In 2002, following the outbreak of the Second Intifada, Israel started constructing the West Bank Barrier, which restricts the mobility of Palestinians and cuts Palestinian farmers off from their land. The construction process and the Barrier’s physical structure severely impact the Palestinian population and their surrounding environment.
Between June 2011 and June 2012, UNRWA’s Barrier Monitoring Unit (BMU) and the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) conducted joint research on the environmental impacts of the Barrier, the effects on Palestinian livelihoods and the already-vulnerable Palestine refugee population.