LM Report 2002

PALESTINE

Key developments since May 2001: Twenty landmine and UXO casualties were recorded in 2001, and another 45 casualties were recorded in just the first four and one-half months of 2002. More than 90 mine risk education activities were conducted during the reporting period.

MINE BAN POLICY

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have made no new statements with respect to banning antipersonnel mines since April 2000, when an official stated the PA’s support for and desire to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.^[1] PA representatives did not participate in any international landmines-related meetings during the reporting period, including the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001.

STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION, TRANSFER

Some armed Palestinian groups are believed to have access to landmines, both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. A number of recent media reports indicate that these groups are taking the high explosives from landmines to manufacture other types of explosive devices. According to reports citing Israeli military intelligence sources, the explosive RDX has recently been found in remnants of human-activated bombs inside Israel and in bomb fabricating facilities seized in the West Bank. This type of explosive has not previously been encountered in the conflict.^[2] RDX is an explosive commonly used in conjunction with TNT in mines, especially antivehicle mines.^[3] In the past two years, there have been media reports that armed Palestinian groups have recovered emplaced mines from previous conflicts in order to utilize the explosive contents.^[4]

On 3 January 2002, the Israeli navy seized a ship, the Karine A, carrying weapons in international waters of the Red Sea. Immediately following the incident, the Israeli government stated that it possessed proof linking the weapons shipment with the PA. PA President Yasser Arafat denied any knowledge of the weapons shipment and Palestinian security services arrested PA personnel implicated in the shipment. The Israeli Army published a list of weaponry seized from the ship that included 311 YM-I antipersonnel mines and 211 YM-III antivehicle mines, both manufactured by Iran, in addition to demolition blocks and other high explosives.^[5] This is the second incident in recent years of Israeli-intercepted arms shipments containing landmines reportedly destined for Palestine.^[6]

USE

Not only antipersonnel mines, but also explosive booby-traps and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that are victim-activated are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty. Reports of incidents are not always clear whether the devices used are victim-activated or command-detonated. Media and other reports often use terms interchangeably, citing the use of bombs, landmines, booby-traps and improvised explosive devices by armed Palestinian groups and Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

On 15 February 2002, it was reported that three Israeli soldiers died when their tank triggered the explosion of an antivehicle mine allegedly planted by armed Palestinian groups.^[7]

According to field research conducted by Human Rights Watch immediately after the April 2002 battle inside a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin, armed Palestinians prepared for the attack by laying explosive booby-traps in many areas. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert told Human Rights Watch that he had defused forty Palestinian-made bombs in a single day.^[8] Other sources with on the ground experience in Jenin have told Landmine Monitor that there was significant Palestinian use of tripwire-initiated IEDs and command wire-initiated IEDs in Jenin.^[9]

Allegations and incidents of Israeli use of explosive devices are reported in the Landmine Monitor country report on Israel.

MINE ACTION

Mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) affect Palestinian villages adjacent to Israeli minefields and military training bases.^[10] The scope of the UXO problem increased during the reporting period beyond minefields and military training zones, to include areas of confrontation between the Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers, and areas subject to attacks like shelling and other direct and indirect firing. Many UXO have been found in these areas.

But, the mine and UXO problem does not constitute a priority for Israel or the PA at this time. No mine clearance took place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories during the reporting period. A 1999 audit by the Israeli State Comptroller reported that most Israeli minefields in the Occupied Palestinian Territories had no value from a military point of view.^[11]

Following the April 2002 conflict in the Jenin refugee camp, the United Nations brought in international explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts to work in the camp, suggesting a widespread presence of explosive objects. A technical mission from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) arrived in Jenin on 29 April 2002 and set up the UN Explosive Ordnance Disposal Action Cell to deal with the threat to civilians there. A report from the UN Relief and Works Agency said on 1 May 2002 that many items of unexploded ordnance had already been cleared by EOD technicians, and two schools and several houses containing suspected items of UXO had been cleared. The report also noted that “items of UXO are sporadically being discovered by civilians.”^[12] The mission’s work included assessing the situation, placing warning signs, and de-fusing Israeli UXO and Palestinian IEDs.

In the last week of April, UNICEF sent its deputy Global Landmines Coordinator, Ben Lark, to Jenin to make an initial mine/UXO/IED threat assessment on behalf of the UNMAS, and to initiate emergency mine risk education activities in camp. Lark reported that contamination in the camp was “severe,” clearance activities were urgently required and early attempts by National Red Crescent EOD operators had been stymied by poor security conditions.^[13] He indicated that there had been fourteen reported injuries, but the figures had not been verified. He said that civilians were picking up and moving ordnance, including taking it to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters. UNICEF cooperated with Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) volunteers in Jenin to implement a public safety campaign.

One mine clearance initiative in Husan village has yet to take place due to the security situation on the ground. In 2000 and 2001, the Mines Advisory Group conducted survey of the Husan minefield which occupies 18 dunums (18,000 square meters) of land.^[14] Four Palestinians have been killed and more than 10 injured by landmines because of the field. In 1985, Israel cleared a portion of the minefield in order to construct a bypass road. This divided the minefield in two; one side lies adjacent to the village’s houses, less than 3-5 meters away in places. At the urging of World Vision and the Palestinian Health Work Committees, the government of Canada and the Mines Advisory Group were attempting in early 2002 to coordinate with Israel, the PA and Jordan to clear the minefield.^[15]

The Palestinian Authority also has a limited Explosive Ordnance Disposal capability.

