Part II (A) 1- Israeli Settlements | INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Document Number

186-20230531-REQ-01-03-EN

Parent Document Number

186-20230531-REQ-02-03-EN

Case

186 - Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

Date of the Document

Wed, 05/31/2023 - 12:00

Document File

186-20230531-req-01-03-en.pdf

UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/48/212
15 March 1994
Forty-eighth session
Agenda item 12
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Second Committee (A/48/715)]
48/212. Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli
settlements on the Palestinian people in the
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, occupied
since 1967, and on the Arab population of the Syrian
Golan
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 47/172 of 22 December 1992,
Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolution 1993/52 of
29 July 1993,
Reaffirming the principle of the permanent sovereignty of people under
foreign occupation over their national resources,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force and recalling
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 497 (1981) of
17 December 1981,
Recalling Security Council resolution 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and
other resolutions affirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, 1/ to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem,
and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967,
__________
1/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
/...
A/RES/48/212
Page 2
Aware of the negative and grave economic and social repercussions of the
Israeli settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory
occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
Syrian Golan,
Welcoming the ongoing Middle East peace process started at Madrid, and
in particular the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-
Government Arrangements, including its Annexes and its Agreed Minutes, by the
Government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization,
in Washington, D.C., on 13 September 1993, 2/
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the economic
and social consequences of the establishment of settlements by Israel in the
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, and the
Syrian Golan; 3/
2. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, are
illegal and an obstacle to economic and social development;
3. Recognizes the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli
settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory occupied by
Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
Syrian Golan;
4. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the
population of the Syrian Golan to their natural and all other economic
resources, and regards any infringement thereof as being illegal;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its forty-ninth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report
on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.
86th plenary meeting
21 December 1993
__________
2/ A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
3/ A/48/188-E/1993/78.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/49/132
24 February 1995
Forty-ninth session
Agenda item 12
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Second Committee (A/49/726)]
49/132. Economic and social repercussions of the
Israeli settlements on the Palestinian
people in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967,
and on the Arab population of the Syrian
Golan
The General Assembly,
Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 1994/45 of 29 July
1994,
Reaffirming the principle of the permanent sovereignty of people under
foreign occupation over their national resources,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force and recalling
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 497 (1981) of
17 December 1981,
Recalling Security Council resolution 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and
other resolutions affirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949, 1/ to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and
other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967,
Recalling also Security Council resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the occupying
1/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
95-76609 /...
A/RES/49/132
Page 2
Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including, inter alia,
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety
and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory,
Aware of the negative and grave economic and social repercussions of the
Israeli settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory,
occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
Syrian Golan,
Welcoming the ongoing Middle East peace process started at Madrid, in
particular the signing at Cairo on 4 May 1994 by the Government of the State
of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the
Palestinian people, of the first implementation agreement of the Declaration
of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, 2/ namely, the
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, 3/
1. Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General; 4/
2. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, are
illegal and an obstacle to economic and social development;
3. Recognizes the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli
settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory occupied by
Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
Syrian Golan;
4. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the
population of the Syrian Golan to their natural and all other economic
resources, and regards any infringement thereof as being illegal;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its fiftieth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report on
the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.
92nd plenary meeting
19 December 1994
2/ A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
3/ A/49/180-S/1994/727, annex.
4/ A/49/169-E/1994/73.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/50/129
6 March 1996
Fiftieth session
Agenda item 12
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Second Committee (A/50/615/Add.1)]
50/129. Economic and social repercussions of the
Israeli settlements on the Palestinian
people in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, occupied since 1967,
and on the Arab population of the occupied
Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/49 of
28 July 1995,
Reaffirming the principle of the permanent sovereignty of people under
foreign occupation over their national resources,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, and recalling
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 497 (1981) of
17 December 1981,
Recalling Security Council resolution 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and
other resolutions affirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, 1/ to the occupied Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967,
Recalling also Security Council resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the occupying
Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including, inter alia,
1/ United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
96-76819 /...
A/RES/50/129
Page 2
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety
and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory,
Aware of the negative and grave economic and social repercussions of the
Israeli settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory,
occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
occupied Syrian Golan,
Welcoming the ongoing Middle East peace process started at Madrid, in
particular the two implementation agreements embodied in the Agreement on the
Gaza Strip and Jericho Area, 2/ of 4 May 1994, and the interim agreement on
the West Bank and Gaza Strip of 28 September 1995,
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General; 3/
2. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 are
illegal and an obstacle to economic and social development;
3. Recognizes the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli
settlements on the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territory occupied by
Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem, and on the Arab population of the
occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the
population of the occupied Syrian Golan to their natural and all other
economic resources, and regards any infringement thereupon as illegal;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its fifty-first session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report
on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.
96th plenary meeting
20 December 1995
2/ A/49/180-S/1994/727, annex.
3/ See A/50/262-E/1995/59.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/51/133*
24 March 1997
Fifty-first session
Agenda item 85
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE
ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS
OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS
OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization
Committee (Fourth Committee) (A/51/592)]
51/133. Israeli settlements in the occupied
Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and
affirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, as well as relevant Security Council
resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967,
446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981)
of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the
occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and to the occupied
Syrian Golan,
Welcoming the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the
agreements reached between the parties, in particular the Declaration of
* Reissued for technical reasons.
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
97-77203 /...
A/RES/51/133
Page 2
Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 19932 and
the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of
28 September 1995,
Expressing grave concern over the decision of the Government of Israel
to resume settlement activities in violation of international humanitarian
law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between
the parties,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting
from actions taken by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied
territory, as illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by an
illegal Israeli settler in Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,3
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the occupied Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the
provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of all illegal Israeli settlement
activities;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the
Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and
implement measures, including, inter alia, confiscation of arms, with the aim
of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for
measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian
civilians in the occupied territory.
83rd plenary meeting
13 December 1996
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council,
Forty-eighth Year, Supplement for October, November and December 1993, document
S/26560.
3 A/51/517.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/51/223
14 March 1997
Fifty-first session
Agenda items 33 and 35
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[without reference to a Main Committee (A/51/L.68 and Add.1)]
51/223. Israeli settlement activities in the
occupied Palestinian territory, in
particular in occupied East Jerusalem
The General Assembly,
Having considered the letters dated 21,1 252 and 273 February 1997 from
the Permanent Observer of Palestine on behalf of the States members of the
League of Arab States,
Expressing deep concern at the decision of the Government of Israel to
initiate new settlement activities in the Jebel Abu Ghneim area in East
Jerusalem,
Expressing concern about other recent measures that encourage or
facilitate new settlement activities,
1 A/51/805-S/1997/149; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fiftysecond
Year, Supplement for January, February and March 1997, document
S/1997/149.
2 A/51/808-S/1997/157; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fiftysecond
Year, Supplement for January, February and March 1997, document
S/1997/157.
3 Official Records of the Security Council, Fifty-second Year, Supplement
for January, February and March 1997, document S/1997/165.
97-77185 /...
A/RES/51/223
Page 2
Stressing that such settlements are illegal and a major obstacle to
peace,
Recalling its resolutions on Jerusalem and other relevant General
Assembly and Security Council resolutions,
Confirming that all legislative and administrative measures and actions
taken by Israel which purport to alter the status of Jerusalem, including
expropriation of land and properties thereon, are invalid and cannot change
that status,
Reaffirming its support for the Middle East peace process and all its
achievements, including the recent agreement on Hebron,
Concerned about the difficulties facing the Middle East peace process,
including the impact these have on the living conditions of the Palestinian
people, and urging the parties to fulfil their obligations, including under
the agreements already reached,
Having discussed the situation at its 91st, 92nd and 93rd plenary
meetings on 12 and 13 March 1997,
1. Calls upon the Israeli authorities to refrain from all actions or
measures, including settlement activities, which alter the facts on the
ground, pre-empting the final status negotiations, and have negative
implications for the Middle East peace process;
2. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by
its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of
12 August 1949,4 which is applicable to all the territories occupied by Israel
since 1967;
3. Calls upon all parties to continue, in the interests of peace and
security, their negotiations within the Middle East peace process on its
agreed basis and the timely implementation of the agreements reached;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to bring to the attention of the
Government of Israel the provisions of the present resolution.
93rd plenary meeting
13 March 1997
4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, Nos. 970 to 973.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/52/66
20 February 1998
Fifty-second session
Agenda item 87
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/52/617)]
52/66. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming the inadmissibility of the
acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth emergency special session, as well
as relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979)
of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and to the
occupied Syrian Golan,
Aware of the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the agreements reached between the
parties, in particular the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of
13 September 19932 and the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of
28 September 1995,3
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Forty-eighth Year, Supplement for
October, November and December 1993, document S/26560.
3 A/51/889-S/1997/357, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fifty-second Year,
Supplement for April, May and June 1997, document S/1997/357.
98-76339 /...
