Annexation and Segregation Wall In 2002 the Israeli Government decided to construct “a barrier” separating the West Bank and Israel with the declared purpose of improving the security of Israel by preventing Palestinians from entering Israel without first being cleared at a checkpoint.86 Today, the Annexation and Segregation Wall consists of a combination of eight-meter high concrete slabs; fences, ditches, razor wire, groomed sand paths, an electronic monitoring system, patrol roads and a buffer zone.87 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared in its Advisory Opinion on 9 July 2004 that the Annexation and Segregation Wall and its associated permit regime is contrary to international law and that all states are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance to maintain the situation created by its construction.88 A particular concern of the ICJ was the location of the Annexation and Segregation Wall, with the opinion noting: [...] that the route chosen for the wall gives expression in loco to the illegal measures taken by Israel, and deplored by the Security Council, with regard to Jerusalem and the settlements, and that it entails further alterations to the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.89 When completed, the Annexation and Segregation Wall will be 712 kilometers long, which is more than twice the length of the Green Line,90 with more than 9.4 percent of the West Bank, and 30,000 Palestinians, trapped between the Wall and the Green Line in areas known as Seam Zones.91 The Human Rights Committee emphasized its concerns with the restrictions on freedom of movement imposed by the Annexation and Segregation Wall in its concluding observations in the fourth periodic report of Israel.92 86 OCHA – OccupiedPalestinianTerritories, “Barrier Portal”, 2014. Available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/ content.aspx?id=1010271 87 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “10 Years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion”, 9 July 2014, page 2. Available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_ opt_10_years_barrier_report_english.pdf 88 International Court of Justice, “Legal Consequences of the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, ICJ Reports 2004”, 9 July 2004. Available at: http://www.icj-cij. org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3=6&ca. 89 Ibid. 90 Ma’an News Agency, “Israel court rules against separation wall in Beit Jala”, 2 April 2015. Available at: https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=760247 91 HaMoked – center for the Defence of the Individual, “The Permit Regime: Human Rights Violations in West Bank Areas Known as the ‘Seam Zone’”, March 2013, pages 5 & 9. Available at: http://www. hamoked.org/files/2013/1157660_eng.pdf 92 UN Human Rights Committee, “Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Israel (Advance Unedited Version)”, October 2014, page 7. Available at: http://www.ccprcentre.org/ doc/2014/10/CCPR_C_ISR_CO_41.doc 28