EXPLOSIVE LITTER

Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

2010

Contributors: Photographs: Graphic Design:

Jerry White Tirza Leibowitz Dhyan Or Simona Or-Munteanu Yael Boverman

Acknowledgements
Survivor Corps wishes to thank the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Office, Gaza and West Bank, for their support in publishing this report. We also wish to express our gratitude to The Dorot Foundation, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, and the Government of Norway for their support of Survivor Corps work in Israel.

Geo-information Processing: Reuben Brandt

June 2010 All Rights Reserved to Survivor Corps. www.survivorcorps.org

Table of Contents
Table of Mined Areas in Israel and The West Bank Map of Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority Table of Landmine Injuries 1999-2010 Forward About Us Survivor Corps Contributors Introduction The Problem Analysis of Mined Areas Golan Heights Arava Valley Jordan Valley Galilee Negev Jerusalem West Bank Gaza Mine Survivors Policy International Humanitarian Law National Level: State Comptroller Report, 1999 Issues Arising Following Comptrollers Report Responsibility Mapping Demining Liability Case Study: Israeli-Jordanian Cooperation The Beginnings of a Mine-Free Israel Campaign Civil-Military Dialogue in Central Arava Petition to the Supreme Court The Coalition for a Mine-Free Israel Public Debate Mine Action Bill Frequently Asked Questions List of Sources xxvi xxviii xxiii xvii ix xi iv v vi vii

EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Table of Mined Areas in Israel and The West Bank

Region Golan Location Ein Gonen Had Ness Had Ness Reservoir Bnot Yaakov Bridge Nahal Ein Gev Gamla Khan Toufiq Mitspor Beit Saida Mitspor Negev Kinarot Nukaib Beach Wadi Dvora Susita Reserve Susita Tel Atar Yahudia Ein Kinia Majdal Shams Masadeh Bukata Nahal Hermon Odem Sha'al Snir Rajar Mordot Hagolan Tel Za'atar Hirbet Nahila Har Baron Metsokey Harev Al Mansura, Al Hamra Har Dov Nahal Misgav Givat Egel Nahal Betset Rosh Hanikra Hanita Forest Har Avivivm Park Hayarden Gan Leumi Arbel Koah Junction Jordan Valley Nahal Yarmuch Meoz Haim Geon Hayarden Hamadia Geon Hayarden Kfar Rupin Hurshat Yakum Tirat Tsvi Hof Hashaket Um Zuka Reserve Agamit Reserve East Gilboa-Nahal Bezek Qasr elYahud (Baptism Site) Northern Jordan Valley Kibbutz Gesher Jordan Park Nahal Kfira Wadi Malha-Nueime Nahal Tirza Gesher Adam Surif Husan village Beitar Illit Mitspe Midrag Al-Nabi Elias Ya'abad Har Adar Sur Baher Ayalon Park Nahal Kfira Ein Netafim Mashabei Sade/Tlalim Taba-border Dead Sea Factories South Dead Sea-border Ktura Reserve Ktura Valley Nahal Sheizaf Neot Hakikar Ein Tamar Timna Park Hatseva Nahal Idan Hatseva Ein Yahav Evrona Reserve border Grupit Mlehat Yotveta-border Netafim-border Tsomet Ha'arava Nahal Tsafit Ownership Potential Use State Private State State State State State State State Private State State State State Private Private Private Private State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State nature reserve expansion of settlement water nature reserve nature reserve national park historical site nature reserve nature reserve public beach nature reserve nature reserve national park development, agriculture playground, development grazing area grazing area nature reserve development, agriculture development, agriculture nature reserve nature reserve historical site nature reserve nature reserve grazing area nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve national park nature reserve nature reserve 2 dunams Size sq km 3 2 1 5 5 5 1 4 1 2 3 5 100+ Level of contamination partly mined Partly cleared in 1998 partly mined Partly cleared in 1998 high partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined high high partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined high partly mined suspected partly mined partly mined around water pump around water pump partly mined cleared in 2005 Other info Source Mapping Center Maavarim Mapping Center Maavarim Deshe institute Mapping Center Deshe institute Mapping Center Deshe institute Deshe institute Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Golan for Development Golan for Development Golan for Development Golan for Development Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Al Haq Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Israel's annual report to UN on Protocol II of CCW, Nov 2006 Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Israel report to UN Maavarim Maavarim Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center ARIJ & LRC Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Landmine Monitor 1999, p. 916 Landmine Monitor 2000 Maavarim Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center near Egypt-Israel border Mapping Center close to houses Mapping Center across Egypt-Israel border Mapping Center erosion erosion, along border erosion cluster bomblets erosion erosion, close to houses erosion erosion erosion, close to houses erosion erosion erosion erosion erosion erosion Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Eilot Regional Council Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center Mapping Center close to houses close to main road

close to houses inc. Tel Azizyat close to houses

Galil

unmarked

West Bank

State State State State State State State State State State Private Private State State State State State Private State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State State

nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve Christian pilgrimage site development tourism tourism

3 5 3 10 40 a/t fields

high partly mined high high cleared in 2005 cleared in 1999 cleared in 1998 partly mined partly mined partly mined partly mined Cleared in 2000 high high high partly cleared partly cleared Cleared in 1998 Partly cleared in 2005 partly mined partly mined

along border close to houses recent death around monasteries Israeli mines

Jerusalem Shfela Negev

nature reserve nature reserve 10 nature reserve 4 nature reserve 4 development, agriculture 3 dunams playground, development 6 dunams development 12 dunams nature reserve development development 1200 new houses development nature park nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve nature park nature reserve nature reserve nature reserve nature park nature reserve nature park nature park nature reserve nature reserve 2 10 3 5 3 5 3 2 10

close to houses close to houses

close to houses close to houses

Arava

high high high partly mined high high partly mined high partly mined high high partly mined high high high suspected

iv

Map of Minefields
in Israel and the Palestinian Authority
Haifa

LEBANON SYRIA

GOLAN
Lake Tiberias Tiberias

Nazareth

Nabulus

Tel Aviv-Yafo

WEST BANK
Ram Allah Jericho

Jerusalem MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Gaza

Bethlehem Hebron Dead Sea

GAZA STRIP

Tulkarm

JORDAN
Beersheba

ARA
0 0

VA

NEGEV

10

20 10

30 20

40

50 60 km 30 40 mi

EGYPT
S I N A I

Eilat Aqaba

EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Table of Landmine Injuries 1999-2010*

Area Place Injury Year Age Name Nationality Other details Source

Golan

Mt. Avital

leg amputated

2010

11

Daniel Yuval

Israeli

while playing in snow

Israeli media

Golan

Mt. Avital

shrapnel/burns

2010

12

Amit Yuval

Israeli

while playing in snow

Israeli media

East Gilboa

Sde Trumot

death

2009

24

Ali Agbaria

Arab-Israeli

dropped during rescue

Israeli media

Golan

Meitsar

leg amputated

2009

35

Vichien

Thai

Israeli media

West Bank

Jenin

death

2008

24

Mahmoud Suarka

Palestinian

while farming

Israeli media

Negev

Ramat Hovav

death

2008

11

Amer Algadisi

Bedouin-Israeli

Israeli media

Negev

Shivta

lost arm

2008

42

(female)

Bedouin-Israeli

UXO

Israeli media

Negev

Hatserim

death

2008

(shepherd)

Bedouin-Israeli

UXO

Israeli media

Arava

Ketura

lost leg

2007

(IDF soldier)

Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Arava

Eilat

minor injury

2007

24

Afif Granawi

Bedouin-Israeli

while clearing mines

Israeli media

Arava

Eilat

shrapnel/burns

2007

(IDF non-commissioned officer) Israeli

while clearing mines

Israeli media

Arava

Eilat

unspecified injury

2006

(IDF soldier)

Israeli

on patrol

Landmine Monitor

Lebanon brdr. Yiftah

death

2006

Sargent Alex Asaf (Givati)

Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Lebanon brdr. Yiftah

severe injury

2006

(IDF soldier, Givati)

Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Lebanon brdr. Yiftah

leg amputated

2006

(IDF Major, Givati)

Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Lebanon brdr. Yiftah

minor injury

2006

Col. Basem Alian (Givati)

Druze-Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Lebanon brdr. Eastern Sector

lost leg

2006

IDF Soldier (Handasah)

Israeli

on duty

Israeli media

Golan

Alonei Bashan

leg amputated

2002

20

(male)

Israeli

while hiking

Israeli media

Lebanon brdr.

unspecified injury

2000

(IDF soldier)

Israeli

while clearing mines

Landmine Monitor

Pal. Authority

unspecified injury

2000

N/A

Palestinian

Landmine Monitor

Pal. Authority

unspecified injury

2000

N/A

Palestinian

Landmine Monitor

Pal. Authority Khirbet Janbeh

death

2000

<18

Khalil Makhamreh

Palestinian

UXO

DCI/PS

Golan

Buk'ata

shrapnel/burns

1999

16

Kamal Attalah Abd Alwali

Druze-Syrian

Al Haq

Golan

shrapnel/burns

1999

17

Sham Shams

Druze-Syrian

Golan for Dev.

vi

* Not final.