A/RES/52/66
Page 2
Expressing grave concern about the decision of the Government of Israel to resume settlement activities,
including the construction of the new settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim, in violation of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken by the illegal
armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by
an illegal Israeli settler in Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,4
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the occupied Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the new settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim and
of all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994) of
18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to
continue to take and implement measures, including, inter alia, confiscation of arms, with the aim of
preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory.
69th plenary meeting
10 December 1997
4 A/51/517.
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/53/55
10 February 1999
Fifty-third session
Agenda item 84
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/53/598)]
53/55. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming the inadmissibility of
the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth emergency special session, as
well as relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446
(1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons
in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and to
the occupied Syrian Golan,
Aware of the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the agreements reached between the
parties, in particular the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 13
September 19932 and the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of
28 September 1995,3
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 A/48/486–S/26560, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Forty-eighth Year, Supplement
for October, November and December 1993, document S/26560.
3 A/51/889–S/1997/357, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fifty-second Year,
Supplement for April, May and June 1997, document S/1997/357.
99-76615 /...
A/RES/53/55
Page 2
Expressing grave concern about the decision of the Government of Israel to resume settlement
activities, including the construction of the new settlement in Jebel Abu Ghneim, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between
the parties,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken by the
illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian
worshippers by an illegal Israeli settler in Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994,
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the occupied Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the new settlement in Jebel Abu Ghneim and
of all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March
1994, in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to
take and implement measures, including, inter alia, confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal
acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session on
the implementation of the present resolution.
78th plenary meeting
3 December 1998
UNITED A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/54/78
22 February 2000
Fifty-fourth session
Agenda item 89
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/54/576)]
54/78. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming the inadmissibility of
the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth emergency special session, as
well as relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967,
446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons
in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to
the occupied Syrian Golan,
Aware of the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the agreements reached between the
parties, in particular the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
00 29970 /...
A/RES/54/78
Page 2
13 September 19932 and the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
of 28 September 1995,3
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel of settlement activities, including the
ongoing construction of the new settlement at Jebel Abu-Ghneim, in violation of international humanitarian
law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties,
Taking into consideration the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions and activities
on the Middle East peace process,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken by the
illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian
worshippers by an illegal Israeli settler at Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,4
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the new settlement at Jebel Abu-Ghneim and
of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March
1994, in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to
take and implement measures, including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session on the
implementation of the present resolution.
71st plenary meeting
6 December 1999
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Forty-eighth Year, Supplement
for October, November and December 1993, document S/26560.
3 A/51/889-S/1997/357, annex; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fifty-second Year, Supplement
for April, May and June 1997, document S/1997/357.
4 A/54/183.
United Nations A/RES/55/132
General Assembly Distr.: General
28 February 2001
Fifty-fifth session
Agenda item 85
00 56731
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/55/571)]
55/132. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth
emergency special session, as well as relevant Security Council resolutions,
including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March
1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Aware of the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the agreements
reached between the parties, in particular the Declaration of Principles on Interim
Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993,2 and the subsequent
implementation agreements,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel of settlement
activities, including the ongoing construction of the settlement in Jabal Abu-
Ghneim, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties,
Taking into consideration the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the Middle East peace process,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting from
actions taken by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as
illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by an illegal Israeli settler in
Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994, and during recent weeks,
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
A/RES/55/132
2
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,3
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and
economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to
the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the settlement in
Jabal Abu-Ghneim and of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the Council called
upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including, inter alia, confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
5. Reiterates its call for the prevention of illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
83rd plenary meeting
8 December 2000
3 A/55/263.
United Nations A/RES/56/61
General Assembly Distr.: General
14 February 2002
Fifty-sixth session
Agenda item 88
01 48900
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/56/550)]
56/61. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth
emergency special session, as well as relevant Security Council resolutions,
including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March
1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Aware of the Middle East peace process started at Madrid and the agreements
reached between the parties, in particular the Declaration of Principles on Interim
Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993,2 and the subsequent
implementation agreements,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel of settlement
activities, including the ongoing construction of the settlement in Jabal Abu-Ghneim
and in Ras Al-Amud in and around Occupied East Jerusalem, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the
agreements reached between the parties,
Taking into consideration the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the Middle East peace process,
Gravely concerned in particular about the dangerous situation resulting from
actions taken by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as
illustrated by the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by an illegal Israeli settler in
Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994, and during the past year,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
A/RES/56/61
2
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,3
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and
economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to
the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the settlement in
Jabal Abu-Ghneim and of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the Council called
upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
5. Reiterates its call for the prevention of illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution.
82nd plenary meeting
10 December 2001
_______________
3 A/56/216.
United Nations A/RES/57/126
General Assembly Distr.: General
24 February 2003
Fifty-seventh session
Agenda item 77
02 54617
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/57/521)]
57/126. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth
emergency special session, as well as relevant Security Council resolutions,
including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March
1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19932 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities have involved, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel of settlement
activities in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties, including the ongoing
construction of the settlements in Jabal Abu-Ghneim and Ras Al-Amud in and
around Occupied East Jerusalem,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
A/RES/57/126
2
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken
by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as illustrated in the
recent period and earlier by the massacre of Palestinian worshippers by an illegal
Israeli settler in Al-Khalil on 25 February 1994, and during the past year,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,3
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement
activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan, including the construction of the settlement in Jabal Abu-
Ghneim;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the Council called
upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
5. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
73rd plenary meeting
11 December 2002
_______________
3 A/57/316.
United Nations A/RES/58/98
General Assembly Distr.: General
17 December 2003
Fifty-eighth session
Agenda item 84
03 45879
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 2003
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/58/473 and Corr.1)]
58/98. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including those adopted at its tenth
emergency special session, as well as relevant Security Council resolutions,
including resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March
1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of
20 August 1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March
1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Taking note of the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied by Israel since 1967,2
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19933 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Welcoming the presentation by the Quartet to the parties of the road map to a
permanent two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,4 and noting its call
for a freeze on all settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities have involved, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 E/CN.4/2004/6.
3 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
4 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/58/98
2
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel of settlement
activities in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties, including the
construction and expansion of the settlements in Jabal Abu-Ghneim and Ras
Al-Amud in and around Occupied East Jerusalem,
Expressing grave concern also about the construction by Israel of a wall inside
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949, which could prejudge future negotiations and make the
two-State solution physically impossible to implement and would cause the
Palestinian people further humanitarian hardship,
Reiterating its opposition to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to any activities involving the confiscation
of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the de facto
annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken
by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, as illustrated in the
recent period,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,5
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement
activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan;
4. Demands that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, which is in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction to relevant
provisions of international law;
5. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the
occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
_______________
5 A/58/155, A/58/156, A/58/263, A/58/264 and A/58/310.
A/RES/58/98
3
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
6. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
72nd plenary meeting
9 December 2003
United Nations A/RES/59/123
General Assembly Distr.: General
25 January 2005
Fifty-ninth session
Agenda item 76
04-48364
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 2004
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/59/471)]
59/123. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004,
as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions
242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of
1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, 1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies is a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolution
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/59/123
2
Noting that the Court concluded that “the Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of
international law”,5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied by Israel since 1967,6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities have involved, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities, in violation of international humanitarian law,
relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties,
including the construction and expansion of the settlements in Jabal Abu-Ghneim
and Ras Al-Amud in and around Occupied East Jerusalem,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which could prejudge future
negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement
and which is causing the Palestinian people further humanitarian hardship,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reiterating its opposition to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to any activities involving the confiscation
of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the de facto
annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken
by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory,
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 See A/59/256.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/59/123
3
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,9
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement
activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full implementation of the relevant Security
Council resolutions;
4. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
5. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the
occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
6. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and property, particularly in the light
of recent developments;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixtieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
71st plenary meeting
10 December 2004
_______________
9 A/59/338, A/59/339, A/59/343, A/59/344, A/59/345 and A/59/381.
United Nations A/RES/60/106
General Assembly Distr.: General
18 January 2006
Sixtieth session
Agenda item 31
05-49396
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 8 December 2005
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/60/477)]
60/106. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 59/123 of 10 December
2004, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions
242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of
1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those
codified in Additional Protocol I2 to the Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolution
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/60/106
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied by Israel since 1967,6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities have involved, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities, in violation of international humanitarian law,
relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between the parties,
including the construction and expansion of the settlements in Jabal Abu-Ghneim
and Ras Al-Amud in and around Occupied East Jerusalem and the so-called E-1
plan, aimed at connecting its illegal settlements around and further isolating
Occupied East Jerusalem,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which could prejudge future
negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement
and which is causing the Palestinian people further humanitarian hardship,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reiterating its opposition to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to any activities involving the confiscation
of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the de facto
annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 See A/60/271.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/60/106
3
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken
by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory,
Acknowledging the importance of the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza
Strip and parts of the northern West Bank and of the dismantlement of the
settlements therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,9
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Welcomes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of
the northern West Bank and the dismantlement of the settlements therein as a step
towards the implementation of the road map;
4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, in this regard, to comply strictly
with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian
law, with respect to the alteration of the character and status of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
5. Emphasizes the need for the parties to speedily resolve all remaining
issues in the Gaza Strip, including the removal of rubble;
6. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full
implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council;
7. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
8. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council resolution
904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the
occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
9. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and properties, particularly in the
light of recent developments;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution.
