Area C (West Bank): Difference between revisions

'''Area C''' ({{lang-langx|he|שטח C|Shetakh C}}; {{lang-langx|ar|منطقة ج|minṭaqa [[jīm]]}}) is the fully Israeli-controlled and only [[Geographic contiguity|contiguous territory]] in the [[WestJudea Bankand Samaria]],<ref name="World Bank">{{cite book | lastlast1=Niksic | firstfirst1=Orhan | last2=Nasser Eddin | first2=Nur | last3=Cali | first3=Massimiliano | title=Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy | publisher=The World Bank | date=2014-07-10 | isbn=978-1-4648-0193-8 | doi=10.1596/978-1-4648-0193-8 | hdl=10986/18930 | url=https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/978-1-4648-0193-8|quote=The economic significance of Area C lies in that it is the only contiguous territory in the West Bank, which renders it indispensable to connective infrastructure development across the West Bank... Area C is richly endowed with natural resources and it is contiguous, whereas Areas A and B are smaller territorial islands... Less than 1 percent of Area C, which is already built up, is designated by the Israeli authorities for Palestinian use; the remainder is heavily restricted or off-limits to Palestinians, with 68 percent reserved for Israeli settlements, c. 21 percent for closed military zones, and c. 9 percent for nature reserves... In practice it is virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain construction permits for residential or economic purposes, even within existing Palestinian villages in Area C... The same is true for the extraction of natural resources and development of public infrastructure.}}</ref> defined as the whole area outside the [[Palestinian enclaves]] (Areas A and B).<ref>In the definition of [[West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord]] it is defined as "areas of the West Bank outside [[Palestinian enclaves|Areas A and B]]".</ref> Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, containscontaining allmost [[Israeli settlements]] other than those in [[East Jerusalem]], and more than 99% of the area is off limits or heavily restricted for Palestinians.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000816222849/http://www.merip.org/pins/pin1.html ''The demise of the Oslo process'']. Joel Beinin, MERIP, 26 March 1999. "In area B, consisting of about 23 percent of the territory (including some 440 villages and their surrounding lands), the Palestinians are responsible for certain municipal functions, while joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols maintain internal security. Area C, consisting of about 74 percent of the territory including all of the 145 settlements and the new Jewish neighborhoods in and around East Jerusalem, remains under full Israeli control".</ref><ref name="World Bank"/> The area was committed in 1995 under [[West_Bank_Areas_in_the_Oslo_II_Accord|the Oslo II Accord]] to be "gradually transferred to [[Palestinian]] jurisdiction" (with an option for land swaps under a final agreement), but such transfer did not happen.<ref name=worldbank>{{cite web|title=Area C and the future of Palestinian economy|url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/16686/AUS29220REPLAC0EVISION0January02014.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=World Bank|access-date=7 September 2015}}</ref>{{rp|vii}} The area is richly endowed with [[natural resource]]s.<ref name="World Bank"/>

Area C (excluding [[East Jerusalem]]), which along with Area B is under Israeli military control since June 1967, is home to roughly 400,000 [[Israeli settlers]],<ref name="cbs_districts">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_17&CYear=2016 |title=Localities and Population, by Population Group, District, Sub-District and Natural Region |date=2016 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> and approximately 300,000 Palestinians;, who live in more than 500 residential areas located partially or fully in Area C.<ref name="hass">{{cite news |last=Hass |first=Amira |date=5 March 2014 |title=UN Report: 300,000 Palestinians Live in Area C of West Bank |url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.577997 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=27 April 2017}}</ref> The Jewish population in Area C is administered by the Israeli [[Judea and Samaria Area]] administration, into which [[Israeli law in the West Bank settlements|Israeli law is "pipelined"]], whereas the Palestinian population is directly administered by the Israeli [[Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories]] under military law. The [[Palestinian Authority]] is responsible for medical and educational services to [[Palestinians]] in Area C; however, infrastructure construction and supervision is done by [[Israel]].<ref name="btselem">{{cite web |title=Acting the Landlord: Israel's policy in Area C, the West Bank |url=http://www.btselem.org/download/201306_area_c_report_eng.pdf |publisher=[[B'Tselem]] |access-date=7 September 2015}}</ref>