FORWARD
On the 6th of February 2010, we walked, me, my sister Amit, my younger brother Yoav and our father, along with many other families who played and threw snowballs in the Mount Avital Nature Reserve on the Golan. Suddenly I stepped on something, and it blew up. Later Dad told me it was a landmine, one of hundreds of thousands that were laid years ago, when there was a war, but the war is long over and no one cleared these minefields. Today everyone knows that landmines just injure hikers and children like us. What hurt me more than the explosion itself was watching my parents pain and concern, and knowing that many kids have been hurt before, and others will continue to get hurt until all mines are removed. When I awoke from the surgery at the hospital and saw my right leg amputated, I told my Mom that I wanted no one else to get hurt by landmines again, and I mean to do something about that. Then I spoke with the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and told everyone it was time to clear these landmines. Since that day in February I went through months of repeated operations, intensive treatments and hard training. Now I can finally walk on my newly fitted leg, and even go back to school and kick a football again. But I will not let the matter rest until kids like me can freely play in the snow on the Golan or hike in the desert of the Arava without fear of being blown up by landmines. I know it takes time, but I hope that you, the readers of this report, will understand how important it is. I hope that everyone will think about this and do their best to make sure that this year we begin to clear these landmines. Meanwhile, we should make sure that all the minefields in the Golan, Arava, Jordan Valley, Galilee and West Bank are actually fenced and signposted. And by the time I finish high school, Israel will be clean of landmines and safe for hiking like other countries in the world. Yours, Daniel Yuval Ramat Hasharon

Daniel Yuval with fellow survivor Jerry White at Tel Hashomer Hospital, February 2010.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

ABOUT US
Survivor Corps
Survivor Corps is a global network of survivors of war and armed violence helping each other to recover and rebuild their communities. Our locally-staffed programs in over a dozen countries work on three levels: recovery of individual survivors; rebuilding of communities; and reforming policies and practices that affect survivors lives. Formerly known as Landmine Survivors Network, we have helped thousands of landmine victims get legs, get jobs and get on with their lives. We share in the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Survivor Corps established an office in Amman, Jordan, in 1999, with the support of Their Majesties King Hussein and Queen Noor. Over the years, the organization has built connections between government officials and leading Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian civil society organizations. Survivor Corps was instrumental in advancing the prominent participation of both Israel and Jordan in multiyear negotiations for the 2008 U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Contributors
Jerry White Founder and Executive Director. White is a global activist who has dedicated his life to helping victims of violent conflict. While studying in Israel in 1984, White stepped on a landmine in the Golan. He is a recognized leader of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and United Nations and recently led efforts to draft and enact the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which became international law in 2008. White holds a BA from Brown University, an MBA from the University of Michigan, and an honorary doctorate from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Whites book, Getting Up When Life Knocks You Down: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, was published by St. Martins Press and translated into Hebrew for distribution in Israel in 2009. Tirza Leibowitz Director of Advocacy. Leibowitz leads the international advocacy team at Survivor Corps, promoting the rights of conflict survivors. Before joining Survivor Corps, she worked as Legal Advisor at Bizchut The Israel Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities. There she directed efforts to influence legislation, litigation, and public policy which resulted in major advances in the areas of accessibility, living in the community, inclusion in education, and access to justice for people with disabilities. Leibowitz holds an LLB from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dhyan Or Israel Program Manager. Or currently manages the Survivor Corps program in Israel, coordinating the MineFree Israel Campaign. He joined Survivor Corps after founding and directing the All Nations Cafa first-of-its-kind social, cultural and environmental hub for Israelis, Palestinians and internationals on the border between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.Working in the Middle East and Europe, Or has helped build bridges across borders, create cross-sector alliances, and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to fulfill a common vision. He has previously specialized in software engineering.

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INTRODUCTION
For decades, most Israelis have been unaware that hundreds of square kilometers of land are rendered unusable and dangerous due to landmine contamination. It took a close succession of landmine events in 2009 and 2010, resulting in loss of life and severe injury including elevenyear old Daniel Yuval losing his leg in the Golan Heights1 for Israelis to wake up to the problem. Now, following a public debate that has gained momentum in the first half of 2010, it is clear that Israel could become free of landmines and prevent future civilian casualties within ten years. Landmines left over from decades of conflict are buried in thousands of minefields along Israels borders. An estimated 260,0002 to 1,200,0003
1 2 3 Ahiya Raved, Two children hurt in Golan mine explosion; boy in serious condition, Yedioth Ahronot, February 6, 2010: www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3845040,00.html. U.S. State Department, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. A-1. Adi Hashmonai, Senior Army Officer: There are Hundreds of Minefields, Maariv, February 7, 2010: www.nrg.co.il/ online/1/ART2/052/324.html#after_maavaron.

landmines hold hostage about 197,000 dunams or close to 50,000 acres of land, larger than the combined area of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and about one percent of the countrys total area.4 Taking into account land suspected to have been contaminated by mines that have shifted and moved because of seasonal flooding, the mined area covers hundreds of thousands of dunams. It is well within Israels national interest to clear all non-operational minefields, saving lives and limbs, and returning valuable land to productive use. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has publicly declared that hundreds of their own minefields are no longer operational. The IDF does not object to their removal.5 In fact, failure to clear minefields poses a risk that large quantities of explosive material are available for re-use in improvised explosive devices by terrorist and criminal

4 5

Brig. Gen. Sheli Moshe, IDF Chief Engineering Corps Officer, presenting to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Jerusalem, March 16, 2010. Israel State Comptroller's Annual Report no. 50a, 1999.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

groups.6 Clearing dormant minefields in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will minimize this risk. It will release valuable fertile land for farming, and prime nature reserves for hiking, camping and nature studies. Clearance will also improve public safety for the countrys citizens and residents, from kibbutzniks to foreign workers and international visitors. However, to date less than 10% of non-operational minefields have been cleared, even a decade after an Israel State Comptrollers report identifying the urgent need for their clearance. Demining can be challenging, but it is not particularly complicated or dangerous when proper protocols are followed. Countries with far worse contamination, from Mozambique to Afghanistan and Cambodia, are successfully clearing their minefields. Between 1991 and 1995, Kuwait cleared 5-7 million landmines left from the Iraq invasion and Gulf War.7 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has already cleared the minefields along its border with Israel. Less than ten years ago, Jordan had a similar level of landmine contamination as Israel now has. In less than 18 months, Norwegian Peoples Aid and Jordans Royal Corps of Engineers removed over 56,000 landmines from 14,000 dunams of land (about 3,500 acres) between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, without any casualties. The project was funded by donor countries.8 Jordan now expects to be completely mine-free by 2012. Israel, too, could become mine-free in a matter of years. For this to happen, a national mine clearance plan would have to be devised and promoted through public pressure and political leadership. The cost is estimated at $60 million.9 The benefits for public safety, economic development, agriculture, tourism, and national reputation would far outweigh the cost. Eliminating minefields will prevent unnecessary mine casualties in the future, saving millions of dollars in rehabilitative expenses, while improving Israels international reputation. Moreover, if Israel adopts a national demining
6 7 8 9 Two Israelis blamed for stealing landmines laid by IDF, Channel 7 News, May 27, 2002: www.inn.co.il/News/Flash.aspx/26839. Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 891. Jordan Mine and ERW Action Update, The National Committee on Demining and Rehabilitation, 2009. Based on average cost of $0.50/m for an area of up to 120 million m of non-operational minefields: maic.jmu.edu/ journal/4.3/features/Farmlands/farmland.htm. Minefield in front of houses in Moshav Hatzeva, Arava Valley. Photo by Christine Armitage.

plan and allocates national funding, international donors would likely provide additional funding for mine clearance, as they have in other mine-affected countries in the world. The year of 2010 can prove to be a turnaround year. After decades of holding on to the belief that landmines are necessary for the security of the country, a consensus around the importance and urgency of mine clearance is forming. In May 2010, legislation establishing a National Mine Action Authority was submitted to the Israeli parliament by 73 Members of the Knesset and will be negotiated by the Knesset and the government over the course of 2010.10 This report reviews the status of mined areas of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, national and international policy regarding use of landmines and mine clearance, and current and past efforts to address the issue of mine clearance in the Holy Land. It aims to provide context to the current discussion in Israel on mine clearance and show that Israels minefields are a humanitarian problem that can be resolved if political will is exercised and using national and international protocols and resources.

