Why Israel Creates a Humanitarian Disaster in Palestine
by James Marc Leas
 
Palestine is suffering a manmade disaster stemming from a sequence of US backed Israeli actions: military occupation, the wall, the embargo, and now the military invasion. Israel's pretext for these actions has been suicide bombers, captured Israeli soldiers, and rockets fired at Israeli towns. The real purpose appears to be weaken, humiliate, and force out the civilian population so Israel can take over the rest of their land.
 
Back in 2003 a UN report stated that "a humanitarian catastrophe" was already building in the occupied Palestinian territories "as a result of extremely harsh military measures that the occupying Israeli military forces have imposed in response to the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000." The report concluded, "the current humanitarian crisis is a manmade crisis. It is absurd that in what can be a comparatively wealthy economy given its fertile lands, Palestinian men, women, and children should be going hungry." The report notes that "the Government of Israel has an obligation under international law to ensure the basic food and water needs of the occupied population and to provide assistance when necessary." (UN Commission on Human Rights, The Right to Food: Report by the Special Rapporteur, Jean Ziegler, Addendum, Mission to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 17 (UN Doc. E/CN.4/2004/10/Add.2 Oct. 31, 2003) Israeli action directly opposes that obligation.
 
Among many other protections of civilians living under military occupation, article 55 of the fourth Geneva Convention provides, "To the fullest extent of the means available to it the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate." In addition, article 33 provides that "collective penalties" and "all measures of intimidation or of terrorism" directed by the occupying power at the civilian population and "reprisals against civilians or their property" are specifically prohibited.
 
According to the UN report, "over 22 per cent of children under 5 were suffering from malnutrition" in 2002. The report further notes that food supply is so low and nutrition is so poor that many of these malnourished children "will have permanent negative effects on their physical and mental development."
 
The UN report notes that "the formerly vibrant economy has almost collapsed and the numbers of the extreme poor have tripled since September 2000. Around 60 per cent of Palestinians are now living in acute poverty (75 per cent in Gaza and 50 percent in the West Bank)." It states that "more than 50% of Palestinians are now completely dependent on food aid, yet humanitarian access remains problematic."
 
The UN report blames Israeli "curfews, road closures, permit systems and security checkpoints" and "the continued confiscation and destruction of Palestinian land and water resources" by Israel as "reducing the capacity of the Palestinians to be able to feed themselves and amounts to the gradual dispossession of the Palestinian people."
That was in 2003, when construction of the wall was just beginning and only a fraction of the land it now occupies had been expropriated from Palestinians. The UN report noted that the 2,875 acres of Palestinian land by then expropriated for the footprint of the wall "is some of the most fertile land in the occupied Palestinian territories" and the path of the wall "will also effectively annex most of the western aquifer system (which provides 51 per cent of the West Bank's water resources)" to Israel. The UN report notes that "with the fence/wall cutting communities off from their land and water without other means of subsistence, many of the Palestinians living in these areas will be forced to leave. It is estimated that 6000 to 8000 people have already left the area of Qualquilya."

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared in its July 9, 2004 decision that the wall, crossing land seized in 1967 by Israel, was illegal and stated that Israel is under an obligation to dismantle the wall. The court obligated all countries, including the US, to avoid supporting its construction and to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law. (see here and here). The ICJ decision also declared that “the United Nations, and especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider what further action is required to bring to an end the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall.” The ICJ decision also declared that “Israel is under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem.”

The ICJ emphasized that "both Israel and Palestine are under an obligation scrupulously to observe the rules of international humanitarian law, one of the paramount purposes of which is to protect civilian life." The court noted "serious repercussions for agricultural production" from construction of the wall, including the confiscation of "100,000 dunums [approximately 25,000 acres] of the West Bank’s most fertile agricultural land. . . upon which tens of thousands of Palestinians rely for their survival."

As if this was not enough, the humanitarian catastrophe from the military occupation and from the wall was then made vastly more intense by Israel's embargo on international aid and Israel's refusal to transfer Palestinian tax revenue starting in January, 2006 when the new Hamas led government was elected. The US appears to have given a green light to the Israeli embargo against the civilian population while adding its own restrictions on aid to Palestinian civilians. The rest of the international community appears to have gone along following the US lead, and parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention failed to convene and take action to protect millions of Palestinian civilians living under occupation.

In view of international humanitarian aid being the sole remaining lifeline for the Palestinian population, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied hard for the US Congress to impose strict conditions on aid to Palestinians in a bill entitled the "Palestinian Anti-terrorism Act" that was passed by the House on May 23, 2006.