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 The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

passed the Minefield Clearance Act. According to this law, the Israel Mine Action Authority was established and began clearing

minefields A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

in 2012.

History

Around 1.2 million land mines laid during the 1950s and 1960s contaminate a combined area of 50,000 acres in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

, in the

Arava Valley The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...

and along the Jordan River. 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. 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.

Legislation

Three unsuccessful attempts to offer a legal solution to the land mine problem were proposed in the early 2000s. In 2009, Jerry White, an American who survived a mine incident in the

, together with the newly formed Mine-Free Israel coalition, led by activist Dhyan Or, drafted a call to action and a legal framework for humanitarian

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

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. The campaign secured the support of 73 Members of Knesset, as well as the Government, and became a law on March 14, 2011.

Demining

Following the adoption of the bill, the State of Israel established its National Mine Action Authority, which began work in the

in 2012. In 2013, demining activity continued in the Arava and spread to the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

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 2016-2020, a total of 113,380 mi² were cleared, but Israel is not projected to meet the Article 5 target deadline of June 1, 2028.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Environment of Israel