10 Bill Proposal, P/18/2399, The Knesset. See also: Rebecca Stoil, Land Mine Bill Wins Broad Support, The Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2010: www.jpost.com/Israel/Article. aspx?id=175200.

THE PROBLEM
Analysis of Mined Areas
Golan Heights
About 75,000 dunams (18,500 acres)11, or more than 6 percent of the Golan, are suspected to be mined, containing about 2000 minefields.12 Mines are located on the edges of settled areas, neutralizing grazing areas, agricultural land, and nature reserves. In addition to the minefields accounted for in official reports, unofficial reports corroborated by field visits and actual mine incidents indicate the existence of unmarked minefields around and within Druze villages in the Golan. Heavy rainfalls and snow in the region have caused mines to shift from their original locations, contaminating adjacent fields, streets and even houses. Such was the case in January 2000 in Majdal Shams, where mine-contaminated soil erosion from a deserted IDF post contaminated
11 Brig. Gen. Moshe, The Knesset, March 2010. 12 Matan Vilani, Deputy Minister of Defense, answering Motions for the Agenda, Knesset Plenum, February 10, 2010.

Homes in MajdalShams contaminated by landmines that shifted from a nearby army post.

local homes.13 In February 2008, the Haifa Magistrate Court held the government and the army responsible for not taking action to avert the hazard, and ordered the government to pay compensation to two Majdal Shams residents for the damage caused to their property.14 About 20 km south of Majdal Shams, near Kibbutz Ein Zivan, dozens of Israeli youth come daily to swim at a spring located in the midst of a minefield. The fencing and clear marking of the minefield do not deter an increasing number of people from frequenting the spring, including off-duty soldiers who repeatedly break the fence to enter this tranquil but dangerous gem. The place has become known as Ein Mokesh, meaning Landmine Spring.15
13 Interview with Taiseer Maray, Director of Golan for Development, April 15, 2009. 14 Kobi Mandel, Walla News Service, February 11, 2008: news.walla.co.il/?w=//1233031 (Hebrew). 15 Daniela Shaul, Youth Swim in Ein Mokesh Despite Landmine Danger, Friday in the Golan, October 17, 2008.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Minefields containing both anti-personnel and anti-tank mines were laid by Syria in the years before 1967. After the 1967 War, Israel laid its own mines that were reportedly mapped and recorded. According to Israeli officials, this makes Israeli minefields easier to locate than those laid previously by the Syrians. The comparative technical ease of demining the Golan is complicated by the surrounding politics. Conquered by Israel during the 1967 War, the Golan Heights will be the focus of any prospective peace treaty between Syria and Israel. In the event of such a treaty, the area would have to be demined as part of the peace agreements. The prospect of a return of the region to Syria prompts some Israeli policymakers to distance themselves from responsibility for mine clearance. Decades after Israel has been in control of the Golan Heights, Israeli policy makers still cite the fact that Syria laid the mines, and argue that therefore Syria should be responsible for clearing them.

55,000 antipersonnel landmines are susceptible to drifting along the Arava and Idan valleys.

In sum, minefields, coupled with nearby military firing zones, leave less than ten percent of the Arava Valley available for development, agriculture and tourism.19 While Arava farmers are adamant about the imperative to clear minefields adjacent to their communities, some environmentalists argue that demining can harm the habitat of rare animals and plants, citing the example of the Nubian Nightjar that nests in the minefields near Neot Hakikar.20 At the same time, large numbers of wildlife and domestic species are hurt or killed by landmines every year. According to some researchers, landmines also cause soil degradation, deforestation, pollution of water resources with heavy metals and possibly altering entire species populations by degrading habitats and altering food chains.21 Most of the landmines in the Arava were laid by Israel. Many of them are made mainly of plastic, which is more difficult to detect than mines with higher metallic content.22 This feature of the Arava landmines and their susceptibility to drifting from their original place complicate both their tracking and clearance. This is by no means a situation unique to Israel. The non-static and unpredictable character of minefields is a familiar phenomenon worldwide. It is known that local weather patterns
19 Interview with Ezra Rabins, Head of Central Arava Regional Council, June 24, 2009. 20 Interview with Gitit Wiesbloom, spokeswoman of the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel, November 4, 2009. 21 Claudio Torres-Nachn, Environmental Aspects of Landmine Crisis, Center for Environmental Law, Mexico, 2000. 22 Interview with Ami Shacham, Director of Arava Drainage Authority, June 25, 2009.

Arava Valley
The Arava Valley (also known as Wadi Araba) is polluted by dozens of minefields, altogether contaminating an area of 75,000 dunams (18,500 acres).16 Since many of the minefields are wandering minefields swept by annual floods in the region, in actuality the length of the Arava, from the Dead Sea to Eilat, is suspected of contamination.17 Following severe floods in January 2010, the Engineering Corps affirmed that as many as 55,000 antipersonnel landmines are susceptible to drifting along the Arava and Idan valleys.18 Mines pose a danger to farmers, especially migrant workers working on the farms who are not aware of the location of mines in the area, and to locals hiking along riverbeds where mines have shifted because of seasonal rains and periodic flooding. Minefields also dot the Peace Route from Ein Yahav to Hatzeva, a tourism trail initiated after the signing of the peace treaty with Jordan. Some cleared minefields remain fenced off and barred from use due to a single mine that is known to exist, since it is marked on the map, but has never been located.
16 Brig. Gen. Moshe, The Knesset, March 2010. 17 For the latest occurrence, from January 18, 2010: www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3836425,00.html. 18 Engineering Corps Southern Command Landmine Briefing (unclassified), IDF, January 2010.

xii

significantly affect mine movement and minefield marking and mapping. These are factors that deminers take into account when conducting mine surveys. Compared to the Golan, there are few political obstacles to hinder mine clearance efforts in the Arava. In fact, Jordanian deminers have already cleared their side of the Arava, through international cooperation with Norwegian Peoples Aid, a nongovernmental organization that specializes in mine clearance for humanitarian purposes. This should help motivate clearance on the Israeli side. Indeed, a few instances of ad hoc clearance have resulted from considerable pressure applied on the Engineering Corps.23

Galilee
Dozens of minefields dot the northern Galilee, mainly along the Israel-Lebanon border, covering a combined area of 15,000 dunams (3,700 acres).27 Many more minefields surrounding man-made water pumps in the Galilee were laid by the Israeli army decades ago, when threats of sabotage to water sources were relevant. Today, these minefields pose a threat to the safety of civilians because they are located within villages, nature reserves and picnic areas.

