U.N. rights expert: Israeli barrier in Palestinian territory is illegal annexation

Israel's wall project, claiming it is needed for protection, represents "de facto annexation" and is illegal under international law, a United Nations human rights expert said Thursday.

"The wall is being used as a way of expanding Israel's territory," said John Dugard, the U.N. expert on rights in the Palestinian territories. "Israel responds that this is a temporary security measure but I think the reality is that this is a form of creeping annexation of Palestinian territory."

Dugard, a South African lawyer, was speaking shortly before he was due to address the U.N. Human Rights Commission to report on the human rights situation in the territories.

He said the current plans for the barrier already would enclose an estimated 7 percent of Palestinian land, and proposals made earlier this week to extend it to protect a Jewish settlement in the heart of the West Bank would take much more land.

"I have seen portions of that wall, and it makes the old Berlin Wall look very small," Dugard said. "It has gone largely unnoticed in the West, but this is de facto annexation."

Only a few miles of the barrier -- built of electronic fences and concrete blocks -- have so far been completed.

Dugard, whose mandate is rejected by the Israeli government said the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories has worsened dramatically since his last report a year ago. "Israel has succeeded in gaining tremendous sympathy for its argument that it is engaged in defensive action in response to Palestinian suicide bombers, and I think one must acknowledge that Israel does have real security concerns," he said.

"But the action taken by the Israelis has been disproportionate. I point to the fact that there has been considerable loss of life... This has often been justified as 'collateral action.' But collateral deaths have become the rule rather than the exception of the present conflict."