checkpoints. While some of these measures have contributed to the easing of movement, they exact a price from Palestinians in terms of land loss, disruption of traditional routes, and deepening fragmentation of West Bank territory.
5. The Barrier continues to be the single largest obstacle to Palestinian movement. During the reporting period, no improvement was observed regarding access of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to areas isolated between the Barrier and the Green Line, including East Jerusalem, which continued to be subject to a restrictive permit regime. Following the declaration of new areas behind the Barrier in the central and southern West Bank as "closed military zones" (also known as the "Seam Zone") in January 2009, the Israeli authorities gradually began requesting farmers "visitor permits" to access these areas. Even though for the olive harvest season that started in October the Israeli authorities issued additional permits and opened dozens of "seasonal gates", the productivity of groves located behind the Barrier was hindered due to the lack of access throughout the year.
6. In East Jerusalem, the Barrier and its associated permit regime continued to severely limit the access of Palestinians to specialized medical care, university education, work, social and family activities and events and places of worship. As in previous years, during the month of Ramadan (22 August – 19 September) the Israeli authorities only allowed West Bankers belonging to some age groups (men over 50 and women over 45) to access the Friday prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque without permits; moreover, due to poor preparedness at the four checkpoints, which Palestinians with West Bank IDs are allowed to use, those eligible suffered from long queues and severe overcrowding. The situation was particularly chaotic at the main checkpoint controlling access to Jerusalem from the central and northern areas (Qalandia checkpoint).
7. With few exceptions, construction of new sections of the Barrier continued to be frozen. In September, the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) ordered the state to relocate the Barrier on three sections between Tulkarm and Qalqiliya cities, after ruling that the current route causes a disproportionate harm to Palestinians. While, once implemented, the new route approved by the Court will improve access of farmers to some areas, it runs entirely within the West Bank keeping thousands of dunums of agricultural land behind the Barrier. The relocation of another section of the Barrier, around the Alfe Menashe settlement enclave, following a previous HCJ ruling, was carried out during this period and is almost complete. The new route will reconnect three communities behind the Barrier with the rest of the West Bank, while cutting them off from large tracts of their agricultural land.
8. Similarly, no significant improvement can be reported regarding Palestinian access into the Jordan Valley, north of Jericho. Entry of Palestinians into this area continued to be tightly controlled by four checkpoints. While since June 2009, all of these checkpoints are open 24 hours a day, the crossing of Palestinianplated vehicles through them remained restricted to residents of the Jordan Valley and to limited numbers of permit holders. The opening of one of these checkpoints (Ma'ale Efraim) for Palestinian vehicles in late August 2009 was short-lived as the restriction has been re-imposed within less than two weeks.
9. Israeli settlements remained the most important factor shaping the system of movement and access restrictions, including the Barrier's route. During October, the Israeli HCJ ruled on a petition challenging the prohibition on the use of a segment of Road 3265 in the western Hebron governorate by Palestinians. This was imposed several years ago to protect Israeli settlers living in a nearby "unauthorized" settlement outpost (Neghohot), who use this road to commute with Israel. As a result, residents of 12 villages along the road have been forced to make a long detour to reach service centres. The HCJ ruled that the harm stemming from this prohibition on the everyday lives of Palestinians is disproportionate, compared to the relevant security considerations, and gave the army three months to open the road for Palestinians. The ruling did not address the petitioners' argument that the prohibition is also illegal because it discriminates between the residents of an area on the basis of their national origin.
10. Movement of Palestinians within the old city of Hebron (H2), where three Israeli settlements were established in the 1980's, remained severely restricted by military orders and a total of 93 closure obstacles. In early August 2009, the Israeli authorities began allowing Palestinians living along a main road on this area, to travel on this road after obtaining a special permit. To enforce the new access regime, two new permanently staffed checkpoints were installed at both ends of the road. This development follows the "entrenchment pattern" mentioned above, by which a movement easing is accompanied by an increase in the level of control.
