***image1***At the end of July 2003, just over a year after beginning construction, the Israeli military announced the completion of the Wall’s “first phase”, which runs 145 km through the northern West Bank districts of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Qalqiliya. Though “completion” has been declared, the reality is strikingly different; the destruction of land and the demolition of homes and markets continue in this area on a daily basis. The large scale devastation to people’s livelihoods amidst the confiscation of land and resources in the Wall’s “first phase” highlights the real objective of the Wall – a massive land grab with the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land. Residents have already been forced to seek subsistence “elsewhere”, as the fate of being a refugee becomes a reality, which more and more families are beginning to face.
The following data refers only to what has taken place in the northern “first phase”.