Mine Ban Policy Overview

Policy

The State of Israel has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In March 2010, Israel reiterated its long-standing position on the issue, stating it has not joined “in light of the regional situation in the Middle East and the need to protect its borders. However, Israel supports the humanitarian principles of the Ottawa treaty.”^[1]

Israel has said that “it is unable to disregard its specific military and security needs” and that “it cannot commit to a total ban on anti-personnel mines as they are a legitimate means for defending its borders against possible incursions such as terrorist attacks….”^[2]

Israel is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. Israel submitted an annual report in accordance with Article 13 in November 2009, and has stated that it participates in the work on Amended Protocol II “in light of the importance attached to this issue, and the recognition that anti-personnel mines require appropriate handling and control.”^[3] Israel is not party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tzahi Hanegbi, along with 72 other members of the Knesset, submitted a bill on 10 May 2010 to establish a national mine action authority to manage the clearance of non-operational minefields in Israel.^[4]  The bill does not refer to the Mine Ban Treaty or address the issues of use and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, but it has helped to raise awareness about the treaty among politicians and the public.^[5]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Israel has said it “ceased all production and imports of antipersonnel mines in the early 1980s.”^[6] It has dismantled its antipersonnel mine production lines.^[7]

Israel declared a moratorium on the transfer of antipersonnel mines in 1994 that was extended for three-year periods in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008. The current moratorium is effective until July 2011.^[8]

On 31 December 2007, the Defense Export Control Act entered into force in Israel. The act “criminalizes, inter alia, any violation of the export without an export license or contrary to its provisions. This Act serves as Israel’s statutory framework for the implementation of its obligations under the CCW regarding restrictions and prohibitions on transfer and the Moratorium on any sales of [antipersonnel mines].”^[9] 

The size and composition of Israel’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines remains unknown, but it includes both hand-emplaced and remotely-delivered mines.^[10]

Israel’s November 2009 CCW Article 13 report states, “There were no newly emplaced minefields this year.”^[11]

Policy

The State of Israel has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  In 2009, Israel stated that while it “shares the views of those states wishing to alleviate the humanitarian concerns that may be associated with the use of cluster munitions,” it “believes that this could be best achieved within the framework of the CCW [Convention on Conventional Weapons].” Israel said that it “welcomes and supports the ongoing negotiations” in the CCW “aimed at urgently addressing the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions. In Israel’s view, the CCW is the appropriate forum to negotiate such matters, one that has traditionally enjoyed the membership and expertise of relevant states.”[1]

Israel continued to engage actively in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2009 and 2010. During the April 2010 session, in response to comments from Convention on Cluster Munitions supporters, Israel said that it was not its intention to see a CCW instrument be an interim transition to a total ban on cluster munitions.[2]

Israel did not participate at all in the diplomatic Oslo Process to develop and negotiate the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2007 and 2008.[3] It did not attend any of the international or regional diplomatic conferences related to the convention in 2009 or 2010 through July.

Israel had long been resistant to any new international restrictions or prohibitions on cluster munitions.  From 2000, when the CCW first began discussing cluster munitions, until mid-2008, Israel opposed any new rules or regulations for states on the use of cluster munitions, insisting that existing international law was sufficient. In justifying its use of cluster munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006, Israel stressed that it did so in conformity with international humanitarian law. It said, “Both international law and accepted practice do not prohibit the use of…‘cluster bombs.’ Consequently, the main issue…should be the method of their use, rather than their legality.”[4]

Israel is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. While Israel is party to CCW, it has not ratified Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Use

Israel used cluster munitions in 1973 in Syria against non-state armed group training camps near Damascus, in 1978 in south Lebanon, in 1982 in Lebanon against Syrian forces and non-state armed groups, and in 2006 in south Lebanon against Hezbollah.[5]  

Israel fired cluster munitions containing some 4 million submunitions into south Lebanon in 2006.  According to the UN, 90% of the cluster munitions were fired in the last 72 hours of the conflict.[6] A spokesperson for the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre for Southern Lebanon (MACC SL) said Israel’s use of cluster munitions “was unprecedented and one of the worst, if not the worst, use of submunitions in history.”[7] In January 2008, the Winograd Commission of inquiry appointed by the Israeli government reported that there was a lack of clarity regarding the acceptable or appropriate use of these weapons.[8]

During the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Hezbollah fired over 100 Chinese made Type-81 122mm cluster munitions rockets into northern Israel.[9] Israel has said that it has cleared all known UXO from these cluster munition attacks.[10]

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Israel has been a major producer and exporter of cluster munitions, primarily artillery projectiles and rockets containing the M85 dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunition equipped with a back-up pyrotechnic self-destruct fuze. Israel Military Industries (IMI) produces, license-produces, and exports cluster munitions including artillery projectiles (105mm, 122mm, 130mm, 152mm, 155mm, 175mm, and 203mm), mortar bombs (120mm), and rockets (EXTRA, GRADLAR, and LAR-160).[11]

IMI has reportedly produced over 60 million M85 DPICM submunitions.[12]  IMI concluded licensing agreements in 2004 with companies in India (Indian Ordnance Factories) and the United States (Alliant Techsystems) to produce DPICM. Companies in Argentina (CITEFA), Germany (Rheinmetall), Romania (Romtechnica), Switzerland (RAUG), and Turkey (MKEK and Rocketsan) have also assembled or produced these submunitions under license.[13]

Israel transferred four GRADLAR 122mm/160mm rocket launcher units to Georgia in 2007. Georgia has acknowledged using the launchers with 160mm Mk.-4 rockets, each containing 104 M85 DPICM submunitions, during its August 2008 conflict with Russia.[14] Cluster munitions of Israeli origin have been reported in the stockpiles of Colombia.[15]