62nd plenary meeting
8 December 2005
_______________
9 A/60/294-298 and A/60/380.
United Nations A/RES/61/118
General Assembly Distr.: General
15 January 2007
Sixty-first session
Agenda item 32
06-50151
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 2006
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/61/408)]
61/118. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 60/106 of 8 December
2005, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions
242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of
1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those
codified in Additional Protocol I2 to the Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolution
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/61/118
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by
Israel since 1967,6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities, including in and around East Jerusalem, in violation
of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the
agreements reached between the parties, and concerned in particular about the
construction and expansion of the settlements in Jabal Abu-Ghneim and Ras
Al-Amud in and around Occupied East Jerusalem and Israel’s intentions to proceed
with the so-called E-1 plan, aimed at connecting its illegal settlements around and
further isolating Occupied East Jerusalem,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which could prejudge future
negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement
and which is causing serious humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reiterating its opposition to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and to any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons and the de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 See A/61/470.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/61/118
3
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from actions taken
by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,9
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Notes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map;8
4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, in this regard, to comply strictly
with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian
law, with respect to the alteration of the character and status of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
5. Emphasizes the need for the parties to speedily resolve all remaining
issues in the Gaza Strip, including the removal of rubble;
6. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full
implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council;
7. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
8. Stresses the need for full implementation of the relevant Security Council
resolutions regarding the Israeli settlements, including Security Council resolution
904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel, the
occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
9. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and properties, particularly in the
light of recent developments;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution.
79th plenary meeting
14 December 2006
_______________
9 A/61/327-331 and A/61/500.
United Nations A/RES/62/108
General Assembly Distr.: General
10 January 2008
Sixty-second session
Agenda item 33
07-47025
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2007
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/62/405)]
62/108. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 61/118 of 14 December
2006, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions
242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of
1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,0F
1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those
codified in Additional Protocol I1F
2 to the four Geneva Conventions,2F
3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,3F
4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/62/108
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,4F
5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by
Israel since 1967,5F
6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19936F
7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,7F
8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other illegal actions against the
Palestinian civilian population,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the
agreements reached between the parties, and concerned particularly about Israel’s
construction and expansion of settlements in and around Occupied East Jerusalem,
including its so-called E-1 plan, aimed at connecting its illegal settlements around
and further isolating Occupied East Jerusalem, and in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing serious humanitarian
hardship and a serious decline of socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian
people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territory and
could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reiterating its opposition to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and to any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons and the de facto annexation of land,
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 See A/62/275.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/62/108
3
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the dangerous situation resulting from violent actions
taken by the illegal armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,8F
9
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Notes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map8 and the need for the
parties to speedily resolve all remaining issues in the Gaza Strip;
4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character and status of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem;
5. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full
implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolution 465 (1980);
6. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
7. Stresses the need for full implementation of the relevant resolutions of
the Security Council regarding the Israeli settlements, including Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon Israel,
the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of
the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
8. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and properties;
_______________
9 A/62/330-334 and A/62/360.
A/RES/62/108
4
9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution.
75th plenary meeting
17 December 2007
United Nations A/RES/63/97
General Assembly Distr.: General
18 December 2008
Sixty-third session
Agenda item 30
08-47661
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2008
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/63/401)]
63/97. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 62/108 of 17 December
2007, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions
242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465 (1980) of
1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,0F
1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention0H
1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those
codified in Additional Protocol I1F
2 to the four Geneva Conventions,2F
3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,3F
4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1; see also Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.
A/RES/63/97
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,4F
5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by
Israel since 1967,5F
6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19936F
7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,7F
8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian
civilian population that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the
agreements reached between the parties, and concerned particularly about Israel’s
construction and expansion of settlements in and around Occupied East Jerusalem,
including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around
and further isolate Occupied East Jerusalem, and in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian
hardship and a serious decline of socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian
people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory, and could prejudge
future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to
implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the de
facto annexation of land,
_______________
5 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, advisory opinion, para. 120; see also Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004,
p. 136.
6 See A/63/326.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/63/97
3
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence by illegal armed
Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory against Palestinian civilians and
their properties and agricultural lands,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,8F
9
Taking note also of the special meeting of the Security Council convened on
26 September 2008,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1H
1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Notes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map2H
8 and the need for the
parties to speedily resolve all remaining issues in the Gaza Strip;
4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
5. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, including
resolution 465 (1980);
6. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;3H
4
7. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their
properties and agricultural lands, and stresses the need for the implementation of
Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council called upon Israel, the
occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including
confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers,
and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the
Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
_______________
9 A/63/482-484, 518 and 519; see also A/63/273.
A/RES/63/97
4
8. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
64th plenary meeting
5 December 2008
United Nations A/RES/64/93
General Assembly Distr.: General
19 January 2010
Sixty-fourth session
Agenda item 32
09-46741
*0946741* Please rec cle ♲
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 2009
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/64/406)]
64/93. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 63/97 of 5 December
2008, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,0F
1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Considering that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention0H
1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those
codified in Additional Protocol I1F
2 to the four Geneva Conventions,2F
3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,3F
4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1; see also Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.
A/RES/64/93
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,4F
5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by
Israel since 1967,5F
6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements
of 13 September 19936F
7 and the subsequent implementation agreements between the
Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,7F
8 and noting specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of
all settlement outposts erected since March 2001,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian
civilian population that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies, decisions
and activities on efforts to resume the peace process and to achieve peace in the
Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the
agreements reached between the parties, and concerned particularly about Israel’s
construction and expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem,
including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around
and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian
homes and eviction of Palestinian families from the city, and intensifying settlement
activities in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern also about the continuing unlawful construction by
Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall
in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian
hardship and a serious decline of socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian
people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory, and could prejudge
future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to
implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
_______________
5 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, advisory opinion, para. 120; see also Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004,
p. 136.
6 See A/64/328.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/64/93
3
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the
de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, harassment,
provocation and incitement by illegal armed Israeli settlers in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians and
their properties and agricultural lands,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,8F
9
Taking note also of the special meeting of the Security Council convened on
26 September 2008,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1H
1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Also calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
4. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolution 465 (1980);
5. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;2H
4
6. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence and harassment
by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their properties and
agricultural lands, and stresses the need for the implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council called upon Israel, the occupying
Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including confiscation of arms,
aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for
measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian
civilians in the occupied territory;
_______________
9 A/64/332, A/64/340, A/64/354, A/64/516 and A/64/517.
A/RES/64/93
4
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-fifth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
62nd plenary meeting
10 December 2009
United Nations A/RES/65/104
General Assembly Distr.: General
20 January 2011
Sixty-fifth session
Agenda item 52
10-51878
*1051878* Please rec cle ♲
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 2010
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/65/423)]
65/104. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 64/93 of 10 December
2009 as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,0F
1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I1F
2 to the four Geneva Conventions,2F
3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,3F
4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1; see also Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.
A/RES/65/104
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,4F
5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,5F
6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19936F
7 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,7F
8 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of
all settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold
its obligations and commitments in this regard,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian
civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied Syrian Golan that are
contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the efforts to resume and advance the peace
process, on the credibility of the peace process, and on the prospects for the
achievement of peace in the Middle East,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions, the agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the
Quartet road map, and in defiance of the calls by the international community to
cease all settlement activities,
Expressing grave concern in particular about Israel’s construction and
expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so
called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate
occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and
eviction of Palestinian families from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency
rights in the city, and ongoing settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern about the continuing unlawful construction by Israel
of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship
and a serious decline of socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian people, is
fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability,
_______________
5 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, advisory opinion, para. 120; see also Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004,
p. 136.
6 See A/65/331.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/65/104
3
and could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the
de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, harassment,
provocation and incitement by illegal armed Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children,
and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern
West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements therein as a step
towards the implementation of the road map, and stressing, in this regard, the road map
obligation upon Israel to freeze settlement activity, including so-called “natural
growth”, and to dismantle all settlement outposts erected since March 2001,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,8F
9
Taking note also of the special meeting of the Security Council convened on
26 September 2008,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Also calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
4. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls, in this regard, for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 452 (1979) of
20 July 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980 and
1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
_______________
9 A/65/326, A/65/355, A/65/365, A/65/366 and A/65/372.
A/RES/65/104
4
5. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
6. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their
properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, and stresses
the need for the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which
the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and
implement measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal
acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee
the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
62nd plenary meeting
10 December 2010
United Nations A/RES/66/78
General Assembly Distr.: General
12 January 2012
Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 53
11-46350
*1146350* Please rec cle ♲
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 2011
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/66/427)]
66/78. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 65/104 of 10 December
2010, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1; see also Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.
