JERUSALEM, November 10, 2006 (WAFA) - Twenty two international aid organisations expressed their alarm at the continuing construction of the Wall in the Palestinian territory and the misery it is causing the Palestinian people, calling for implementing The Hague's Advisory Opinion on it.

"We call for the UN member states to make effective the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion of 9 July 2004 that calls for Israel to cease construction and to dismantle those sections of the Wall which are located in the West Bank," according to a press release by the organisations.

Begun in June 2002 the Separation Wall is projected to be more than 703 kilometers long, twice as long as the 1967 borders of the West Bank, and over 4 times longer than the Berlin Wall. The Wall cuts deep into the West Bank and through the middle of towns and neighborhoods, dividing families from each other, preventing Palestinian farmers from accessing their land, students from accessing their schools, and the sick, elderly, and expectant mothers are cut off from essential health services.

"We remind the UN Member States that the ICJ opinion advised that "all states are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem . . ., not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction . . . ", and "to ensure compliance by Israel with international law embodied in [the Fourth Geneva] Convention.," it added.

The organisations also called on the international community to work, as a matter of urgency, towards a UN monitoring system to register damages arising from the construction of the Wall, as instructed by the UN General Assembly to the Secretary General (ES-10/15 of 10 July 2004), and to locate it in the OPT.

"We also request the members of the Quartet and all governments to make special reference to the ICJ advisory opinion in their statements on this issue, and to integrate the conclusions of this advisory opinion into any negotiation process," it concluded.

The organisations are: ACSUR Las Segovias, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Asamblea de Cooperacion por la Paz (ACPP), Campaign for the Children of Palestine (CCP), Christian Aid, Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (C.I.S.P), Gruppo di Volontariato Civile (GVC), Handicap International, Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS), Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC), Medecine du Monde international network, Oxfam International, Premiere Urgence, PTM-mundubat, Save the Children-Sweden, Save the Children-UK, Solidaridad Internacional, Solidarité Socialiste – Belgium, Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC), The Palestine Solidarity Association in Sweden, UCODEP-Jerusalem Office and World Vision Jerusalem.

A.D. (21:00 P) (19:00 GMT)