Jordan Valley
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ratified the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999.24 In accordance with its obligations under this international legal standard, Jordan has destroyed its stockpile of anti-personnel mines and has made steady progress toward demining the entire country by 2012. On the Israeli side, about 33,000 dunams (8,000 acres)25 of land are mined along the Jordan River and streams that flow into it from the west, such as Nahal Bezek. Some are Syrian minefields, and others are Israeli. Some include both anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Mined areas border villages such as Kfar Rupin, and spill over into nature reserves such as the East Gilboa Reserve. In the late 1990s, the Ministry of Tourism contracted with a private Israeli demining company to conduct demining in certain areas along the Jordan River suspected of containing Syrian anti-personnel mines, such as Kibbutz Gesher. These areas are high priority tourist locations, particularly for Christian pilgrimages, as well as for rafting and kayaking. In the winter of 2000, the Jordan river rose to a height of 17 metes (56 feet), flooding dozens of minefields and causing an unknown number of landmines to shift from their place.26
23 Interview with Ilan Peled, Arava resident and Engineering Corps reserve soldier, June 25, 2009. 24 The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. 25 Brig. Gen. Moshe, The Knesset, March 2010. 26 Interview with Sa'ar Kfir, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, May 5, 2010.

Landmines within picnic area in Hanita Forest.

Negev
Several small minefields are located in the south of Israel, but the most pressing issue is unexploded ordnance (UXO). Numerous UXO can be found in dozens of military maneuvering areas and firing ranges across the Negev area. Most of the casualties from UXO are Bedouins whose settlements and livestock grazing fall within contaminated areas.

Jerusalem
Most mines in the Jerusalem area were laid by the Jordanians before 1967 along the 1949 Armistice border (Green Line) with Israel. A number of minefields around Jerusalem (Har Adar and Tsur Baher) have been cleared by private companies since 1997, to make space for development of houses and schools. In both places, demining was funded by local development authorities and supervised by the army.

27 Brig. Gen. Moshe, The Knesset, March 2010.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Minefield near homes in Husan village near Bethlehem.

West Bank
Over 20,000 dunams (5,000 acres) of land are suspected to be mined in the West Bank. Some of the minefields were laid by Jordan prior to 1967, along the Green Line and surrounding old military bases. Other minefields were laid by Israel after 1967, around its own military bases and the current border with Jordan. Minefields occupy agricultural and grazing land in the West Bank and in some cases penetrate villages, putting civilians at risk of injury or death. Since marking and fencing is poorly maintained and mine risk education virtually non-existent, most of the casualties have been children. The Israeli Civil Administration and the Palestinian Authority have done little to alleviate the problem. According to the Landmine Monitor, an annual publication released by the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, mine action is not on the top of the Palestinian Authority agenda as basic needs of the population are.28 Due to repeated military exercises and operations, other unexploded ordnance (UXO) can be found in many places throughout the West Bank, including
28 Landmine Monitor Report 2007, Palestine: //lm.icbl.org/ index.php/publications/display?url=lm/2007/palestine. html.

within Palestinian villages. These explosive remnants of war become de facto mines that threaten civilians. Most of the northeastern part of the West Bank is an Israeli army firing range. Husan village near Bethlehem is a case in point. In 2002, at the urging of the Bethlehem office of World Vision (an international humanitarian organization) and the Palestinian Health Work Committees (a local charitable health organization), the government of Canada and the Mines Advisory Group (a UK-based humanitarian demining organization) attempted to coordinate with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan the clearance of an old Jordanian minefield of about 6 dunams (1.5 acre) in the midst of the village. This area had claimed the lives of four people and injured more than ten.29 Most victims were children. This particular minefield had been partially cleared by Israel in 1985 in order to pave a road to connect the settlement of Beitar Illit with Jerusalem.30 Though Israeli courts granted the appeal of Palestinian residents, whose houses are literally within the
29 Landmine Monitor Report 2002, Palestine: lm.icbl.org/ index.php/publications/display?url=lm/2002/palestine.html. 30 Ohad Hamo, Six Dunams of Minefield in the Heart of Husan Village, Channel 10 News, September 21, 2009: news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=666677 (Hebrew).

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Gaza
The Gaza Strip has been contaminated by landmines since the 1967 war, when Israeli forces laid mines on the border between Egypt and Gaza and in various areas across the Gaza Strip. According to Defense of Children International, between September 2000 and July 2008, 39 children were killed by unexploded ordnance.34 The period of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005 saw a marked increase in the number of mine incidents. As Israeli troops and settlers withdrew, Palestinians reportedly found that many Israeli settlements had been surrounded by mines. In 2005, at least 46 people were killed and 317 people injured in 187 incidents caused by mines, UXO, and improvised explosive devices (IED).35 Since 2005, armed Palestinian groups have been using mine-like explosive booby-traps. Egyptian authorities have reportedly found and seized several anti-personnel landmines and other ordnance in the Sinai Peninsula destined for Palestinian groups in Gaza.36 During three weeks in December 2008 and January 2009, the IDF conducted a major military operation in Gaza, including bombardment from land, sea and air. The bombardment by the IDF resulted in the spread of UXO, contaminating this highly populated area. Palestinian entities have been conducting surface clearance, but a significant threat remains within the rubble from damaged and destroyed buildings.37 Following the January 2009 ceasefire, the United Nations Mine Action TeamGaza, in conjunction with UNDP, UNICEF and OCHA, undertook a technical assessment mission to Gaza. The UKbased Mines Advisory Group and Norwegian Peoples Aid cleared UXO throughout 2009. In the first five months of the year, about 200 items of UXO containing white phosphorous or high explosives were identified.38
34 Defense of Children International Palestine Section, July 24, 2008: www.dci-pal.org/english/display. cfm?DocId=822&CategoryId=1. 35 Email from Axel Haas, Lead Field Police Advisor, The European Union Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUCOPPS), June 21, 2006. 36 Israel praises Egypt for counter-terror ops, Independent Media Review and Analysis, May 17, 2009: www.imra.org.il. 37 Framework for Mine Action Planning & Rapid Response Gaza, MASG Newsletter, Feb 2009: www.mineaction.org. 38 Briefing Note, UNMAT, Gaza, June 3, 2009.

Victor Batarseh, Mayor of Bethlehem (center), Survivor Corps co-founders Jerry White (left) and Ken Rutherford (right), Kerei Ruru, head of UNMAT-Gaza (second from left), and Jamal Sabateen, head of Husan Village Council (second from right), at Husan minefield. Photo by Marla Rutherford.

minefield, to allow them to proceed with clearance using international help, this international initiative failed. The Israel Defense Forces insisted that demining could only be conducted by a designated Israeli contractor approved by the army, and that local residents would have to pay the contractors costs.31 About 10 km southwest of Husan, another Jordanian minefield of about 3 dunams (0.75 acres), located on both sides of the road leading to the village of Surif in the District of Hebron, was reportedly cleared in 2000 by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.32 There is potential to reach consensus on mine clearance in the West Bank. Unlike mined areas within Israel that are under the sole auspices of the Israel Defense Forces, the West Bank is under the authority of the Palestinian Authority, with an opening to engage regional and international players such as the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, and Jordan in demining efforts. The Palestinian Authority recognizes the need for international partners who can provide technical assistance, training, equipment, and funding.33

31 Interview with Abu Bilal, Husan village resident, on April 27, 2009. 32 Mines and Unexploded Ordnance in the West Bank, Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem and the Land Research Center, March 14, 2001: www.poica.org/editor/ case_studies/view.php?recordID=134. 33 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 917.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Mine and UXO incidents with casualties continued to occur throughout the year. At least 18 explosive remnant of war casualties were confirmed in Gaza in the months following the ceasefire.39

Mine Survivors
Each year yields several reports of civilians and soldiers entering minefields, some resulting in injury, loss of limbs, or death. According to the army, in the past five years there were at least fifty registered mine incidents, usually involving civilians, mostly in the regions located in the Northern and Central Command areas.40 Hundreds of farmers, shepherds, hikers and swimmers entering minefields and managing to exit on their own, remain undocumented. Numerous cows and camels step on landmines and are fatally injured each year. In March 2009 alone, there were three mine incidents. An agricultural worker from Thailand lost his leg stepping on a mine in the Golan. An Israeli hang-glider landed inside a minefield in the Golan, and was evacuated without injury. The third incident made considerable headlines: A 24-yearold Arab Israeli from the village of Mushraife sustained serious leg injuries after stepping on a mine in Nahal Bezeq, and eventually lost his life after he fell from the helicopter that was summoned to rescue him.41 On February 6, 2010, a mine incident involving two children from Ramat Hasharon, who visited Mount Avital (Tel Abu Nida) in the Golan with their family to see the snow, has brought Israels
Vichien from Thailand survived a landmine explosion in 2009 in the Golan Heights.

landmine problem to the fore of public attention. Eleven-year-old Daniel Yuval lost his leg and his sister Amit sustained shrapnel wounds, while playing in the snow in what turned out to be an improperly marked and poorly fenced IDF-laid minefield. According to an IDF spokesperson, several other families had unknowingly entered minefields on the same day. They too could easily have been injured or killed.42

Saleh Abu Arar survived an explosion in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights.

