Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlisrael



Israel <![CDATA[The State of Israel has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2007, an Israeli official reiterated to Landmine Monitor that “while Israel supports the humanitarian goals of the convention, it is unable to disregard its specific military and security needs, it cannot commit to a total ban on anti-personnel mines as they are a legitimate means for defending its borders against possible incursions such as terrorist attacks and therefore is not in a position to consider membership.” Israel is affected by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Mines date back to World War II, and Israel has since used mines along its borders, near military camps and training areas, and near civilian infrastructure. The exact extent of overall contamination is not known, but unconfirmed press reports have suggested that some 33km2 of land are suspected to be mined in Israel, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. According to United States Department of State estimates, there are 260,000 mines in Israel primarily along the borders with Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and territories captured in the 1967 war. During 2007, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Engineering Corps initiated a program of “GPS [Global Positioning System] measuring of minefields, as well as preserving of minefield’s history.” As a result of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, some parts of Israel are also contaminated by both mines and ERW - [both abandoned explosive ordnance and unexploded ordnance (UXO)—in areas of confrontation and near military training areas. A further hazard has arisen from Palestinian improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In addition, Israeli military training fields are said to be sometimes improperly fenced or not fenced at all, and some UXO go uncollected. Another problem is mines whose location has shifted from one side of a conflict line to another, for example as the result of flooding. In 2007, Landmine Monitor identified two mine/ERW casualties in Israel. On 5 May, one soldier was injured in a mine explosion near Eilat while on a routine security patrol. This was the first such casualty recorded by Landmine Monitor since 2000. On 20 April, a civilian contract worker was injured by an unknown explosive device along a security fence near the village of Beit Jamal, south of Beit Shemesh. Casualties continued to occur in 2008: on 23 May, an 11-year-old boy was killed and his father injured by an unexploded shell while hiking near Ramat Hovav in Negev.

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