Gush Etzion

Gush Etzion
Susan Brannon
August 2004

"The revised route of the West Bank separation fence in the Gush Etzion region will penetrate deeply into the West Bank in order to encompass 10 Israeli settlements with some 50,000 residents, and four Palestinian villages with some 18,000 residents. A sizable amount of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area will also end up on the Israeli side of the fence."
New fence route grabs in 50,000 Gush Etzion settlers and 18,000 Palestinian villagers 30.12.2004 | 10:48 Aluf Benn The revised route of the West Bank separation fence in the Gush Etzion region will penetrate deeply into the West Bank in order to encompass 10 Israeli settlements with some 50,000 residents, and four Palestinian villages with some 18,000 residents. A sizable amount of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area will also end up on the Israeli side of the fence. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will bring the revised route of the separation fence around Gush Etzion and the South Hebron Hills to the cabinet for approval next month, following the January 9 election for a new Palestinian Authority chairman.
The route's approval could spark conflict between Israel and the new Palestinian leadership.The route was revised following a June 30 High Court of Justice ruling that invalidated a different section of the fence, on the grounds that it caused too much harm to local Palestinians. The revisions are designed to reduce the hardship that the fence will cause to Palestinian villagers in the Gush Etzion area, in the hope of enabling it to survive the High Court's scrutiny.
For the same reason, the revised plan also includes more crossing points in the fence and longer opening hours for these crossings. In the South Hebron Hills region, the new route will run along the Green Line, whereas the old route had curved into the West Bank to encompass five Israeli settlements, thereby also swallowing a sizable amount of Palestinian land. It was approved by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz in October, but Sharon did not want to bring it to the cabinet until he could also bring the new Gush Etzion route.
Government sources said that this "package deal" has two purposes: To soften international criticism of the Gush Etzion section by linking it with the concessions in the South Hebron Hills region, and to mute rightist criticism of these concessions by linking it to the enclosure of the Gush Etzion settlements.Work on the Gush Etzion section is slated to start this spring. The new route, the product of intensive discussions between the Defense and Justice ministries, will be presented to Sharon next week.