Landmine survivors organized themselves into a group for the first time only recently. On May 10, 2010, accompanied by their families, survivors of incidents that occurred as early as 1967 and as late as 2010 in the Golan, Arava, Upper Galilee, and around Jerusalem shared their personal stories with Members of Knesset, and urged them to take responsibility for making the country safe and preventing further injuries from occurring.43 The Compensation for Victims of Hostile Acts Law (1970)44 provides the legal framework for assistance and compensation to landmine victims in Israel. This law does not apply to Palestinians who are injured in the West Bank and Gaza. The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Act (1998) and other legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities address more long-term effects that injury may cause, such as discrimination, exclusion or marginalization.

39 Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 1188. 40 Brig. Gen. Moshe, The Knesset, March 2010. 41 Eli Ashkenazi, Man Hurt in Minefield Dies After Falling off Rescue Helicopter, Haaretz, March 11, 2009: www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1070337.html.

42 Ruth Samia and Nir Kosti, A Miracle that Only one Landmine Exploded, IDF Spokesman, February 11, 2010, dover.idf.il/IDF/News_Channels/bamahana/2010/07/01. htm (Hebrew). 43 Rebecca Stoil, The Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2010. 44 National Insurance Institue of Israel: www.btl.gov.il.

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Anti-Personnel Mines.

POLICY
International Humanitarian Law
One hundred and fifty-six countries are party to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of AntiPersonnel Mines and on their Destruction (Mine Ban Treaty). By ratifying this treaty, states commit to destroying their stockpiles of anti-personnel mines within four years, and to clearing their minefields within ten years. Israel is not a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, and no timetable or national plan exists for cleaning up Israels minefields. While private Israeli companies bid on contracts to perform humanitarian demining abroad, no such progress has been made at home. Israel is party to the U.N. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), and in April 2001 became a party to its Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices.45 Accordingly,
45 Amended Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects.

it has committed to discontinuing the production of anti-personnel landmines and to monitoring export to other countries. In 1994, Israel declared a moratorium on the sale, transfer and export of all anti-personnel mines (covering a broader range of mines than that required by the CCW), and has been renewing this moratorium every three years.46 In 2004, Israel reported to the committee monitoring the implementation of Protocol II that in the early 1980s it had dismantled all anti-personnel mine production lines. Israel still holds a substantial inventory of landmines, possibly millions, and used landmines as late as May 2000, when the Israel Defense Forces withdrew troops from southern Lebanon. While Israel contends that it cannot join the Mine Ban Treaty for security reasons, measures can be taken to comply with various treaty obligations, including clearing many of its minefields. Similar to the United States, Israel can participate as an
46 Email from Meir Itzchaki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 September 2005 to Landmine Monitor Report.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

observer in the treaty conferences and support the U.N. General Assembly resolution on landmines. Such steps could benefit Israels reputation for international cooperation and assistance, and may serve as a vehicle for raising funds for mine action in Israel.

of representatives from the Ministries of Defense, Environment, Agriculture, Interior, Health, and Energy and Infrastructure, and from the Israel Lands Administrationin order to examine the issue further and develop a policy in line with the Comptrollers findings.

National Level: State Comptroller Report, 1999

Between March and September 1998, the State Comptrollers Office conducted an audit on landmine use by the Israel Defense Forces. The audit covered the extent of mined areas and the consequences of landmine use; the IDFs policy regarding minefields that no longer serve a security purpose; and demining in response to civil sector requests. The Comptrollers report was published in October 1999.47 The report found that hundreds of minefields no longer contribute to Israels security, and that these fields in fact pose a risk to people and prevent development, agriculture and tourism. The report noted that no governmental agency has demonstrated any policy or plan for future demining. Demining is rare in Israel. It happens sporadically, in an ad hoc case-by-case fashion, following considerable pressure applied on the IDF by civilian entities to carry out mine clearance and provide proper fencing and marking of shifting minefields. The IDF asserts that it only demines for military or security reasons, and that mine clearance for civilian purposes such as farming and development should be carried out by private civilian companies recognized and supervised by the Ministry of Defense. According to the IDFs position, demining costs should be incurred by sources other than the IDF. The State Comptrollers report called for a national effort to clear non-operational minefields. It recommended that the army reconsider the necessity of minefields along the border with Jordan in light of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty. If the army concludes that minefields are no longer needed for security, the Comptroller assessed that clearance could commence, provided that resources are allocated and standards established and applied. The State Comptroller recommended that the state appoint an inter-ministerial committee comprised
47 See footnote 7.

Minefield sign in the Arava.

Issues Arising Following Comptrollers Report

Responsibility
Following the Comptrollers report, a cabinet decision dated February 17, 2000, determined that minefield clearance be conducted and supervised by civilian companies that are employed and paid for by the civil entity (an entrepreneur or a local authority) who calls for the demining.48 In contrast, a special army staff discussion from October 22, 2001, indicated that the IDF holds the responsibility to clear minefields, and that demining should be done by the army, and not by civilian companies.49 The aforementioned cabinet decision further required that the Ministry of Defense formulate procedures for mine action in response to requests from civilians. However the Ministry Director-General asserted in response that this is a national issue which the defense establishment is not prepared to take on. He called for legislation to regulate the clearance of non-operational minefields by civilian bodies authorized by the relevant state institutions.50
48 Israel Government Decision tm/32: Minefield Clearance Report 50a, February 17, 2000. 49 Background paper for the State Control Committee, January 28, 2002, www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/docs/ m00256.rtf. 50 Israel Prime Ministers Remarks to State Comptrollers Report 54a, September 30, 2003.

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These conflicting policies regarding responsibility have prevented progress in mine action.

Mapping
Until 2002, open-source maps contained only limited marking of minefields.51 In 2002, the Israeli Mapping Center Survey of Israel reported that it completed the mapping of all non-operational minefields in Israel in collaboration with the army.52 Hiking trail maps published since then mark the locations of most non-operational minefields and some areas that are suspected of containing mines.53 All maps indicating minefield locations are in Hebrew. Minefield markings do not appear in maps issued in the other official language of Israel Arabic which pertains to 20 percent of Israels population. Nor do the maps and markings appear in English or other languages, despite Israels economic reliance on income from tourism and foreign labor. Israel is thus neglecting to ensure the safety of non-Hebrew speaking citizens, tourists, and foreigners who come to live or work in Israel. Signposts warning about minefields originally contained warnings in Hebrew only. English and Arabic wording were added only after pressure by outside agencies.54 The governments of several countries have recently issued inquiries to the Israel Mapping Center about its intention to translate hiking maps demarcating mined areas into languages other then Hebrew.