MINE RISK EDUCATION

Because the Israeli-imposed closures and blockades separate and prevent the movement of Palestinians, mass media such as newspapers, radio, and television have been used increasingly to convey mine risk education messages.

A mine risk education campaign by Defence for Children International/Palestine Section (DCI/PS) continued in 2001, primarily in mine-affected areas, military training zones, and the areas of confrontation.^[16] During the reporting period, more than 90 mine risk education activities were conducted in grade schools and summer camps including lectures, artwork, bulletin boards, morning announcements, and the integration of mine risk education into the school curriculum. Landmines and UXO were also raised on a mass scale through the project's distribution of colored educational booklets for children between the ages of 12 and 15, as well as distribution of two types of mine awareness stickers and colored school agendas.

The Palestinian Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL), established in December 2000, continued to conduct mine risk education activities in 2001 in Palestinian grade schools and summer camps.^[17]

LANDMINE CASUALTIES

Defence for Children International/Palestine Section documented ten landmine and UXO incidents in 2001, resulting in twenty casualties (of which fourteen were children under the age of 18 years). Seven were killed, including six as a result of an explosive device (possibly a booby-trap) and one from a UXO found after the Israeli Army shelled the area.

This represents an increase when compared to eleven casualties recorded by DCI/PS between May 2000 and March 2001, including five deaths (four children) and six injured (four children).

In 2002, DCI/PS had recorded 45 landmine and UXO casualties by 15 May 2002, including ten deaths (nine of them children). Palestinian aid groups report that 31 of the casualties occurred in the period during and following Israeli military operations in the Jenin refugee camp.^[18] Given the difficult situation on the ground in 2002, comprehensive figures regarding the number of landmine/UXO casualties is unavailable.

SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE

Palestinian residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories are not eligible for medical insurance coverage under the Israeli National Insurance Services (Bituach Leumi). Rather medical care for Palestinian mine and UXO survivors is provided through health care providers in Palestine. The most prominent health services providers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are the Ministry of Health, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and NGOs. Private for-profit service providers (primarily involved in diagnostic services and individual or group specialized care) account for a relatively small proportion of services delivered. The Ministry of Health is responsible for a significant portion of both primary and secondary health care and some tertiary care. Moreover, the Ministry of Health purchases tertiary services from other health providers, both locally and abroad.

UNRWA plays an important role in health services delivery, providing primary health care free-of-charge, and purchasing secondary and tertiary services to for the 1,074,718 registered Palestinian refugees. UNRWA contracts services with NGOs, primarily for secondary and tertiary care, and with some Israeli facilities for limited specialized tertiary care.

DISABILITY POLICY AND PRACTICE

Law Number 4 (1999), the "People with Disability Rights Law," which entered into force in the Palestinian Territories on 10 November 1999, applies to mine and UXO survivors; while the law was officially passed, it has yet to be implemented in full. Various Palestinian ministries, including the Ministry of Education, Labor, and Health, lack guidelines for implementation. The Ministry of Social Affairs has played the primary role in developing the implementation mechanism, and the General Union of Palestinian Disabled assisted in modifying the regulations so that they met the needs of the disabled community, but the Union failed to achieve all its objectives.^[19] The General Union of Palestinian Disabled is working with relevant ministries to formulate the implementation regulations for the law. A legal advisor of the Union said the social environment in which the law is to be implemented is the major problem because the environment stigmatizes those with disability and views them with pity.^[20]

[1] Letter from the office of the Palestinian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Gaza, 27 April 2000.
[2] Douglas Frantz, “Potent Explosives Fortify Palestinians Arsenal,” New York Times, 6 April 2002.
[3] The Iranian-manufactured YM-III antivehicle mine contains 5.4 kilograms of Composition B, a mixture of RDX and TNT.
[4] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1055.
[5] See IDF website, http://www.idf.il/english/news/karinea.stm.
[6] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 1055-1056.
[7] “Arabs Deploy New Explosive Against Tank: Three Israelis Die,” New York Times, 15 February 2002.
[8] Human Rights Watch, “Jenin: IDF Military Operations,” A Human Rights Watch Short Report, Vol. 14, No. 3 (E), May 2002, pp. 8-9.
[9] Information provided to Landmine Monitor Coordinator, July 2002.
[10] With the exception of two-thirds of one minefield, which fell under the control of the Palestinian Authority in 1999, all of the minefields (of British, Jordanian, and Israeli origin) are located in areas under Israeli jurisdiction.
[11] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 935-936.
[12] UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, “UN-led team helping clear unexploded ordnance from Jenin,” Jerusalem, 1 May 2002. The report said there were two qualified EOD technicians in Jenin, one from the UN Mine Action Program in Afghanistan, and one from the Swedish Rescue Services Agency.
[13] “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Things That Go Bang! Newsletter by UNICEF, Issue Four, 13 May 2002.
[14] Email from Tim Carstairs, Director for Policy, Mines Advisory Group, 19 July 2002.
[15] Telephone interview with Ibrahim Baragith, World Vision, Manager of the West Bethlehem Area Development Program, 12 February 2002.
[16] Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) and the Ploughshares Fund provided US$40,000 for the project.
[17] The Palestinian Campaign to Ban Landmines includes Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, Palestinian Red Crescent, and YMCA Rehabilitation Program.
[18] Documentation provided from Palestinian Campaign to Ban Landmine members, DCI/PS and Palestine Red Crescent Society.
[19] Interview with Ziad Amr, Director, Palestinian General Union of the Disabled, Ramallah, 13 January 2002.
[20] Interview with Ribhi Qatamesh, Legal Advisor, Palestinian General Union of the Disabled, Ramallah 11 February 2002.

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