A/RES/66/78
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since
1967,6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,8 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of
all settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold
its obligations and commitments in this regard,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the displacement of Palestinian families, the exploitation of natural resources
and other actions against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian
population in the occupied Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the efforts to resume and advance the peace
process, on the credibility of the peace process, and on the prospects for the
achievement of peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution
of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized
borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions, the agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the
Quartet road map, and in defiance of the calls by the international community to
cease all settlement activities,
Expressing grave concern in particular about Israel’s construction and
expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its
so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around and further
isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and
eviction of Palestinian families from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency
rights in the city, and ongoing settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern about the continuing unlawful construction by Israel
of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship
_______________
5 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, advisory opinion, para. 120; see also Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004,
p. 136.
6 See A/66/358.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/66/78
3
and a serious decline of socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian people, is
fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability,
and could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the
de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, harassment,
provocation and incitement by illegal armed Israeli settlers in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians,
including children, and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and
agricultural lands,
Noting the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of the
northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map, and calling, in this
regard, for respect of the road map obligation upon Israel to freeze settlement
activity, including so-called “natural growth”, and to dismantle all settlement
outposts erected since March 2001,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,9
Taking note also of the special meeting of the Security Council convened on
26 September 2008, as well as of the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Also calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
4. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls, in this regard, for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
_______________
9 A/66/356, A/66/362, A/66/364, A/66/373 and A/66/400.
A/RES/66/78
4
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 452 (1979) of
20 July 1979, 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980 and
1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
5. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
6. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their
properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, and stresses
the need for the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which
the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and
implement measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal
acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee
the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution.
81st plenary meeting
9 December 2011
United Nations A/RES/67/120
General Assembly Distr.: General
14 January 2013
Sixty-seventh session
Agenda item 53
12-48580
*1248580* Please recycle
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2012
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/67/424)]
67/120. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 66/78 of 9 December
2011, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/67/120
2
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 7 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,8 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the displacement of Palestinian families, the exploitation of natural resources
and other actions against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian
population in the occupied Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the efforts to resume and advance the peace
process, on the credibility of the peace process and on the prospects for the
achievement of peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution
of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized
borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions, the agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the
Quartet road map, and in defiance of the calls by the international community to
cease all settlement activities,
Expressing grave concern in particular about Israel’s construction and
expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its
so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around and further
isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and
eviction of Palestinian families from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency
rights in the city, and ongoing settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern about the continuing unlawful construction by Israel
of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship
and a serious decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/20/32; see also A/67/379.
7 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
8 S/2003/529, annex.
A/RES/67/120
3
fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability,
and could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons and the
de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, destruction,
harassment, provocation and incitement by illegal armed Israeli settlers in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian
civilians, including children, and their properties, including historic and religious
sites, and agricultural lands,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,9
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and
an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
4. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
5. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural
lands, and stresses the need for the implementation of Security Council resolution
_______________
9 A/67/332, A/67/338, A/67/372, A/67/375 and A/67/511.
A/RES/67/120
4
904 (1994), in which the Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to
continue to take and implement measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at
preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be
taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the
occupied territory;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
59th plenary meeting
18 December 2012
United Nations A/RES/68/82
General Assembly Distr.: General
16 December 2013
Sixty-eighth session
Agenda item 52
13-44437
*1344437* Please recycle
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 11 December 2013
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/68/425)]
68/82. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 67/120 of 18 December
2012, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/68/82
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/4
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Taking note also of the report of the independent international fact-finding
mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,7
Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 8 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling also the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,9 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Taking note of its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families,
the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian
civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied Syrian Golan that are
contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the efforts to resume and advance the peace
process, on the credibility of the peace process and on the prospects for the
achievement of peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution
of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized
borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions, the agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the
Quartet road map, and in defiance of the calls by the international community to
cease all settlement activities,
Expressing grave concern in particular about Israel’s construction and
expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its
so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around and further
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/20/32; see also A/68/376 and Corr.1.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
9 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/68/82
3/4
isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and
eviction of Palestinian families from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency
rights in the city, and ongoing settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
Expressing grave concern about the continuing unlawful construction by Israel
of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship
and a serious decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is
fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability,
and could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons, the forced
displacement of civilians and the de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, destruction,
harassment, provocation and incitement by extremist Israeli settlers in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians,
including children, and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and
agricultural lands,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,10
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and
an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
_______________
10 A/68/313, A/68/355, A/68/378, A/68/502 and A/68/513.
A/RES/68/82
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/4
4. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
5. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural
lands;
6. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement
measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
7. Encourages all States and international organizations to continue to
actively pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international
law with regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlements;
8. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
65th plenary meeting
11 December 2013
United Nations A/RES/69/92
General Assembly Distr.: General
16 December 2014
Sixty-ninth session
Agenda item 51
14-66539 (E)
*1466539* Please recycle
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2014
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/69/454)]
69/92. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 68/82 of 11 December
2013, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
A/RES/69/92
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/4
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,7
Recalling also the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 8 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling further the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,9 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on
all settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of
all settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold
its obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine on 1 April 2014 to several human rights
treaties and the core humanitarian law conventions,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian civilian
population and the civilian population in the occupied Syrian Golan that are
contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the efforts to resume and advance the peace
process, on the credibility of the peace process and on the prospects for the
achievement of peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution
of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized
borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations
resolutions, the agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the
Quartet road map, and in defiance of the calls by the international community to
cease all settlement activities,
Expressing grave concern in particular about Israel’s construction and
expansion of settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its
so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around and further
isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and
eviction of Palestinian families from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency
rights in the city, and ongoing settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
_______________
6 A/HRC/25/67; see also A/69/301 and Corr.1.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
9 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/69/92
3/4
Expressing grave concern about the continuing unlawful construction by Israel
of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in
departure from the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship
and a serious decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is
fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability,
and could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically
impossible to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities
involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected
persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the de facto annexation of land,
Recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror,
provocation, incitement and destruction,
Gravely concerned about the rising incidents of violence, destruction,
harassment, provocation and incitement by extremist Israeli settlers in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians,
including children, and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and
agricultural lands,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,10
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal
and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;
_______________
10 A/69/128, A/69/316, A/69/327, A/69/347 and A/69/348; see also A/69/355.
A/RES/69/92
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/4
5. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
6. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural
lands;
7. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement
measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
8. Encourages all States and international organizations to continue to
actively pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international
law with regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlements;
9. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and
compliance with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 11
concerning the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, 12 and other
relevant international laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the
United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global
standard for upholding human rights in relation to business activities that are
connected with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
64th plenary meeting
5 December 2014
_______________
11 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
12 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
United Nations A/RES/70/89
General Assembly Distr.: General
15 December 2015
Seventieth session
Agenda item 55
15-16843 (E)
*1516843* Please recycle
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 2015
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/70/497)]
70/89. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 69/92 of 5 December
2014, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
A/RES/70/89
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,7
Recalling also the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations adopted on
5 December 2001 and on 17 December 2014 8 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, aimed
at ensuring respect for the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem,
Recalling further the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 9 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,10 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling also its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the
occupied Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to
resume and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of
peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution of Israel and
Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the
basis of the pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and condemning those activities as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
_______________
6 A/HRC/25/67; see also A/70/392.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
9 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
10 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/70/89
3/5
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement activities,
Deploring settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the
confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons, the forced
transfer of civilians and the de facto annexation of land,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem,
the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families
from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern in particular about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious
decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the
territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability, and could
prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible
to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation
and incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their
properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as
acts of terror by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for
the illegal actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-Genera1,11
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and
an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
_______________
11 A/70/133, A/70/312, A/70/341, A/70/351, A/70/406 and Corr.1 and A/70/421.
A/RES/70/89
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/5
character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;
5. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
6. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in
Occupied East Jerusalem, and agricultural lands;
7. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement
measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
8. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
9. Encourages all States and international organizations to continue to
actively pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international
law with regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement
activities;
10. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring
respect for the Convention;
11. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and
compliance with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 12
concerning the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, 13 and other
_______________
12 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
13 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/70/89
5/5
relevant international laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the
United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global
standard for upholding human rights in relation to business activities that are
connected with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-first session on the implementation of the present resolution.
70th plenary meeting
9 December 2015
United Nations A/RES/71/97
General Assembly Distr.: General
23 December 2016
Seventy-first session
Agenda item 50
16-21256 (E)
*1621256* Please recycle
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 December 2016
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/71/494)]
71/97. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nation s, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 70/89 of 9 December
2015, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the co nstruction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
_______________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
4 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.
