Before examining issues relating to the applicability of the Covenant to Israeli policies and practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS), it is useful to discuss briefly the territorial and jurisdictional parameters established by the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Interim Agreement).
During the five-year interim period covered by the Interim Agreement and ending in May 1999, Israel was to transfer to Palestinians full jurisdiction over all of the WBGS except for areas reserved for final status negotiations (Chapter 3, Article 17). This formula of "all/except" has been subject to different interpretations by the parties. The Palestinians interpret this to mean 90% of the WBGS, Israel's Labour Government reportedly envisioned 70%, and the current Likud Government is publicly discussing a figure of 40%.
The transfer of jurisdiction was to occur pursuant to the withdrawal of Israeli military occupation in three phased troop redeployments within 18 months after the Interim Agreement (Chapter 3, Article 17). To date Israel has completed only one redeployment granting the Palestinians full jurisdiction over 3% of the territory of the West Bank and 60% of the Gaza Strip (termed A areas in the Interim Agreement), subordinate jurisdiction over 24% of the West Bank (B areas), and no jurisdiction over 73% of the Wrest Bank and 40% of the Gaza Strip (C areas and final status territories). Under the Wye Agreement, Israel agreed within ten days of signing to a second troop redeployment transferring an additional 1% to A areas and 12% to B areas. Israel also agreed to transfer 14% of the B areas to A areas at an unspecified future date. However, none of these redeployments has yet taken place.
The full implications of these territorial and jurisdictional arrangements will be discussed below. But it is worth noting that Israel retains control over most of the resources in the WBGS. Without these resources, especially land and water, it is not possible for Palestinians to exercise their full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. The rights to work, health, food and housing, for example, are fundamentally based on the freedom of people to develop their collective and individual capacities through the control and use of national resources. Yet Palestinians are not even able to use the limited resources at their disposal without constant disruption from Israeli-imposed closures that illegally prohibit the free movement of people and goods between different pockets of Palestinian territory.