The Fence / Security Barrier / Separation Barrier
The "fence" is a grim looking structure that is part barbed wire, part electrified metal, and part high concrete wall with a watch tower and sniper positions. It is designed to keep Palestinian militants out. Israel's frontier with the West Bank is 365-kilometers long. The Government has decided to fence the whole line, but has yet to publish the exact route. About $1.5 billion has been allocated for the first two stages of the project.
It takes different forms in different areas. There are areas of the wall that are a huge concrete wall 8 meters high. It has watchtowers every few hundred meters, very similar to the Berlin Wall. On either side of the wall they have what they call 'buffer zones' so property is destroyed if it's too close to the wall. They also have trenches and a series of military roads with barbed wire on either side of the wall.
The 11.3 kilometer fence that surrounds the West Bank town of Qalqilyah, will isolate the town not only from Israel, but from the rest of the West Bank as well. Only one road will connect Qalqilyah to the West Bank, but that road is blocked by an Israeli check-point.
Satellite Imagery of the Fence |
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Maps
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Click on the small image to view a larger version | |
![]() 1:150,000 scale map of a portion of the West Bank. Source CIA 1992 |
![]() Overview of the West Bank town of Qalqilyah. Israeli settlements are blue. |
![]() Russian 1:50,000 scale map of portion of the West Bank. Source Eastview Cartographic |
![]() This russian map from 1990 shows area east of Qalqilyah prior to the expansion of the Israeli settlements Alfe Menashe and Zofim |
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![]() This image taken on 7 Jun 2003 show ongoing construction of the Israeli security wall. When complete it will surround the town of Qalqilyah. Source: Space Imaging Eurasia |
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![]() Israeli Military Checkpoint. When the security fence is completed this will be the only way in or out of the town of Qalqilyah. |
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![]() Once complete the fence will cut off access to Palestinians between the town and nearby farm lands. |
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![]() Israeli Suburbs like Kochev Ya'ir follow the layout of modern town planning standards and are characterized by single family detached houses and are arranged in a curving pattern with numerous cul-de-sacs. |
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