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 ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
passed the Minefield Clearance Act. According to this law, the Israel Mine Action Authority was established and began clearing
minefields in 2012.
History
Around 1.2 million land mines laid during the 1950s and 1960s contaminate a combined area of 50,000
acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
s in the
Golan Heights, in the
Arava Valley 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
Golan Heights, 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 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
Arava Valley in 2012. In 2013, demining activity continued in the Arava and spread to the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. 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 mi
2 mined areas in the West Bank excluding the Jordan Valley. From 2016 to 2020, a total of 113,380 mi
2 were cleared, but Israel is not projected to meet the Article 5 target deadline of June 1, 2028.
References
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* 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, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
Environment of Israel