03 January 2018
Palestine Accedes to the Mine Ban Treaty
Ten of the Middle East & North African countries still remain outside of the treaty
Palestinian delegate announcing the country’s decision to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty at the Sixteenth Meeting of the States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty on 21 December 2017 in Vienna, Austria ©ISU
Palestine has become the 164th State Party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, having deposited its instrument of accession at the United Nations’ headquarters on 29 December 2017. The Mine Ban Treaty will enter into force for Palestine on 1 June 2018.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines congratulates Palestine for acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty.
“Palestine’s accession to the Mine Ban Treaty is crucial for the Palestinian people. We look forward to seeing the country free from the plague of landmines soon,” said Ayman Sorour, Director of Protection. “All other states in the Middle East region should follow suit, and join the 164 nations to achieve a mine-free world by 2025.”
Palestine is affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war. The Landmine Monitor has recorded 3,625 casualties to date, with 15 landmines and explosive remnants of war casualties reported in 2016, of which almost half were children.
Some 20km2 of the land of the State of Palestine is contaminated by landmines, antivehicle mines, and other explosive remnants of war. As of August 2017 nine areas, excluding Jordan Valley, were confirmed to be contaminated in the Palestinian-controlled territory and in no-man’s-land between West Bank and Israel, according to the Landmine Monitor.
With Palestine on board, nine (Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, and Yemen) of the 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates in the region still remain outside of the treaty.
The news of Palestine joining the Mine Ban Treaty I find to be both welcomed and unsurprising. With so many casualties coming from land mines I can see why Palestine will want them off of their territory. I cannot imagine this decision came easily as I am sure Palestine would like to use land mines as a deterrence against an attack from Israel. I am also curious as to which states, if any at all, in the Middle East will look to join the treaty now that Palestine has joined. I do not believe Israel will be one to join the Mine Ban Treaty but I believe they should especially considering they do not need land mines to deter any sort of invasion. I am also curious to see who will pay for the removal of the land mines in Palestine. I suppose the United States would be open to it but I would imagine a more likely candidate would be Russia. This is a welcomed step towards removing all land mines in the international community and I hope other states look to join Palestine in the future.