Israel has also produced several types of air-dropped cluster munitions. The Rafael Corporation is credited with producing the ATAP-300, ATAP-500, ATAP-1000 RAM, TAL-1, and TAL-2 cluster bombs, as well as the BARAD Helicopter Submunition Dispenser.[16]

Israel has imported cluster munitions from the US, including M26 rockets (each with 644 submunitions) for its Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers and 155mm M483A1 projectiles (each with 88 submunitions), both used in south Lebanon in 2006.  The US has also supplied Rockeye cluster bombs (with 202 bomblets each) and CBU-58B cluster bombs (with 650 bomblets each).[17]

The size and composition of Israel’s current stockpile of cluster munitions is not known.  Additionally, it captured and possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[18]

Cluster Munition Remnants

It is not known whether Israel remains affected by cluster munition remnants. According to the commander of the bomb squad of the National Police, all known strike locations of cluster munitions fired into Israel from Lebanon by Hezbollah in 2006 were cleared of any remnants found at the time. However, no systematic survey was conducted, nor was there any attempt to identify strikes that may have landed in the desert.[19] Survivor Corps has claimed that Ktura Valley in Arava is contaminated by unexploded submunitions.[20]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Israel is affected by landmines dating back to World War II, and Israel has subsequently laid mines along its borders, near military camps and training areas, and near civilian infrastructure. The exact extent of overall contamination is not known, although an Israeli newspaper claimed in February 2010 that minefields covered 33km² and cited a United States Department of State estimate that 260,000 mines remain in Israel, primarily along the borders with Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the territories occupied during the Six-Day War in 1967.^[1]

Israel has claimed that all mined areas within its territory are fenced and marked with warning signs in Hebrew, Arabic, and English clearly positioned on the perimeter. Additional warnings regarding the location of minefields are said to have been given by local municipalities to the local population.^[2] Israel has declared that information on the location of minefields is provided to the Israeli Mapping Center. Maps are reportedly available to the public and periodically updated. Further information regarding the location of minefields is provided by local municipalities in response to land rights and use inquiries.^[3]

Fences and minefield markings are said to be regularly maintained by special army engineering corps units.^[4] On 6 February 2010, however, an 11-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister were injured when a mine exploded in the northern Golan Heights near Mount Avital.^[5] The children’s family, which was visiting the area as tourists, claimed there were no mine warning signs.^[6] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged problems with some of the fences around minefields on the Golan Heights, but asserted that the minefield where the incident happened was fenced and had clearly visible warning signs.^[7] The Northern Command did, however, decide to increase its supervision of the fences by teams responsible for the reportedly more than 2,000 minefields on the Golan Heights after the incident.^[8]

Cluster munition remnants

It is not known whether Israel remains affected by cluster munition remnants. According to the commander of the National Police’s bomb squad, all known strike locations of cluster munitions fired into Israel from Lebanon by Hezbollah in 2006 were cleared of any remnants found at the time. However, no systematic survey was conducted, nor was there any attempt to identify strikes that may have landed in the desert.^[9] Based on an interview with the head of Arava’s drainage authority, Survivor Corps has claimed that the Ktura Valley in Arava region is contaminated by unexploded submunitions.^[10]

Other explosive remnants of war

There are also other areas believed to contain explosive remnants of war (ERW), particularly UXO. Scattered UXO are reported to remain across several dozen military training areas in Negev region. Most of the UXO casualties are said to be Bedouins whose settlements and livestock grazing areas fall within contaminated areas.^[11]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

There is currently no national entity to manage or coordinate demining efforts. In May 2010, however, spurred on by calls for mine clearance from the 11-year-old boy injured in February, 73 members of the 120-seat Parliament co-sponsored a bill aimed at establishing a national mine action authority for clearing mines “that are not required for security purposes.”^[12] The bill, which was drafted by the US NGO Survivor Corps, sought to establish both a National Mine Action Authority and a mine action center to oversee a plan for mine clearance.^[13] It was suggested that removing most of the 260,000 mines lining the borders could occur in the coming five to 10 years at an estimated cost of approximately US$60 million.^[14]

On 17 February 2000, the government decided that mine clearance would be implemented by civilian companies and supervised by a civilian authority, which would initiate clearance requests. The IDF, however, decided a year later that it held sole responsibility for mine clearance.^[15] Nonetheless, certain civilian companies have since engaged in limited clearance operations.

Land Release

Israel does not provided detailed reporting on its clearance of mined areas. In 2009 through November, the IDF is said to have made significant progress in clearing “more than 10 minefields.” No details of the clearance were provided. Two other minefields were planned to be cleared by the end of the year.^[16] It is not known if this occurred.

Other Risk Reduction Measures

Mine/ERW risk education is not believed to be conducted in Israel.

Casualties

Casualties in 2009

At least two mine casualties, from two separate incidents, were reported in 2009; both were adult men who were injured. One was a Thai national.^[1] In 2008 two explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were identified.^[2]

Casualties continued to occur in 2010. In February, two children (one boy and one girl) were injured by a landmine when a family unknowingly entered a snow covered military area in the Golan Heights.^[3]

Seven mine/ERW casualties were recorded in Israel between 1999 and the end of 2009.^[4]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Israel is not known. Mine/ERW survivors are not treated differently from other persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services is responsible for disability issues.^[5] “Victims of hostile activities,” including mine survivors, are entitled to benefits, rehabilitation, and grants under the Benefits for Victims of Hostilities Law of 1970.^[6] The two children injured in February 2010 were evacuated via helicopter by an emergency medical response team and treated at Rambam hospital.^[7]

Israel signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 March 2007 but had not yet ratified it as of June 2010.