Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
Movement and Access: Roadblocks
442: Number of impediments (roadblocks, checkpoints, and gates) to movement and access of Palestinians. According to Israeli government figures, 71 of these checkpoints are manned.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has presented a plan to remove 24 of the permanent checkpoints in order to ease restrictions on Palestinians.
Movement and Access: Transportation
Travel within the West Bank is complicated by a two-tier road system, which reserves 1,661 km of road for Israelis only. Palestinian-only “Fabric of Life” roads constructed by the Israeli government have been criticized by human rights organizations for further separating Palestinians from main routes.
The 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA) calls for the development of a Palestinian port or airport, however no movement has been made on that front.
Movement and Access: Economic Aspects
400: Average number of export trucks that were to pass through the Karni crossing by the end of 2006 according to the AMA.
32: Average number of export trucks allowed to pass through Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza as of July 2007, double the average number from 2006.
18%: Number of West Bank firms selling into East Jerusalem, a 3% drop between 2000 and 2005.
Currently, Palestinian exports and imports must pass through Israel. Prior to the Hamas takeover in June 2007, there had been progress on developing the Rafah crossing with Egypt into a Palestinian export gate, but that project has been suspended indefinitely.
Security Cooperation
The Palestinians and Israel largely broke off security cooperation after the second Palestinian intifada began. In April 2006, Israel formally suspended security coordination with the Hamas-led Palestinian government. However, on July 3, 2007, Israel announced that it would resume security cooperation talks with the Fatah government in the West Bank.
The United States has allocated $80 million for the training of President Abbas’ presidential guard to support Palestinian security efforts. The plan was formulated by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel has said it considers the strengthening of Palestinian security forces to be in its interests.
Prisoners
11, 000: Number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails
87: Number of Palestinian prisoners to be freed as a gesture of goodwill by the Israeli Government on the eve of Ramadan.
250: Number of Palestinian prisoners freed in the last Israeli prisoner release, July 20, 2006.
Gilad Shalit: An IDF soldier captured by Hamas militants in a June, 2006 raid. An audio tape of Shalit was released in June, 2007 in which he said his health was deteriorating and asked the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoners in trade for his release. Hamas has denied the Red Cross access to Shalit, but is in negotiations with Israel for the soldier’s release.
Electricity
20%: Portion of Palestinian Authority budget allocated to meet outstanding amounts owed to the Israeli Electricity Corporation. The West Bank receives its electricity from the Israeli Electricity Corporation.
Gaza’s electricity is provided mostly by Israel as well, but also receives power from Egypt and a European Union funded power plant inside Gaza.
Israel recently declared Gaza a “hostile entity” and is considering cutting services, including electricity, in response to Qassam rockets being fired into Israel.
Water
The 1994 Gaza-Jericho Accords transferred responsibility for water and sewage in Gaza and the West Bank to the Palestinians. However, the Gaza strip remains dependent on Israel today for all of its basic services, including water. In the West Bank, Palestinians are allotted a percentage of the water from area aquifers.
17%: Percentage of total water in West Bank aquifers allotted for Palestinian use.
15 years: Time remaining before Gaza Strip runs out of drinkable water, as estimated by the UN.