countries, such as Albania, Angola, Croatia and South Korea.55 Recent news reports indicate that Israeli contractors were even considered for demining the Turkish border with Syria.56 Israel has also contributed to the U.N. Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.57 At the end of 2005, after several years of pressure applied on the Ministry of Defense by local residents and the Jerusalem Municipality, including an appeal to the Supreme Court, a private company was contracted to clear a Jordanian minefield in the village of Tzur Baher in East Jerusalem. The aim was to clear space to build a high school.58 In this case, after many deliberations, Israels Attorney General approved the hiring of a private contractor on a one-time basis. The army was still required to supervise the work and confirm its proper completion. The clearing cost of NIS 2 million (about $450,000) was incurred by the Ministry of Education.59 In 2005 and 2006, floods swept mines and sediment into the Jordan River, causing blockage near Highway 90. Mine clearance was performed by the IDF Engineering Corps, with the Ministry of Defense and the Southern Jordan River Drainage Authority covering the cost of NIS 5 million (about $1.12 million).60 Following the 2006 war in Lebanon, the IDF Engineering Corps decided to conduct its demining training on live minefields.61 In 2008, the Corps thus cleared more than 11,000 antitank mines,62 and in 2009 several thousand more.63 Most of the demining was done in the Jordan Valley, in the security zone along the Israel-Jordan border, where land is under the responsibility of the IDF and is not
55 Maavarim Civil Engineering Ltd. project, www.bnc-il. com/maavarim/projects.htm 56 Turkey's landmine clean-up faces road block, Burak Akinci, AFP, May 25, 2009. 57 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 890. 58 Jonathan Lis, IDF Allows Jerusalem to Clear Minefield to Build School, Haaretz, November 9, 2005, www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=643164. 59 Salwas Alinat, Want to Build a School on a Minefield?, Yedioth Ahronot, December 8, 2004. 60 Israel Annual Report in accordance with Article 13, par. 4(a) of Amended Protocol II to the CCW, November 2006. 61 Roi Caspi, Mined Thwarting in Bayabasha Vol. 4, IDF, December 2007: mazi.idf.il/3838-4818-HE/IGF.aspx (Hebrew). 62 Israel Annual Report in accordance with Article 13, par. 4(a) of Amended Protocol II to the CCW, November 2008. 63 Op.cit., November 2009.

Demining
Israel has the capability to perform military demining, but may need technical assistance to certify the compliance of its mine clearance operations with international humanitarian standards pertaining to clearance for civilian purposes that guarantee 99.8% clearance levels. In the last decade, private Israeli companies have participated in mine surveys, mine awareness activities, mine clearance equipment transfers, and humanitarian demining in several mine-affected
51 Meeting with Moti Ben Shitrit, Head of Israel Trails Committee, Dec 15, 2009. 52 Protocol no. 27 of the meeting of the subcommittee for IDF and Defense Establishment Affairs, State Control Committee, 15th Knesset, 4th Session, Protocols/ Control/4520, January 31, 2002. 53 Hiking Trails Map Series, Scale 1:50000, Survey of Israel, 2003-2004. 54 Ami Shacham, June 25, 2009.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

intended for civilian use.64 All in all the army cleared about 28,000 antitank mines in recent years, and is planning to clear another 40,000 in the future.65

Case Study: Israeli-Jordanian Cooperation

Mine clearance in the Arava and Jordan Valley presents an instructive case study on the potential for progress in demining in Israel. This region is relatively uncomplicated by security issues. A wide consensus exists in Israel that following the peace treaty with Jordan minefields along the border are no longer needed, nor are they operational. The issue of landmine clearance could be a subject for cooperation and bilateral agreements between Israel and Jordan. Israel and Jordan have collaborated in the past on joint mine action projects. In 1997 and 1998 Israel conducted joint mine clearance with Jordan in the Arava valley, with support from Canada and Norway. Israel also participated in an assessment mission to Jordan regarding landmine victim assistance and contributed to the cost of medical rehabilitation for Jordanian landmine survivors.69 In April 1999, Israel, in cooperation with Canada and Norway, hosted a workshop on Mine Action and Victim Assistance with representatives from various Jordanian government branches. No follow-up ensued due to the outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the following year.70 Since then, Jordan has completely demined its side of the Arava valley, while Israel has made little progress. This gap is especially apparent in the place marking the baptismal site of Jesus, along the Jordan River near Jericho. Qasr el Yahud, as the place has come to be known, is considered to be one of the three holiest Christian sites in the world, with ancient monasteries, and chapels from seven denominations, including the Greek, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic and Ethiopian Churches. After the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, this site, littered with about 3,000 antipersonnel and antitank mines covering an area of 3,000 dunam (740 acres)71, was opened for development.72 While Jordan completed the demining of the eastern bank by 1999,73 Israel has not advanced mine action in
69 Article 13 Report, 26 November 2001, p. 11. 70 Interview with Meir Itzhaki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, February 15, 2010. 71 Briefing by Engineering Corps, Central Command, IDF, May 5, 2010. 72 Baptismal Site official website: www.baptismsite.com. 73 Hind-Lara Mango, UNMAS Endorses Jordan's Demining Efforts, Jordan Time, Amman, January 31, 1999: www.jordanembassyus.org/013199008.htm

Liability
The success of the one-time clearance project of the site for a high school in East Jerusalem caused the armys Northern Command to reexamine its policy on contracting private demining companies. The Northern Command had previously raised doubts with regard to the quality of mine clearance performed by a private company at Had-Ness in the Golan Heights in 1998.66 The IDF was concerned about quality control of demining done by other agencies and of subsequently being held liable in lawsuits challenging the release of land that is not verifiably cleared for public use. Consequently, demining by private contractors was frozen, and the army resorted to a policy of ad-hoc and irregular mine clearance by the military, only where it established that security issues were at stake. Recently, following the site clearance in East Jerusalem and in an effort to enable more clearance, the legal advisor of the Northern Command suggested that clearance activities be resumed through contracting with private companies, but on condition that the army, once it had inspected the work that was done, be absolved of responsibility for future injury to people or damage to property. She summarized, The preferred situation is to clear the minefields and open the area to the public.67 Releasing the IDF from all responsibility, at the expense of civilians, is clearly not the solution. Other countries have addressed this issue, and a discussion of common international practice should ensue among Israeli policymakers and stakeholders. One approach is to involve a public liability insurer to cover injury and property damage suffered by third parties.68
64 Interview with Col. Atai Shelah, Combat Doctrine Dept. Head, Engineering Corps, November 8, 2009. 65 Chief Engineering Corps Officer: 'Minefields Pose a National Problem in Israel', IDF Spokesperson, March 16, 2010: dover.idf.il/IDF/News_Channels/today/10/03/1602.htm (Hebrew). 66 Interview with Eithan Lugacy, Had-Ness Secretary, March 18, 2009. 67 Major Ronnie Justman, Legal Counsel to IDF Northern Command, in an interview to Bamahane (IDF's Magazine), February 11, 2008: dover.idf.il/IDF/News_Channels/ bamahana/08/06/09.htm (Hebrew). 68 Pehr Lodhammer, A Guide to Contracting in Mine Action, GICHD, November 2009.

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Qasr el Yahud, one of the three holiest Christian sites.

Qasr el Yahud: Minefields on the Israeli side (front), and development on the Jordanian side (back).

the area apart from routine fencing and signage74 and limited development work on the western bank75 to accommodate Christian pilgrims (for example, in advance of the Catholic Popes visit in 2009).76
74 Interview with IDF officer escorting at Qasr el Yahud Baptismal Site, September 19, 2009. 75 Public Tender 37/03 Qasr el Yahud, Governmental Tourism Agency, December 21, 2007: www.info.gov.il/LAPAM/Tenders/building/2007/37-07hamat.htm (Hebrew). 76 A Rare Historical Opportunity during the Papal Visit, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, May 13, 2009: tinyurl.com/npa-baptism (Hebrew).

Between December 2006 and May 2008, in a period of 18 months, Norwegian Peoples Aid and Jordans Royal Corps of Engineers cleared almost 14 million square meters of land between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, and removed over 58,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. The cost of this demining project, estimated at $9 million, was covered by donor countries. Jordan plans to carry out a number of projects on the cleared land, in the areas of hydroelectric power, tourism and agriculture.77

77 Jordan Mine and ERW Action Update, 2009.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

IDF Soldier and Landmine Survivor.

THE BEGINNINGS OF A MINE-FREE

ISRAEL CAMPAIGN
Civil-Military Dialogue in Central Arava
Nearly 90 percent of the Arava is closed off to public access because of the combination of military firing zones and minefields. Most of the area available for public access runs along both sides of Highway 90, which cuts through the country from north to south, connecting the Golan and Arava regions. The Arava Regional Council has been seeking the release of land for development projects on the western side of the Jordanian border, such as developing agriculture within the Arava riverbed, and converting abandoned IDF military bases into areas for tourism and nature hikes. In order to accomplish this, several minefields have to be cleared. The IDF Southern Command eventually responded to persistent requests from local authorities to conduct mine clearance in areas intended for development. Unfortunately, a handful of mines that were marked on army maps were not found, rendering the entire area still potentially contaminated and therefore off limits. One campaign did result in successful demining in the Arava. In 2005, the Engineering Corps reserve unit in the Southern Command cleared a minefield in Hatzeva, after repeated pressure by local residents, regional council members and army commanders who come from the area. Apart from these small advances, an impasse exists with regard to organized and substantial mine clearance. In July 2009, at a meeting of the Army and Community Forum in Beer Sheva, which serves as a forum for civil-military dialogue, the stalemate in demining was brought up. Civilian representatives protested that little had been done to fulfill IDF promises to demine.

