Israel: ‘Disengagement’ Will Not End Gaza Occupation

Israeli Government Still Holds Responsibility for Welfare of Civilians

(New York, October 29, 2004) — The Israeli government’s plan to
remove troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip would not end
Israel’s occupation of the territory, Human Rights Watch said today. As an
occupying power, Israel will retain responsibility for the welfare of Gaza’s
civilian population.

Under the “disengagement” plan endorsed Tuesday by the Knesset, Israeli
forces will keep control over Gaza’s borders, coastline and airspace, and
will reserve the right to launch incursions at will. Israel will continue to
wield overwhelming power over the territory’s economy and its access to
trade.

“The removal of settlers and most military forces will not end Israel’s
control over Gaza,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of
Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “Israel
plans to reconfigure its occupation of the territory, but it will remain an
occupying power with responsibility for the welfare of the civilian
population.”

Under the plan, Israel is scheduled to remove settlers and military bases
protecting the settlers from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank
Jewish settlements by the end of 2005. The Israeli military will remain
deployed on Gaza’s southern border, and will reposition its forces to other
areas just outside the territory.

In addition to controlling the borders, coastline and airspace, Israel will
continue to control Gaza’s telecommunications, water, electricity and
sewage networks, as well as the flow of people and goods into and out of
the territory. Gaza will also continue to use Israeli currency.

A World Bank study on the economic effects of the plan determined that
“disengagement” would ease restrictions on mobility inside Gaza. But the
study also warned that the removal of troops and settlers would have little
positive effect unless accompanied by an opening of Gaza’s borders. If the
borders are sealed to labor and trade, the plan “would create worse
hardship than is seen today.”

The plan also explicitly envisions continued home demolitions by the
Israeli military to expand the “buffer zone” along the Gaza-Egypt border.
According to a report released last week by Human Rights Watch, the
Israeli military has illegally razed nearly 1,600 homes since 2000 to create
this buffer zone, displacing some 16,000 Palestinians. Israeli officials have
called for the buffer zone to be doubled, which would result in the
destruction of one-third of the Rafah refugee camp.

In addition, the plan states that disengagement “will serve to dispel the
claims regarding Israel’s responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip.” A report by legal experts from the Israeli Justice Ministry, Foreign
Ministry and the military made public on Sunday, however, reportedly
acknowledges that disengagement “does not necessarily exempt Israel
from responsibility in the evacuated territories.”

If Israel removes its troops from Gaza, the Palestinian National Authority
will maintain responsibility for security within the territory—to the extent
that Israel allows Palestinian police the authority and capacity. Palestinian
security forces will still have a duty to protect civilians within Gaza and to
prevent indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians.

“Under international law, the test for determining whether an occupation
exists is effective control by a hostile army, not the positioning of troops,”
Whitson said. “Whether the Israeli army is inside Gaza or redeployed
around its periphery and restricting entrance and exit, it remains in
control.”

Under international law, the duties of an occupying power are detailed in
the Fourth Geneva Convention and The Hague Regulations. According to
The Hague Regulations, a “territory is considered occupied when it is
actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation
extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and
can be exercised.”

The “disengagement plan,” as adopted by the Israeli Cabinet on June 6,
2004, and endorsed by the Knesset on October 26, is available at:
http://www.pmo.gov.il/nr/exeres/C5E1ACE3-9834-414E-9512-
8E5F509E9A4D.htm


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