A/RES/71/97
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/5
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”, 5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palest inian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact -finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 7
Recalling also the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations adopted on
5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, aimed at ensuring
respect for the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem,
Recalling further the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19939 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling the Quartet road map to a permanent two -State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,10 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling also its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the
occupied Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to
resume and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of
peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two -State solution of Israel and
Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the
basis of the pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
_______________
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/31/73; see also A/71/554.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
9 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
10 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/71/97
3/5
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and condemning those activities as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resol utions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement
activities,
Condemning settlement activities in the Occupied Pales tinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities
involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected
persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the de facto annexation of land,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so -called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem,
the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families
from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and
undermine the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016, 11 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its recent statements, including of 30 September 2015,
23 October 2015, 12 February 2016 and 23 September 2016, in which the Quartet
members concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction
and expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, ar e steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route o f the wall in departure from
the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious
decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the
territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its via bility, and could
prejudge future negotiations and make the two -State solution physically impossible
to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occu pied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation
and incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their
properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as
acts of terror by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for
the illegal actions perpetrated in this regard,
_______________
11 S/2016/595, annex.
A/RES/71/97
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/5
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-Genera1,12
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and
an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003;
4. Calls for the consideration of measures of accountability, in accordance
with international law, in the case of continued non-compliance, stressing that
compliance with and respect for international humanitarian law and international
human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the region;
5. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two -State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends
on the ground that are imperilling the viability of the tw o-State solution;
6. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
7. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in
Occupied East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
8. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement
measures, including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
9. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civi lians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
_______________
12 A/71/315, A/71/321, A/71/352, A/71/355, A/71/364 and A/71/392.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/71/97
5/5
10. Encourages all States and international organizations to continue to
actively pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international
law with regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement
activities;
11. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring
respect for the Convention;
12. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 13 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 14 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations
“Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global standard for
upholding human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
13. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-second session on the implementation of the present resolution.
53rd plenary meeting
6 December 2016
_______________
13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
14 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
United Nations A/RES/72/86
General Assembly
Distr.: General
14 December 2017
17-22115 (E) 181217
*1722115*
Seventy-second session
Agenda item 54
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 7 December 2017
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/72/448)]
72/86. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 71/97 of 6 December
2016, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and
2334 (2016) of 23 December 2016,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
__________________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
A/RES/72/86
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/5 17-22115
Occupied Palestinian Territory,4 and recalling also General Assemb ly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”, 5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapp orteur of the Human
Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact -finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 7
Recalling also the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations adopted on
5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, aimed
at ensuring respect for the Convention in t he Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem,
Recalling further the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self -Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19939 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sid es,
Recalling the Quartet road map to a permanent two -State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,10 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling also its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied t erritories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civi lian population in the
occupied Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement
policies, decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to
resume and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of
peace in the Middle East in accordance with the two -State solution of Israel and
Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the
basis of the pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
__________________
4 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/34/70; see also A/72/556.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
9 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
10 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/72/86
17-22115 3/5
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and condemning those activities as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community t o cease all settlement
activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so -called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate o ccupied East Jerusalem,
the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families
from the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which furt her fragment and
undermine the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016,11 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its recent statements, including of 3 0 September 2015,
23 October 2015, 12 February 2016 and 23 September 2016, in which the Quartet
members concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction
and expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from
the Armistice Line of 1949, which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious
decline of socioeconomic conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the
territorial contiguity of the Territory and undermining its viability, and could
prejudge future negotiations and make the two -State solution physically impossible
to implement,
Deeply concerned that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to
include the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation
and incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their
properties, including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as
acts of terror by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for
the illegal actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including
pursuant to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),12
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 2 6 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 1 8 February 2011,
__________________
11 S/2016/595, annex.
12 A/72/296, A/72/314, A/72/538, A/72/539, A/72/564 and A/72/565.
A/RES/72/86
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/5 17-22115
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Pa lestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and
an obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan a nd to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the
Convention, in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under
international law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the
character, status and demographic comp osition of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the
full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,
including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979,
465 (1980), 476 (1980), 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Recalls the affirmation by the Security Council, in its resolution
2334 (2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines,
including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through
negotiations;
5. Condemns settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities
involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected
persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the de facto annexation of land;
6. Calls for the consideration of measures of accountability, in accordance
with international law, in the light of continued non -compliance with the demands
for a complete and immediate cessation of all settlement activities, stressing that
compliance with and respect for international humanitarian law and international
human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the region;
7. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two -State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends
on the ground that are imperilling the viability of the two -State solution;
8. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
9. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian
civilians and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in
Occupied East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
10. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 90 4 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement
measures, including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the
safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
11. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/72/86
17-22115 5/5
12. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to
actively pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international
law with regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement
activities;
13. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring
respect for the Convention;
14. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016),
called upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory
of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
15. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obligati ons under international
law and the relevant resolutions, and bearing in mind the advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004, not to render aid or assistance in
maintaining the situation created by illegal settlement activities;
16. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and
compliance with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011,13
concerning the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 14 and other
relevant international laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the
United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global
standard for upholding human rights in relation to business activities that are
connected with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem;
17. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-third session on the implementation of the present resolution.
66th plenary meeting
7 December 2017
__________________
13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
14 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
United Nations A/RES/73/98
General Assembly
Distr.: General
18 December 2018
18-21423 (E) 201218
*1821423*
Seventy-third session
Agenda item 55
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 7 December 2018
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/73/524)]
73/98. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and affirming the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 72/86 of 7 December
2017, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and
2334 (2016) of 23 December 2016,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 to the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention1 and relevant provisions of customary law, including those codified in
Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
__________________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
A/RES/73/98
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/5 18-21423
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) ha ve
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied
since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including E ast Jerusalem,7
Recalling also the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations adopted on
5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, aimed at ensuring
respect for the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem,
Recalling further the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self -Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19939 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling the Quartet road map to a permanent two -State solution to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict, 10 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so -called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling also its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to resume
and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of peace in the
Middle East in accordance with the two -State solution of Israel and Palestine, living
side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the
pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
__________________
4 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/34/70; see also A/72/556.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
9 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
10 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/73/98
18-21423 3/5
Expressing grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and condemning those activities as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the
continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from
the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and undermine
the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Deploring the plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar, in
contravention of international law, which would have serious consequences with
regard to the displacement of its residents, severely threaten the viability of the two -
State solution and undermine the prospect of peace, given the area ’s sensitive location
and importance for preserving the contiguity of the Palestinian territory, and
demanding the cessation of such plans,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016, 11 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its recent statements, inclu ding of 30 September 2015,
23 October 2015, 12 February 2016 and 23 September 2016, in which the Quartet
members concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction
and expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and d enial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949 and in such a way as to include the great majority of the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the
Territory and undermining its viability, and could prejudge future negotiations and
make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and
incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and t heir properties,
including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as acts of terror
by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for the illegal
actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including pursuant
to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),12
__________________
11 S/2016/595, annex.
12 A/73/357, A/73/364, A/73/410 and A/73/420.
A/RES/73/98
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/5 18-21423
Noting the special meeting of the Security Council convened on 26 September
2008, as well as the meeting of the Council of 18 February 2011,
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle
to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to the
occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of the Convention,
in particular article 49, and to comply with all of its obligations under international
law and cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the character, status
and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and of the occupied Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the full
implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Sec urity Council, including, inter
alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979, 465 (1980), 476 (1980),
1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Recalls the affirmation by the Securit y Council, in its resolution
2334 (2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including
with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
5. Condemns settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities
involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected
persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the de facto annexation of land;
6. Calls for the consideration of measures of accountability, in accordance
with international law, in the light of continued non -compliance with the demands for
a complete and immediate cessation of all settlement activities, which are illegal
under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two -
State solution impossible, stressing that compliance with and respect for international
humanitarian law and international human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and
security in the region;
7. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two -State solution on the basis of the pre -1967 borders,
and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends
on the ground that are imperilling the viability of the two -State solution;
8. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
9. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians
and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in Occupied
East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
10. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/73/98
18-21423 5/5
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
11. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian c ivilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
12. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to actively
pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international law with
regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement activities;
13. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 20148 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring respect
for the Convention;
14. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016), called
upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the
State of Israel and the territories o ccupied since 1967;
15. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obligations under international
law and the relevant resolutions, and bearing in mind the advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004, not to render aid or assistance in
maintaining the situation created by illegal settlement activities;
16. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 13 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 14 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations “Protect,
Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global standard for upholding
human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
17. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution.
