Seam Zone

Seam Zone (Hebrew: מרחב התפר) is a term used to refer to a land area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank located east of the Green Line and west of Israel's separation barrier, populated largely by Israelis in settlements such as Alfei Menashe, Ariel, Beit Arye, Modi'in Illit, Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Efrat.

[2] The United Nations estimated that if the series of walls, fences, barbed wire and ditches is completed along its planned route, about a third of West Bank Palestinians will be affected—274,000 will be located in enclaves in the seam zone and about 400,000 separated from their fields, jobs, schools and hospitals.

"[4] According to the State Attorney's Office, "this buffer zone is vital to strike against terrorists who are liable to cross the Barrier before carrying out their scheme."

"[9] Palestinians who live near the seam zone are allowed to enter and stay if they possess a written permit, taṣrīḥ (تصريح) in Arabic, authorizing permanent residence.

[8] Permit holders must apply for special permission if they wish to travel by automobile, bring in goods or stay overnight in the seam zone.

[10] Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have noted that there is an increasing tendency to grant permits only to registered landowners and their direct descendants.

[10] Human rights groups, including those in Israel, have challenged the legality of both the separation barrier and the seam zone under international law.

For example, in a petition to Israel's Supreme Court, the Israeli non-governmental organization Hamoked (Center for the Defense of the Individual) stated that, "the web of the Declaration and the Orders has spun, in the seam zone, a legal apartheid, which is intolerable, illegal and immoral.

According to the official map published by the Israeli government,[12] the following Palestinian towns and villages will lie west of the completed or planned separation barrier: The localities of Khirbet Jabara (near Tulkarm), Azzoun, Ras Tira, Dab'a, Wad Rasha and Arab a-Ramadeen (all near Qalqilya) were originally planned to be west of the barrier.