UNITED NATIONS Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory AREA C OF THE WEST BANK: KEY HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS UPDATE AUGUST 2014

KEY FACTS � Over 60 percent of the West Bank is considered Area C, where Israel retains near exclusive control, including over law enforcement, planning and construction. � An estimated 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C in about 530 residential areas, 241 of which are located entirely in Area C. � Some 341,000 Israeli settlers live in some 135 settlements and about 100 outposts in Area C, in contravention of international law; the settlements’ municipal area (the area available for their expansion) is nine times larger than their current fenced/patrolled area. � 70% of Area C is included within the boundaries of the regional councils of Israeli settlements (as distinct from the municipal boundaries) and is off-limits for Palestinian use and development. � Palestinian construction in 29% of Area C is heavily restricted; only approximately 1% of Area C has been planned for Palestinian development. � 6,200 Palestinians reside in 38 communities located in parts of Area C that have been designated as “firing zones” for military training, increasing their vulnerabilities and risk of displacement. � In 2013, 565 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, including 208 residential structures, were demolished due to lack of Israeli-issued permits, displacing 805 people, almost half of them children. � More than 70% of communities located entirely or mostly in Area C are not connected to the water network and rely on tankered water at vastly increased cost; water consumption in some of these communities is as low as 20 litres per capita per day, one-fifth of the WHO’s recommendation.

1. Most of Area C has been allocated for infrastructure. Structures, including the benefit of Israeli settlements, which homes, built without permits are routinely receive preferential treatment at the demolished and families forcibly evicted. expense of Palestinian communities, including with regard to access to land 4. Palestinian communities in Area C are and resources, planning, construction, among the most vulnerable in the West development of infrastructure, and law Bank. In particular, demolitions and enforcement. forced evictions deprive people of their homes and disrupt livelihoods, leading 2. Palestinian movement in Area C is to entrenched poverty and increased controlled and restricted by a complex aid dependency. The impact on children system of physical and administrative can be particularly devastating, including means. These include the Barrier, depression, anxiety and symptoms of post- checkpoints, roadblocks, and a permit traumatic stress disorder. system, which undermine livelihoods and access to basic services, as well as the 5. Israel, as the occupying power in the West ability of humanitarian organizations to Bank, has a legal obligation to protect deliver assistance. the Palestinian civilian population and to administer the territory for their benefit. 3. The lack of an appropriate planning International law prohibits the forced and zoning system in Area C means transfer or displacement of civilians that most Palestinians cannot obtain and the destruction of private or public permits for construction or rehabilitation property. It also prohibits transfer of of homes, animal shelters, or essential the population of the occupying power into occupied territory.

P. O. Box 38712 East Jerusalem 91386 l tel. +972 (0)2 582 9962 l fax +972 (0)2 582 5841 l [email protected] l www.ochaopt.org Scan it! with QR reader App United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory AREA C OF THE WEST BANK: KEY HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS Updated August 2014

Areas A/B Area C: areas within settlements' local and regional councils (70%) Remainder of Area C (30%) Governorate Capital ¥ 1949 Armistice (Green Line) Barrier - Constructed / Under Construction JeJ"nin Barrier - Planned

DEMOLITIONS AND DISPLACEMENT 2009-2012

Structures demolished People displaced TuJ"bas Tulkarm 1006 J"

809 805

Nablus 571 565 540 J" 478 Qalqiliya 357 319 J"

191 n a d r

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 o Salfit J J" r e

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i

R Over 7,000 Palestinian Bedouins residing in the central West Bank are at–risk of forced “relocation”. Part of this area has been allocated for the expansion of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement (the E1 Plan).

RamJ"allah No Man's Land JerJ"icho

en re Li (G ne ce ) 1949 Armisti

East Jerusalem

y r a a d n Bethlehem e u J" o S B

l d a Eight Palestinian villages and their 1000 (approx) n o a i t residents in Masafer Yatta are at risk of forced eviction e a n D r e and displacement because the area has been designated t n as a “firing zone” by the Israeli military. I

HeJ"bron

0 5 10 20 Km

2 FACT SHEET AUGUST 2014