48th plenary meeting
7 December 2018
__________________
13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
14 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
United Nations A/RES/74/88
General Assembly
Distr.: General
26 December 2019
19-21900 (E) 070120
*1921900*
Seventy-fourth session
Agenda item 51
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 13 December 2019
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/74/410)]
74/88. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles and purposes of the Cha rter of the United Nations and
the need to respect the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and
rules of international law,
Reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 73/97 and 73/98 of
7 December 2018, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special
session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and
2334 (2016) of 23 December 2016,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Regulations annexed to the Hague
Convention IV of 1907, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,1 and relevant provisions of customary law,
including those codified in Additional Protocol I2 to the four Geneva Conventions,3 to
__________________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
A/RES/74/88
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/6 19-21900
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention,1
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 4 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,5
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapp orteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied
since 1967,6
Recalling the report of the independent international fact -finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 7
Recalling also the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self -Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19938 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling further the Quartet road map to a permanent two -State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,9 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so -called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, t he fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settle ment policies,
decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to resume
and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of peace in the
Middle East in accordance with the two -State solution of Israel and Pale stine, living
side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the
pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
__________________
4 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
5 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
6 A/HRC/40/73; see also A/74/507.
7 A/HRC/22/63.
8 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
9 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/74/88
19-21900 3/6
Condemning settlement activities by Israel, the occupying Power, in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so -called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the
continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from
the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and undermine
the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Deploring the plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al -Ahmar, in
contravention of international law, which would have serious cons equences with
regard to the displacement of its residents, severely threaten the viability of the
two-State solution and undermine the prospect of peace, given the area ’s sensitive
location and importance for preserving the contiguity of the Palestinian te rritory, and
demanding the cessation of such plans,
Condemning the demolition by Israel, in contravention of international law, of
Palestinian buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al -Hummus in the village of Sur
Bahir, south of occupied East Jerusalem,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016, 10 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its relevant statements in which the Quartet members
concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction and
expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949 and in such a way as to include the great majority of the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the
Territory and undermining its viability, and could prejudge future negotiations and
make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, inclu ding acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and
incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their properties,
including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as acts of terror
by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for the illegal
actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including pursuant
to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),11
__________________
10 S/2016/595, annex.
11 A/74/192, A/74/219, A/74/357 and A/74/468.
A/RES/74/88
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/6 19-21900
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied P alestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle
to peace and economic and social development;
2. Demands that Israel accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan, and
abide scrupulously by the provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49, and
comply with all of its obligations under international law and cease immediately all
actions causing the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition
of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied
Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the full
implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including,
inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979, 465 (1980), 476 (1980),
478 (1980), 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two -State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends
on the ground that are imperilling the viability of the two -State solution;
5. Recalls the affirmation by the Security Council, in its resol ution
2334 (2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including
with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
6. Stresses that the occupation of a territory is to be a temporary, de facto
situation, whereby the occupying Power can neither claim possession nor exert its
sovereignty over the territory it occupies, recalls in this regard the principle of the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by force and therefore the illegality of the
annexation of any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, which constitutes a breach of international law, undermines the viability
of the two-State solution and challenges the prospects for a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace settlement, and expresses its grave concern at recent statements
calling for the annexation by Israel of areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
7. Condemns in this regard settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons, the forced transfer of civilians an d the annexation of land, whether
de facto or through national legislation;
8. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;4
9. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians
and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in Occupied
East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
10. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/74/88
19-21900 5/6
including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarant ee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
11. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
12. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to actively
pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international law with
regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement activities;
13. Calls for measures of accountability, consistent with international law, in
the light of continued non-compliance with the demands for a complete and immediate
cessation of all settlement activities, which are illegal under international law,
constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two -State solution impossible,
stressing that compliance with and respect for international humanit arian law and
international human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the region;
14. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 2014 12 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring respect
for the Convention and accountability, and calls upon all High Contracting Parties to
the Convention to continue, individually and collectively, to exert all efforts to ensure
respect for its provisions by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel
since 1967;
15. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016), called
upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the
State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
16. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obliga tions under international
law and the relevant resolutions, not to recognize, and not to render aid or assistance
in maintaining, the situation created by measures that are illegal under international
law, including those aimed at advancing annexation in t he Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel
since 1967;
17. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respec t for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 13 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 14 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations “Protect,
Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global standard for upholding
human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinia n Territory, including East Jerusalem;
__________________
12 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
14 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
A/RES/74/88
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
6/6 19-21900
18. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-fifth session on the implementation of the present resolution .
47th plenary meeting
13 December 2019
United Nations A/RES/75/97
General Assembly
Distr.: General
18 December 2020
20-16928 (E) 181220
*2016928*
Seventy-fifth session
Agenda item 53
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 10 December 2020
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/75/412, para. 14)]
75/97. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and
the need to respect the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and
rules of international law,
Reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 73/97 of 7 December
2018 and 74/88 of 13 December 2019, as well as those resolutions adopt ed at its tenth
emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979,
465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August
1980, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and
2334 (2016) of 23 December 2016,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Regulations annexed to the Hague
Convention IV of 1907, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, 1 and relevant provisions of customa ry
law, including those codified in Additional Protocol I 2 to the four Geneva
Conventions,3 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to
__________________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
3 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
A/RES/75/97
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/6 20-16928
other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian
Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention,4
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,5 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,6
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since
1967,7
Recalling the report of the independent internationa l fact-finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 8
Recalling also the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self -Government
Arrangements of 13 September 19939 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling further the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,10 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other internat ional treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin familie s, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to resume
and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of peace in the
Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution of Israel and Palestine, living
__________________
4 Ibid., No. 973.
5 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
6 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
7 A/HRC/40/73; see also A/74/507.
8 A/HRC/22/63.
9 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
10 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/75/97
20-16928 3/6
side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the
pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
Condemning settlement activities by Israel, the occupying Power, in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements
reached between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road m ap and as actions
in defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement
activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so -called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the
continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from
the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and undermine
the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Deploring the plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al -Ahmar, in
contravention of international law, which would have serious consequences with
regard to the displacement of its residents, severely threaten the viability of the
two-State solution and undermine the prospect of peace, given the area’s sensitive
location and importance for preserving the contiguity of the Palestinian territory, and
demanding the cessation of such plans,
Condemning the demolition by Israel, in contravention of international law, of
Palestinian buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al -Hummus in the village of Sur
Bahir, south of occupied East Jerusalem,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016, 11 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its relevant statements in which the Quartet members
concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settleme nt construction and
expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949 and in such a way as to include the great majority of the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the territor ial contiguity of the
Territory and undermining its viability, and could prejudge future negotiations and
make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement,
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and
incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their properties,
including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as acts of terror
by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for the illegal
actions perpetrated in this regard,
__________________
11 S/2016/595, annex.
A/RES/75/97
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/6 20-16928
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary -General, including pursuant
to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),12
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Gola n are illegal and an obstacle
to peace and economic and social development;
2. Demands that Israel accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan, and
abide scrupulously by the provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49, and
comply with all of its obligations under international law and cease immediately all
actions causing the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition
of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied
Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the full
implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including, inter
alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979, 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478
(1980), 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,
and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends
on the ground that are imperilling the viability of the two -State solution;
5. Recalls the affirmation by the Security Council, in its resolution 2334
(2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with
regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
6. Stresses that the occupation of a territory is to be a temporary, de facto
situation, whereby the occupying Power can neither claim possession nor exert its
sovereignty over the territory it occupies, recalls in this regard the principle of the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by force and therefore the illegality of the
annexation of any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, which constitutes a breach of international law, undermines the viability
of the two-State solution and challenges the prospects for a just, last ing and
comprehensive peace settlement, and expresses its grave concern at recent statements
calling for the annexation by Israel of areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
7. Condemns in this regard settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the annexation of land, whether
de facto or through national legislation;
8. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;
9. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians
and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in Occupied
East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
__________________
12 A/75/328, A/75/336 and A/75/376.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/75/97
20-16928 5/6
10. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and stresses in this regard the need for
the implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
11. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
12. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to actively
pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international law with
regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement activities;
13. Calls for measures of accountability, consistent with international law, in
the light of continued non-compliance with the demands for a complete and
immediate cessation of all settlement activities, which are illegal under international
law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-State solution
impossible, stressing that compliance with and respect for international humanitarian
law and international human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the
region;
14. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 2014 13 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring respect
for the Convention and accountability, and calls upon al l High Contracting Parties to
the Convention to continue, individually and collectively, to exert all efforts to ensure
respect for its provisions by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Ar ab territories occupied by Israel since
1967;
15. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016), called
upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the
State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
16. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obligations under international
law and the relevant resolutions, not to recognize, and not to render aid or assistance
in maintaining, the situation created by measures that are illegal under international
law, including those aimed at advancing annexation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since
1967;
17. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011,14 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 15 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations “Protect,
Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a glob al standard for upholding
__________________
13 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
14 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
15 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
A/RES/75/97
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
6/6 20-16928
human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
18. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution;
19. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy -sixth session
an item entitled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the
Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories”.