Petition to the Supreme Court

In 1994 and 1995 the IDF cleared anti-tank mines in the Arava, as part of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty. The IDF also transferred anti-personnel mine maps to the Jordanians, who used them to clear Israeli mines on the Jordanian side. Israeli Arava residents used binoculars to follow Jordanian

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demining action. They watched in envy as the Royal Jordanian Engineering Corps, with the help of Norwegian Peoples Aid, effectively demined the Jordanian side78, and admitted to a sense of shame that similar steps are not taken on the Israeli side.79 They have witnessed the subsequent development of the land and the paving of roads on the Jordanian side, with no matching efforts on the Israeli side. In 2000, three drainage authority directors decided to take action. Drainage authorities maintain water channels and provide protection from floods and water erosion. Water channels often contain landmines in these regions. Oved Dror (of the Southern Jordan River), Ron Schwartz (of the Dead Sea region), and Ami Shacham (of the Arava) were frustrated by years of pressure with no response, and decided the time had come to pursue legal action. In 2001, the drainage authorities took their case to the Supreme Court. Their petition demanded that the State of Israel and the Ministry of Defense assume responsibility for the landmine contamination in their regions and therefore for solving the problem by issuing and implementing a time-bound work plan for regional mine clearance. The Defense Ministry cited in its defense the danger that clearance poses to soldiers, limited manpower and budget, and priority and liability issues. Subsequent years of negotiations over clearance of specific minefields did not yield results. Eventually, in 2006, the Court decided to dismiss the case and allow the Defense Ministry time to come up with safer, less expensive demining solutions, particularly in light of information provided by the Ministry that within a year a lowcost mechanical solution for demining would be introduced. The Court referenced the petitioners right to return to court should no action plan be prepared for forward-looking mine clearance.80 No plan has since been prepared.

In March 2010, in the wake of severe floods that caused landmines to contaminate large tracts of land in the Arava valley, the Arava Drainage Authority and the Central Arava Regional Council submitted a second petition to the Supreme Court. In this petition they ask the Court to order the Minister of Defense to prepare and implement a plan to clear all minefields and suspected areas along the eastern border of Israel, in particular the area between Ein Yahav and Tsofar in the Arava.81 The petition is pending a hearing.

The Coalition for a Mine-Free Israel

On midday Saturday, February 6, 2010, Daniel Yuval from Ramat Hasharon was frolicking with his family in the first snow of the year in the Golan Heights, when a blast went off. Eleven-year-old Daniel stepped on a landmine and lost his leg. His 12-year-old sister Amit sustained shrapnel injuries. The incident generated top headlines in the Israeli media.82 As in previous years when mine accidents occurred, the initial focus of the media was on whether the minefield was properly fenced.83 This time, however, events took a different turn. The Coalition for a Mine-Free Israel, comprised of civil society organizations including Survivor Corps, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, The Center of Regional Councils, and individual landmine survivors, launched an orchestrated media campaign in daily newspapers, radio and television.84 Through their intervention, for the first time the spotlight turned to the question of why landmines werent cleared.85

78 REC Highlights Efforts to Combat Jordan Valleys Landmine Legacy, Norway the official site in Jordan, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Amman, Dead Sea, September 9, 2008: www.norway.jo/News_and_events/ policy/REC_highlights_efforts_to_combat_Jordan_ Valleys_landmine_legacy. 79 Ami Shacham, June 25, 2009. 80 Israel Supreme Court Decision, HC 9735/01: Southern Jordan, Dead Sea and Arava Drainage Authorities against the Minister of Defense et al., January 25, 2006.

81 Israel Supreme Court Appeal, HC 2496/10, March 28, 2010. 82 Hagai Einav, Boy injured in mine blast: No fence where we played, Yedioth Ahronot, February 7, 2010: www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3845567,00.html 83 Minefield wasn't marked off, The Jerusalem Post, February 7, 2010: www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=167999 84 London & Kirshenbaum, What will Israel Do with Hundreds of Thousands of Landmines Buried in Fields on the Golan?, TV Channel 10, February 7, 2010: lnk.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=697865&pid=48&ty peid=1 (Hebrew). 85 Danny Kushmaro, Injured from a Landmine in the Golan and Won a Nobel Prize, TV Channel 2, February 20, 2010: www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Weekend-Newscast/ Article-d0142726cbce621004.htm (Hebrew).

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

Public Debate
This longstanding policy of the Ministry of Defense was subsequently challenged in a roundtable forum organized by the Coalition and the Israel Democracy Institute on March 15, 2010. Speakers in this first-of-its-kind public debate came from all sectors: civil society, academia, government, private sector and international organizations.89 The roundtable was followed by a public hearing at the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on March 16, 2010. Daniel Yuval came in a wheelchair from Tel Hashomer Hospital with his parents to testify before the Committee. Daniel called for removal of all minefields, including the one where he was injured.90 The committee also heard testimony from two international experts: Survivor Corps founder Jerry White and Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. Mr. White, who lost his leg to a landmine while hiking in the Golan heights 26 years ago, described how it was in Israels national interest to demine the country and guarantee civilians safety wherever they hike. White addressed concerns about risks to deminers and potentially high costs involved in demining, by citing the example of Jordan, with no accidents, high standards and relatively low cost. Ambassador Bloomfield, who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, and the Special Representative of President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell for Mine Action, told the committee that once Israel adopts a national demining policy, creates a mechanism for civilian partnership, and assigns a point of coordination, U.S. cooperation and international support would likely be forthcoming.91

Survivor Corps founder Jerry White returning to the site where he lost a leg to a landmine in the Golan Heights.

The coalition proceeded to send a letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense with a call to clear all non-operational minefields.86 The Ministry of Defense responded that it refrains from clearing non-operational minefields for civilian purposes.87 Simultaneously, Members of Knesset (the parliament) from all factions submitted motions to the agenda, resulting in a unanimous vote to transfer the matter to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for in-depth deliberation.88

86 Letter from the Mine-Free Israel Coalition to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense, February 8, 2010: www.acri.org.il/pdf/mines080210.pdf (Hebrew). 87 Letter from Adv. Ruth Bar, Assistant to the Minister, Israel Ministry of Defense, to Dhyan Or, Mine-Free Israel Coalition Coordinator, February 10, 2010. 88 Protocol of Knesset Plenum meeting 109, February 10, 2010: www.knesset.gov.il/plenum/data/00635210.doc (Hebrew).

89 The George Shultz Roundtable Forum: Landmine Policy in Israel, The Israel Democracy Institute, March 15, 2010: www.idi.org.il/sites/english/events/Other_Events/Pages/ LandMine.aspx. 90 Amnon Meranda, The Boy Injured in the Golan Comes to the Knesset: 'We Don't Need Landmines', Yedioth Ahronot, March 16, 2010: www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3863378,00.html (Hebrew). 91 Protocol of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee session on 'The Problem of Minefields in Israel', March 16, 2010.

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Mine Action Bill

At the end of the Committee session, MK Tzahi Hanegbi, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, announced his intention to submit a bill establishing a national mine action authority. Three unsuccessful attempts had been made in the past to introduce private bills tackling the landmine problem.92 The strategy in this case was markedly different. For the first time, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee drew from international experience in mine clearance to establish a national focal point with political, military and civilian collaboration to design and implement national mine action. The mine action authority would be charged with devising a plan for the clearance of all non-operational minefields, and coordinate and monitor its implementation in accordance with international humanitarian demining standards. The bill, championed by Hanegbi, was overwhelmingly supported by 72 MKs from all factions93 and submitted to the Knesset in a special event at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which included testimonies by several Israeli landmine survivors and their families.94 It will take time for the bill to become law. In the summer and fall of 2010, the government of Israel will have the opportunity to put words into action by supporting the bill and guaranteeing an effective mine action authority with dedicated funding to address and solve once and for all Israels landmine problem.