The [[international community]] considers the settlements in [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|occupied territory]] to be illegal,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Prolonged Military Occupation: The Israeli-Occupied Territories Since 1967|last=Roberts|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Roberts (scholar)|journal=The American Journal of International Law|volume=84|issue=1|publisher=American Society of International Law|pages=85–86|quote=The international community has taken a critical view of both deportations and settlements as being contrary to international law. General Assembly resolutions have condemned the deportations since 1969, and have done so by overwhelming majorities in recent years. Likewise, they have consistently deplored the establishment of settlements, and have done so by overwhelming majorities throughout the period (since the end of 1976) of the rapid expansion in their numbers. The Security Council has also been critical of deportations and settlements; and other bodies have viewed them as an obstacle to peace, and illegal under international law.|doi=10.2307/2203016|jstor=2203016|year=1990|s2cid=145514740 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Italian Yearbook of International Law|volume=14|year=2005|editor1-last=Conforti|editor1-first=Benedetto|editor2-last=Bravo|editor2-first=Luigi|first=Marco|last=Pertile|chapter='Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory': A Missed Opportunity for International Humanitarian Law?|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-15027-0|page=141|quote=the establishment of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been considered illegal by the international community and by the majority of legal scholars.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law|title=Israel: The security barrier—between international law, constitutional law, and domestic judicial review|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=4|last=Barak-Erez|first=Daphne|author-link=Daphne Barak Erez|year=2006|page=548|quote=The real controversy hovering over all the litigation on the security barrier concerns the fate of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. Since 1967, Israel has allowed and even encouraged its citizens to live in the new settlements established in the territories, motivated by religious and national sentiments attached to the history of the Jewish nation in the land of Israel. This policy has also been justified in terms of security interests, taking into consideration the dangerous geographic circumstances of Israel before 1967 (where Israeli areas on the Mediterranean coast were potentially threatened by Jordanian control of the West Bank ridge). The international community, for its part, has viewed this policy as patently illegal, based on the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibit moving populations to or from territories under occupation.|issue=3|doi=10.1093/icon/mol021|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Self-determination and population transfer|last=Drew|first=Catriona|title=Human rights, self-determination and political change in the occupied Palestinian Hkterritories|volume=52|series=International studies in human rights|editor-last=Bowen|editor-first=Stephen|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|year=1997|isbn=978-90-411-0502-8|pages=151–152|quote=It can thus clearly be concluded that the transfer of Israeli settlers into the occupied territories violates not only the laws of belligerent occupation but the Palestinian right of self-determination under international law. The question remains, however, whether this is of any practical value. In other words, given the view of the international community that the Israeli settlements are illegal under the law if belligerent occupation...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories|author=International Labour Organization|year=2005|url=http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc93/pdf/rep-i-ax.pdf|page=14|quote=The international community considers Israeli settlements within the occupied territories illegal and in breach of, inter alia, United Nations Security Council resolution 465 of 1 March 1980 calling on Israel "to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem".|author-link=International Labour Organization}}</ref><ref>Civilian and military presence as strategies of territorial control: The Arab-Israel conflict, David Newman, Political Geography Quarterly Volume 8, Issue 3, July 1989, Pages 215–227</ref> and the [[United Nations]] has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel's construction of settlements constitutes a violation of the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]].<ref name="UN Resolutions 446, 452, and 465">{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/3822b5e39951876a85256b6e0058a478/5aa254a1c8f8b1cb852560e50075d7d5 |title=UN Security Council Resolution 465 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919170346/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/3822b5e39951876a85256b6e0058a478/5aa254a1c8f8b1cb852560e50075d7d5 |archive-date=19 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4714611.stm |title=What next for Gaza and West Bank? |publisher=BBC |quote=Most Israelis support the pullout, but some feel the government has given in to Palestinian militant groups, and worry that further withdrawals will follow. Palestinian critics point out that Gaza will remain under Israeli control, and that they are being denied a political say in the disengagement process. |date=30 August 2005 |access-date=5 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2Va21wfwvIC&pg=PA514 |title=Yearbook of the United Nations 2005 |page=514 |year=2007 |publisher=United Nations Publications |quote=The Israeli Government was preparing to implement an unprecedented initiative: the disengagement of all Israeli civilians and forces from the Gaza Strip and the dismantling of four settlements in the northern West Bank. |isbn=9789211009675 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D9AxJlXz64C&pg=PA58|title=Land Or Peace|author=Yael Yishai|page=58|year=1987|publisher=Hoover Press|quote=During 1982 Israel's government stuck to its territorial policy in word and deed. All the settlements in Sinai were evacuated in accordance with the Camp David Accords, but settlement activity in the other territories continued uninterrupted. A few days after the final withdrawal from Sinai had been completed, Begin announced that he would introduce a resolution barring future governments from dismantling settlements, even as a result of peace negotiations.|isbn=9780817985233}}</ref> Israel disputes the position of the international community and the legal arguments that were used to declare the settlements illegal.<ref name="MFA_FAQ_settlements">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israel-+the+Conflict+and+Peace-+Answers+to+Frequen.htm#settlements |title=Israel, the Conflict and Peace: Answers to frequently asked questions|date=November 2007| publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]| quote=Are Israeli settlements legal?}}</ref> The "[[Israeli outpost|outposts]]" are in contravention of Israeli law as well.<ref name=ochaopt>{{cite web |title=Under Threat: Demolition orders in Area C of the West Bank |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/demolition_area_c_3-9-2015.pdf |publisher=United Nations |access-date=7 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122104810/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/demolition_area_c_3-9-2015.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:West Bank Access Restrictions June 2020.pdf|thumb|Map of [[Israeli settlement]]s, as of 2020]]

Area C, excluding [[East Jerusalem]], is home to 385,900 [[Israeli settlement|Israeli settlers]]<ref name="cbs_districts"/> and approximately 300,000 Palestinians.<ref name=hass/>{{Update inline|date=August 2024}} According to the [[Norwegian Refugee Council]], Israeli planning and zoning regimes in Area C all but prohibit Palestinian construction in almost 70 percent this zone, and render the obtaining of permits in the remaining 30 percent nearly impossible.<ref>[http://www.nrc.no/arch/_img/9207734.pdf 'Fact Sheet: Building Permits in Area C of the West Bank,'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419191502/http://www.nrc.no/arch/_img/9207734.pdf |date=April 19, 2016 }} [[Norwegian Refugee Council]]</ref>