41st plenary meeting
10 December 2020
United Nations A/RES/76/82
General Assembly
Distr.: General
15 December 2021
21-18635 (E) 201221
*2118635*
Seventy-sixth session
Agenda item 55
Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the
rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the
occupied territories
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 9 December 2021
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/76/417, para. 13)]
76/82. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and
the need to respect the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and
rules of international law,
Reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 75/97 of 10 December
2020, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465
(1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and 2334 (2016) of
23 December 2016, and stressing the need for their implementation,
Recalling further the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1
Recalling the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights3 and the Convention
__________________
1 Resolution 217 A (III).
2 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
3 Ibid.
A/RES/76/82
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/6 21-18635
on the Rights of the Child,4 and affirming that these human rights instruments must
be respected in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Regulations annexed to the Hague
Convention IV of 1907, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,5 and relevant provisions of customary
law, including those codified in Additional Protocol I6 to the four Geneva
Conventions,7 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to
other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian
Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civ ilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention,8
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall i n the
Occupied Palestinian Territory,9 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,10
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since
1967,11 as well as of other relevant recent reports of the Council,
Recalling the report of the independent international fact -finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,12
Recalling also the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 1993 13 and the subsequent implementation
agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling further the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,14 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
__________________
4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
5 Ibid., vol. 75, No. 973.
6 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
7 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
8 Ibid., No. 973.
9 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
10 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
11 A/HRC/40/73; see also A/74/507.
12 A/HRC/22/63.
13 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
14 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/76/82
21-18635 3/6
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to resume
and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of peace in the
Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution of Israel and Palestine, living
side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the b asis of the
pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
Condemning settlement activities by Israel, the occupying Power, in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the
continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from
the city, the revocation of Palestinian residency rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and undermine
the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Deploring the plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al -Ahmar, in
contravention of international law, which would have serious consequences with
regard to the displacement of its residents, severely threaten the via bility of the two-
State solution and undermine the prospect of peace, given the area’s sensitive location
and importance for preserving the contiguity of the Palestinian territory, and
demanding the cessation of such plans,
Condemning the demolition by Israel, in contravention of international law, of
Palestinian buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al -Hummus in the village of Sur
Bahir, south of occupied East Jerusalem,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016,15 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its relevant statements in which the Quartet members
concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction and
expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949 and in such a way as to include the great majority of the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the
Territory and undermining its viability, and could prejudge future negotiations and
make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement,
__________________
15 S/2016/595, annex.
A/RES/76/82
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/6 21-18635
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and
incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their properties,
including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as acts of terror
by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for the illegal
actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including pursuant
to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),16
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle
to peace and economic and social development;
2. Demands that Israel accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan, and
abide scrupulously by the provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49, and
comply with all of its obligations under international law and cease immediately all
actions causing the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition
of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied
Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the full
implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including, inter
alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979, 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478
(1980), 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;
5. Also stresses the urgent need to reverse negative trends on the ground,
including the building of settlements and the demolition of Palestinian homes, which
are imperilling the viability of the two-State solution and entrenching a situation of
unequal rights and discrimination, and are preventing the Palestinian people from
exercising their fundamental rights;
6. Recalls the affirmation by the Security Council, in its resolution 2334
(2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with
regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
7. Stresses that the occupation of a territory is to be a temporary, de facto
situation, whereby the occupying Power can neither claim possession nor exert its
sovereignty over the territory it occupies, recalls in this regard the principle of the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by force and therefore the illegality of the
annexation of any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, which constitutes a breach of international law, undermines the viability
of the two-State solution and challenges the prospects for a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace settlement, and expresses its grave concern at recent statements
calling for the annexation by Israel of areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
__________________
16 A/76/304, A/76/333 and A/76/336 .
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/76/82
21-18635 5/6
8. Condemns in this regard settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons, the forced transfer of civilia ns and the annexation of land, whether
de facto or through national legislation;
9. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;
10. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians
and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in Occupied
East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
11. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpetrated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stresses in this regard the need for the
implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of v iolence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory, recalls in this regard
the report of the Secretary-General on the protection of the Palestinian civilian
population,17 and welcomes the Secretary-General’s observations, including with
respect to the expansion of existing protection mechanisms to prevent and deter
violations;
12. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investi gate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts;
13. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to actively
pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international law with
regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement activities;
14. Calls for measures of accountability, consistent with international law, in
the light of continued non-compliance with the demands for a complete and immediate
cessation of all settlement activities, which are illegal under international law,
constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two -State solution impossible,
stressing that compliance with and respect for international humanitarian law and
international human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the region;
15. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 201418 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
welcomes in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and
collectively, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring respect
for the Convention and accountability, and calls upon all High Contracting Parties to
the Convention to continue, individually and collectively, to exert all efforts to ensure
respect for its provisions by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel si nce
1967;
__________________
17 A/ES-10/794.
18 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
A/RES/76/82
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
6/6 21-18635
16. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016), called
upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the
State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
17. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obligations under international
law and the relevant resolutions, not to recognize, and not to render aid or assistance
in maintaining, the situation created by measure s that are illegal under international
law, including those aimed at advancing annexation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since
1967;
18. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011,19 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights20 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations “Protect,
Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global standard for upholding
human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
19. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution;
20. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-seventh session
the item entitled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the
Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied terr itories”.
49th plenary meeting
9 December 2021
__________________
19 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
20 A/HRC/17/31, annex.
United Nations A/RES/77/126
General Assembly
Distr.: General
15 December 2022
22-28505 (E) 201222
*2228505*
Seventy-seventh session
Agenda item 47
Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the
rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the
occupied territories
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 12 December 2022
[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/77/400, para. 14)]
77/126. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and
the need to respect the obligations arising from the Charter an d other instruments and
rules of international law,
Reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolution 76/82 of 9 December
2021, as well as those resolutions adopted at its tenth emergency special session,
Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including
resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 446 (1979) of 22 March 1979, 465
(1980) of 1 March 1980, 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980, 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980,
497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994 and 2334 (2016) of
23 December 2016, and stressing the need for their implementation,
Recalling further the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1
Recalling the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 3 and the Convention
__________________
1 Resolution 217 A (III).
2 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
3 Ibid.
A/RES/77/126
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
2/6 22-28505
on the Rights of the Child,4 and affirming that these human rights instruments must
be respected in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
Reaffirming the applicability of the Regulations annexed to the Hague
Convention IV of 1907, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,5 and relevant provisions of customary
law, including those codified in Additional Protocol I6 to the four Geneva Conventions,7
to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan,
Affirming that the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention,8
Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International
Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 9 and recalling also General Assembly resolutions
ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004 and ES-10/17 of 15 December 2006,
Noting that the International Court of Justice concluded that “the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have
been established in breach of international law”,10
Taking note of the recent reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since
1967,11 as well as of other relevant recent reports of the Council,
Recalling the report of the independent international fact -finding mission to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,12
Recalling also the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements of 13 September 199313 and the subsequent implementation agreements
between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
Recalling further the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,14 and emphasizing specifically its call for a freeze on all
settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the dismantlement of all
settlement outposts erected since March 2001, and the need for Israel to uphold its
obligations and commitments in this regard,
Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,
Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core
humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties,
Aware that Israeli settlement activities involve, inter alia, the transfer of
nationals of the occupying Power into the occupied territories, the confiscation of
__________________
4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
5 Ibid., vol. 75, No. 973.
6 Ibid., vol. 1125, No. 17512.
7 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
8 Ibid., No. 973.
9 See A/ES-10/273 and A/ES-10/273/Corr.1.
10 Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 120.
11 A/HRC/49/87; see also A/77/356.
12 A/HRC/22/63.
13 A/48/486-S/26560, annex.
14 S/2003/529, annex.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/77/126
22-28505 3/6
land, the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians, inc luding Bedouin families, the
exploitation of natural resources, the fragmentation of territory and other actions
against the Palestinian civilian population and the civilian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan that are contrary to international law,
Bearing in mind the extremely detrimental impact of Israeli settlement policies,
decisions and activities on the ongoing regional and international efforts to resume
and advance the peace process, on the prospects for the achievement of peace in the
Middle East in accordance with the two-State solution of Israel and Palestine, living
side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the
pre-1967 borders, and on the viability and credibility of that solution,
Condemning settlement activities by Israel, the occupying Power, in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of international
humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the agreements reached
between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map and as actions in
defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all settlement activities,
Deploring in particular Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in
and around occupied East Jerusalem, including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to
connect its illegal settlements around and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, the
continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from
the city, the revocation of Palestinian reside ncy rights in the city, and ongoing
settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, all of which further fragment and undermine
the contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Deploring the plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al -Ahmar, in
contravention of international law, which would have serious consequences with
regard to the displacement of its residents, severely threaten the viability of the two -
State solution and undermine the prospect of peace, given the area’s sensitive location
and importance for preserving the contiguity of the Palestinian territory, and
demanding the cessation of such plans,
Condemning the demolition by Israel, in contravention of international law, of
Palestinian buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al -Hummus in the village of Sur
Bahir, south of occupied East Jerusalem, and of homes in Masafer Yatta, as well as
other coercive measures potentially leading to the forced displacement and affecting
over 1,200 Palestinian civilians,
Taking note of the Quartet report of 1 July 2016, 15 and stressing its
recommendations, as well as its relevant statements in which the Quartet members
concluded that, inter alia, the continuing policy of settlement construction and
expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use and denial of Palestinian
development, including the recent high rate of demolitions, are steadily eroding the
two-State solution,
Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and
expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the
Armistice Line of 1949 and in such a way as to include the great majority of the Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and
which is causing humanitarian hardship and a serious decline of socioeconomic
conditions for the Palestinian people, is fragmenting the territorial contiguity of the
Territory and undermining its viability, and could prejudge future negotiations and
