Land mines in Israel
{{Citation style|date=November 2015}}
Landmines in Israel have been a problem since the 1950s and 1960s. Campaigns to clear the landmines, led by a coalition of civil-society organizations, mine-affected communities and land mine survivors, operated from 2009 to 2011, until the Knesset passed the Minefield Clearance Act.{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Private Law No. 368 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/18/3/368_3_2.rtf |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |format=rtf}} According to this law, the Israel Mine Action Authority was established and began clearing minefields in 2012.
History
Around 1.2 million{{cite news |last=Hashmonai |first=Adi |date=February 7, 2010 |script-title=he:בכיר בצבא: יש מאות שדות מוקשים לא מגודרים |language=he |trans-title=Army Senior: There are Hundreds of Unfenced Minefields |publisher=nrg Maariv |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/052/324.html}} land mines laid during the 1950s and 1960s contaminate a combined area of 50,000 acres in the Golan Heights, in the Arava Valley and along the Jordan River.{{cite news |date=January 20, 2011 |title=Site of Jesus' Baptism Literally Remains a Minefield |publisher=Fox News |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/01/20/site-jesus-baptism-literally-remains-minefield/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141017071934/http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/01/20/site-jesus-baptism-literally-remains-minefield/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-10-17 }} This includes more than 300,000 land mines contaminating 5,000 acres of agricultural and residential land in the West Bank, with unexploded ordnance further making sites inaccessible.{{cite news |last=Pfeffer |first=Anshel |year=2011 |title=IDF is Working to Clear the Minefields in the Jordan Valley and the Arava |newspaper=Haaretz}} A State Comptroller audit conducted in the late 1990s found that hundreds of minefields no longer contributed to Israel's security and that no government agency had presented a plan to clear them.{{cite book |last=White |first=Jerry |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/126012447/Explosive-Litter |title=Explosive Litter |author2=Tirza Leibowitz |author3=Dhyan Or |year=2010 |pages=xviii-xxv}}
Legislation
Three unsuccessful attempts to offer a legal solution to the land mine problem were proposed in the early 2000s.{{cite web |year=2002 |title=Bill Proposal No. 4049 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/15/4049.rtf |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |format=rtf}}{{cite web |year=2003 |title=Bill Proposal No. 19 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/16/19.rtf |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |format=rtf}}{{cite web |year=2004 |title=Bill Proposal No. 2770 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/16/2770.rtf |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |format=rtf}} In 2009, Jerry White, an American who survived a mine incident in the Golan Heights, together with the newly formed Mine-Free Israel coalition, led by activist Dhyan Or,{{cite news |last=Sobelman |first=Batsheva |date=February 8, 2010 |title=Israel: Land of Landmines |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/02/israel-land-of-landmines.html}} drafted a call to action and a legal framework for humanitarian demining in Israel. In February 2010, 11-year-old Israeli boy Daniel Yuval lost his leg to land mine while walking in the snow in the Golan Heights. Following this incident, Yuval joined the Mine-Free Israel and petitioned the Prime Minister and Members of Knesset to support the draft bill.{{cite news |last=Bronner |first=Ethan |date=May 13, 2010 |title=Leg Lost to Land Mine, Boy, 11, Moves Israel |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/world/middleeast/13israel.html}} The campaign secured the support of 73 Members of Knesset, as well as the Government, and became a law on March 14, 2011.{{cite news |last=Lev |first=David |date=March 15, 2011 |title=Historic Measure to Remove Land Mines Passes Knesset Vote |publisher=Arutz Sheva |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142903}}
Demining
Following the adoption of the bill, the State of Israel established its National Mine Action Authority, which began work in the Arava Valley in 2012.{{cite news |last=Rinat |first=Zafrir |date=October 17, 2012 |title=Clearance of land mines from Arava under way despite greens' concerns |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/clearance-of-land-mines-from-arava-under-way-despite-greens-concerns.premium-1.470460}} In 2013, demining activity continued in the Arava and spread to the West Bank and the Golan Heights.INMAA, Israel National Mine Action Authority, official website, accessed October 9, 2013: https://web.archive.org/web/20130927204124/http://www.inmaa.org.il/
According to the 2021 Mine Action Review, there were 262,278 mi2 mined areas in the West Bank excluding the Jordan Valley. From 2016 to 2020, a total of 113,380 mi2 were cleared, but Israel is not projected to meet the Article 5 target deadline of June 1, 2028.{{cite web |title=Clearing the Mines 2021 |url=https://www.mineactionreview.org/assets/downloads/3644_NPA_Clearing_the_Mines_2021.pdf |access-date=2 August 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite news |last=Bronner |first=Ethan |title=Leg Lost to Land Mine, Boy, 11, Moves Israel |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 13, 2010 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/world/middleeast/13israel.html}}
- {{cite book |last=White |first=Jerry |author2=Tirza Leibowitz |author3=Dhyan Or |title=Explosive Litter |year=2010 |pages=xviii-xxv |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/126012447/Explosive-Litter}}
- {{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Site of Jesus' Baptism Literally Remains a Minefield |date=January 20, 2011 |publisher=Fox News |url=http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/01/20/site-jesus-baptism-literally-remains-minefield/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141017071934/http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/01/20/site-jesus-baptism-literally-remains-minefield/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-10-17 }}
- {{cite news |last=Sobelman |first=Batsheva |title=Israel: Land of Landmines |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 8, 2010 |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/02/israel-land-of-landmines.html}}
- {{cite news |last=Hashmonai |first=Adi |script-title=he:בכיר בצבא: יש מאות שדות מוקשים לא מגודרים |language=he |trans-title=Army Senior: There are Hundreds of Unfenced Minefields |publisher=nrg Maariv |date=February 7, 2010 |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/052/324.html}}
- {{cite news |last=Pfeffer |first=Anshel |title=IDF is Working to Clear the Minefields in the Jordan Valley and the Arava |newspaper=Haaretz |year=2011}}
- {{cite news |last=Stoil |first=Rebecca Anna |title=Campaign Targets Land Mine Awareness |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=September 20, 2010 |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Campaign-targets-land-mine-awareness}}
- {{cite news |last=Rinat |first=Zafrir |title=Clearance of land mines from Arava under way despite greens' concerns |newspaper=Haaretz |date=October 17, 2012 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/clearance-of-land-mines-from-arava-under-way-despite-greens-concerns.premium-1.470460}}
- {{cite news |last=Lev |first=David |title=Historic Measure to Remove Land Mines Passes Knesset Vote |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=March 15, 2011 |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142903}}
- {{cite journal |last=Or |first=Dhyan |author2=H. K. |title=Clearing Minefields in Israel and the West Bank |journal=The Journal of ERW and Mine Action |volume=15 |issue=3 |year=2011 |url=http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol15/iss3/7/}}
- {{cite web |title=Private Law No. 368 |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |year=2011 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/18/3/368_3_2.rtf |format=rtf}}
- {{cite web |title=Bill Proposal No. 4049 |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |year=2002 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/15/4049.rtf |format=rtf}}
- {{cite web |title=Bill Proposal No. 19 |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |year=2003 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/16/19.rtf |format=rtf}}
- {{cite web |title=Bill Proposal No. 2770 |publisher=The Knesset, Israel |year=2004 |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/16/2770.rtf |format=rtf}}
- INMAA, Israel National Mine Action Authority, official website, accessed October 9, 2013: https://web.archive.org/web/20130927204124/http://www.inmaa.org.il/
{{Land mines by region or country}}