Israeli fence 'will harm one in three Palestinians'
12 November 2003
The "separation fence" Israel is building in the West Bank will have "severe humanitarian consequences" for almost 700,000 Palestinians, the UN warned yesterday.
More than 274,000 will be stranded outside the wall because Israel refuses to build it along the internationally recognised Green Line. Thousands will be forced to apply for Israeli military permits to live in their own homes.
But the consequences will reach further, the report warns. A further 400,000 Palestinians will be cut off from their farmland, their jobs, universities and schools. "This means that approximately 680,000 - 30 per cent of the Palestinian population in the West Bank - will be directly harmed by the wall," the UN said in a report.
The "fence" - a series of concrete walls, deep trenches and double fences fitted with electronic sensors - has attracted international condemnation. Palestinians call it "Israel's Berlin Wall". Even the US, Israel's main ally, says it is not happy with the route. Israel says the purpose is to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers and other attackers crossing into Israel.
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