92 Bill Proposals No. 4049 from 2002, No. 19 from 2003, No. 2770 from 2004, The Knesset.

93 National Mine Action Authority Bill Proposal, P/18/2399, The Knesset, May 24, 2010. 94 Livni: 'Shame that People Had to Get Hurt before Mines are Removed', Walla News, May 10, 2010: news.walla.co.il/?w=//1673291 (Hebrew).

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can Israel really afford to demine?

Nature reserve contaminated by landmines. Photo by Dana de la Fontaine.

Yes. Demining the entire country within a decade would cost less than 0.1 percent of the governments budget. Based on the experience and cost in neighboring Jordan, a country which had a similar level of contamination, Israel could clear all minefields for roughly $60 million. This could be done in less than ten years. A national action plan would spread this cost for clearance activities over the years. In the long term, the cost will be offset by the economic benefits that will arise from new development of cleared areas. Millions of dollars would be saved by preventing further injuries and costs associated with lifetime care and rehabilitation for survivors. With a clear plan and policy, Israel could even share the costs of mine clearance with international funders. Countries that joined the Mine Ban Treaty, for example, have benefited greatly from international assistance to advance demining. The United States, Norway, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, among other states, as well as the European Commission, contribute more than $250 million annually for humanitarian demining projects around the world. The U.S. alone has given more than $1.3 billion for mine action in many countries.95

Doesnt Israel need anti-personnel mines for its security?

The IDF has already declared many existing minefields, including all the mines it laid along the Jordanian border, as non-operational, indicating that they have no military purpose. It is worth noting that Israeli governments ruled out planting landmines as a means to cope with illegal infiltrations along the border with Egypt.96 In a February 10, 2010, Knesset plenary speech, MK Zvulun Orlev maintained that not only do landmines not serve any security purpose anymore, they actually infringe on security.97
95 The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program and NADR Funding, U.S. Department of State: www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/c12023.htm. 96 Interview with MK Tzipi Livni, Head of the Opposition, at the Knesset, February 15, 2010. 97 MK Zvulun Orlev, Motions for the Agenda, Knesset Plenum, February 10, 2010.

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Isnt demining too dangerousrisking the lives of deminers?

Not really. The risk is significantly decreased through use of standard protocols, protective gear and detection technology, some of it developed in Israel. Demining is a longstanding practice and profession routinely implemented around the world. Statistics show that demining is far less hazardous to the professionals doing the work than other occupations, such as construction. When deminers follow standard procedures, the risk of an accident is very small indeed.98 Several Israeli private demining firms already operate in accordance with international safety standards. These companies actually demine successfully elsewhere in the world. There is no reason why they cannot manage clearance safely here at home.

Isnt it difficult to demine in a terrain such as the Golan, and without proper maps from the Syrians?
Between 2002 and 2004, more than 64,000 landmines and UXO, including 58,000 anti-personnel mines in nearly 5 million square meters of land were cleared by United Nations Mine Action Service in South Lebanon, and then returned to the community. The terrain is very similar to the Golan and deminers were successful in their endeavor by following standard humanitarian demining procedures and simple methodologies that did not require reliance on minefield maps.99

Isnt liability resulting from potential mine incidents in an area mistakenly pronounced mine-free too great to risk?
Humanitarian demining standards require that the land be certified as 99.8 percent cleared. There is always the risk of human error, but scores of mine-affected countries are managing successful and professional mine clearance projects daily. Liability can be shared, and is for a fact shared in other countries, for example, through an insurance mechanism that covers bodily injury or property damage suffered by third parties. In Israel, successful ways of dealing with mine clearance and issues of liability already exist. For example, in 2005, minefields were cleared in East Jerusalem and at Koah Junction in the Galilee. Thousands of students and trekkers have since used those grounds freely and safely. Finally, it should be remembered that non-clearance of mines also creates liability. With hundreds of thousands of mines still buried in Israeli soil, the government is held responsible for evacuating people who enter minefields, and the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) is obligated to cover medical care and rehabilitation costs, and to compensate civilians who are injured. In fact, liability risk and insurance costs may be greater under the current situation, in which Israelis live in proximity to active minefields that threaten to kill and injure civilians.

98 Demining Research, University of Western Australia, school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~jamest/demining/info/help.html. 99 Interview with Kerei Ruru, former U.N. Chief of Operations, MACCSL, January 15, 2010.

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EXPLOSIVE LITTER Status Report on Minefields in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

LIST OF SOURCES
Ami Shacham, Director of Arava Drainage Authority, Sapir, interviewed on June 25, 2009. Col. Atai Shelah, Combat Doctrine Department Head, Engineering Corps, Israeli Ground Forces headquarters, interviewed on November 8, 2009. Ezra Rabins, Head of Central Arava Regional Council, Sapir, interviewed on June 24, 2009. Gadi Aviran, former commander at the IDFs explosive ordnance disposal unit, Bnei Zion, interview on June 28, 2009. Haaretz daily newspaper: www.haaretz.com. Hiking Maps 1-20, Scale 1:50000, Survey of Israel and Society for Protection of Nature in Israel, 2004-2006. IDF Spokesperson: dover.idf.il. Independent: www.independent.co.uk. Israel Government Decision tm/32: Minefield Clearance Report 50a, February 1, 2000. Israel Landmine Policy, Aharon Etengoff and Prof. Gerland Steinberg, Bar Ilan University, Nov. 9, 2000: faculty.biu.ac.il/~steing/arms/ minepolicy.htm. Israel Prime Ministers Remarks to State Comptrollers Report 51b, April 29, 2001. Israel Prime Ministers Remarks to State Comptrollers Report 54a, September 30, 2003. Israel Supreme Court Decision, Bagatz 9735/01, January 25, 2006. Israel Supreme Court Appeal, Bagatz 2496/10, March 28, 2010. Israels national annual CCW Article 13 Reports, 2001-2009. Israeli Ground Forces website: mazi.idf.il. Jerusalem Post: www.jpost.com. Jordan Mine and ERW Action Update, The National Committee on Demining and Rehabilitation, 2009. Knesset protocols: www.knesset.gov.il. Landmine Monitor annual reports, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 1999-2009: www.lm.icbl.org. Letter from Adv. Ruth Bar, Assistant to the Minister, Israel Ministry of Defense, to Dhyan Or, Mine-Free Israel Coalition Coordinator, February 10, 2010. Letter from the Mine-Free Israel Coalition to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense, February 8, 2010: www.acri.org.il/pdf/ mines080210.pdf. Letter from Meir Itzchaki, Regional Security and Arms Control Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Landmine Monitor, July 31, 2001. Letter from Shefaa Abu Jabal, Golan for Development, to Survivor Corps, April 19, 2009. Maariv daily newspaper: www.nrg.co.il. Maavarim Civil Engineering Ltd project list: www.bnc-il.com/maavarim/projects.htm. Meir Itzhaki, Deputy Chair, U.N. Disarmament Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, interviewed on February 15, 2010. Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University: maic.jmu.edu. Mines in the IDF, a background paper for the State Control Committee, January 28, 2002: www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/docs/m00256. rtf. Moti Ben Shitrit, Head of Israel Trails Committee, Society for Protection of Nature in Israel, Tel Aviv, interviewed on December 15, 2009. New York Times: www.nytimes.com. Protocol no. 27 of the meeting of the Subcommittee for IDF and Defense Establishment Affairs, State Control Committee, 15th Knesset, 4th Session, Protocols/Control/4520, January 31, 2002. Reuters: www.reuters.com. State Comptroller of Israel Annual Report 50a for 1999, Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces, Israel government printing office, Jerusalem, October 1, 1999. Taiseer Maray, Director of Golan for Development, Majdal Shams, interviewed on April 15, 2009. Walla News Service: www.walla.co.il. Yedioth Ahronot daily newspaper and Ynet News online: www.ynet.co.il.

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