make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement,
__________________
15 S/2016/595, annex.
A/RES/77/126
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
4/6 22-28505
Condemning acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides, and
recalling the need to end all acts of violence, including acts of terror, provocat ion,
incitement and destruction,
Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and
incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians, including childr en, and their properties,
including historic and religious sites, and agricultural lands, as well as acts of terror
by several extremist Israeli settlers, and calling for accountability for the illegal
actions perpetrated in this regard,
Taking note of the relevant reports of the Secretary-General, including pursuant
to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016),16
1. Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle
to peace and economic and social development;
2. Demands that Israel accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August
1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab
territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan, and
abide scrupulously by the provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49, and
comply with all of its obligations under international law and cease immediately all
actions causing the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition
of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the occupied
Syrian Golan;
3. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls in this regard for the full
implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including, inter
alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979) of 20 July 1979, 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478
(1980), 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003 and 2334 (2016);
4. Stresses that a complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is
essential for salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;
5. Also stresses the urgent need to reverse negative trends on the ground,
including the building of settlements and the demolition of Palestinian homes, which
are imperilling the viability of the two-State solution and entrenching a situation of
unequal rights and discrimination, and are preventing the Palestinian people from
exercising their fundamental rights;
6. Recalls the affirmation by the Security Council, in its resolution 2334
(2016), that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with
regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
7. Stresses that the occupation of a territory is to be a temporary, de facto
situation, whereby the occupying Power can nei ther claim possession nor exert its
sovereignty over the territory it occupies, recalls in this regard the principle of the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by force and therefore the illegality of the
annexation of any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, which constitutes a breach of international law, undermines the viability
of the two-State solution and challenges the prospects for a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace settlement, and expresses its grave con cern at recent statements
calling for the annexation by Israel of areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
__________________
16 A/76/304, A/76/333 , A/76/336 and A/77/493.
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan A/RES/77/126
22-28505 5/6
8. Condemns in this regard settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Gol an and any
activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of
protected persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the annexation of land, whether
de facto or through national legislation;
9. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;
10. Reiterates its call for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction,
harassment and provocation by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians
and their properties, including historic and religious sites and including in Occupied
East Jerusalem, and their agricultural lands;
11. Calls for accountability for the illegal actions perpe trated by Israeli
settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stresses in this regard the need for the
implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including the confiscation of arms, aimed at preventing illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory, recalls in this regard
the report of the Secretary-General on the protection of the Palestinian civilian
population, 17 and welcomes the Secretary-General’s observations, including with
respect to the expansion of existing protection mechanisms to prevent and deter
violations;
12. Stresses the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to investigate
all acts of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their properties and to
ensure accountability for these acts and end prevailing impunity in this regard;
13. Calls upon all States and international organizations to continue to actively
pursue policies that ensure respect for their obligations under international law with
regard to all illegal Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly Israeli settlement activities;
14. Calls for measures of accountability, consistent with international law, in
the light of continued non-compliance with the demands for a complete and immediate
cessation of all settlement activities, which are illegal under international law,
constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two -State solution impossible,
stressing that compliance with and respect for international humanitarian law and
international human rights law is a cornerstone for peace and security in the region;
15. Recalls, in this regard, the statement of 15 July 1999 and the declarations
adopted on 5 December 2001 and on 17 December 201418 by the Conference of High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the
Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, welcomes
in this regard initiatives by States parties, both individually and collectively, in
accordance with article 1 of the Convention, aimed at ensuring respect for the
Convention and accountability, and calls upon all High Contracting Parties to the
Convention to continue, individually and collectively, to exert all effor ts to ensure
respect for its provisions by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967;
__________________
17 A/ES-10/7 94.
18 A/69/711-S/2015/1, annex.
A/RES/77/126
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
6/6 22-28505
16. Also recalls that the Security Council, in its resolution 2334 (2016), called
upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the
State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
17. Calls upon all States, consistent with their obligations under international
law and the relevant resolutions, not to recognize, and not to render aid or assistance
in maintaining, the situation created by measures that are illegal under international
law, including those aimed at advancing annexation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since
1967;
18. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies to take all necessary
measures and actions within their mandates to ensure full respect for and compliance
with Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, 19 concerning the
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 20 and other relevant international
laws and standards, and to ensure the implementation of the United Nations “Protect,
Respect and Remedy” Framework, which provides a global standard for upholding
human rights in relation to business activities that are connected with Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
19. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution;
20. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-eighth session
the item entitled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the
Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories”.
52nd plenary meeting
12 December 2022
__________________
19 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty -sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
20 A/HRC/17/31, annex.

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United Nations A/57/316
General Assembly Distr.: General
16 August 2002
Original: English
02-52890 (E) 280802
*0252890*
Fifty-seventh session
Item 78 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate
Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights
of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs
of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General**
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
56/61 of 10 December 2000, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“…
“1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
“2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12
August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and
to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions of
the Convention, in particular article 49;
“3. Demands complete cessation of the construction of the settlement in
Jabal Abu-Ghneim and of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
“4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the
Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and
implement measures, including confiscation of arms, with the aim of
preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to
* A/57/150.
** This document is submitted late so as to include the most up-to-date information possible.
2
A/57/316
be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in
the occupied territory;
“5. Reiterates its call for the prevention of illegal acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
“6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
its fifty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 10 June 2002, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of the State of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting
responsibilities under the resolution, that the Israeli Government inform him of any
steps the Government had taken or envisaged taking concerning the implementation
of the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
United Nations A/58/263
General Assembly Distr.: General
8 August 2003
Original: English
03-47346 (E) 030903
*0347346*
Fifty-eighth session
Item 85 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
57/126 of 11 December 2002, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“…
1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12
August 1949,1 to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the provisions
of the Convention, in particular article 49;
3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli
settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, including the construction of the
settlement in Jabal Abu-Ghneim;
4. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994, in which, among other things, the
Council called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and
implement measures, including confiscation of arms, with the aim of
preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to
be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in
the occupied territory;
* A/58/150.
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2
A/58/263
5. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
its fifty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 10 June 2003, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of the State of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting
responsibilities under the above-mentioned resolution, that the Government inform
him of any steps it had taken, or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of
the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
United Nations A/59/343
General Assembly Distr.: General
9 September 2004
Original: English
04-50600 (E) 270904
*0450600*
Fifty-ninth session
Item 77 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People
and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General**
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
58/98 of 9 December 2003, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“…
“1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
“2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the
provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49;
“3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli
settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
“4. Demands that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the wall in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem,
which is in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction
to relevant provisions of international law;
* A/59/150.
** The present document was submitted after the deadline established by the General Assembly so as
to give the Government concerned the maximum possible time to submit its comments.
2
A/59/343
“5. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon
Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee
the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
“6. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, particularly in the light of recent developments;
“7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its fifty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 6 August 2004, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of the State of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting
responsibilities under the above-mentioned resolution, that the Government inform
him of any steps it had taken, or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of
the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
United Nations A/60/297
General Assembly Distr.: General
24 August 2005
Original: English
010905
Sixtieth session
Item 33 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
59/123 of 10 December 2004, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“…
“1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
“2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the
provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49;
“3. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation of all Israeli
settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full
implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions;
“4. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by
the International Court of Justice;
“5. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon
Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
* A/60/150.
2
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee
the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
“6. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and property,
particularly in the light of recent developments;
“7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its sixtieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 14 July 2005, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting
responsibilities under the above-mentioned resolution, that the Government inform
him of any steps it had taken, or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of
the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
United Nations A/61/328
General Assembly Distr.: General
12 September 2006
Original: English
06-51822 (E) 260906
*0651822*
Sixty-first session
Item 30 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate
Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of
the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the
Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the
occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General**
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
60/106 of 8 December 2005, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“...
“Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to
peace and economic and social development;
“2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the
provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49;
“3. Welcomes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and
parts of the northern West Bank and the dismantlement of the settlements
therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map;
“4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, in this regard, to comply
strictly with its obligations under international law, including international
* A/61/150.
** The present document was submitted late so as to include the maximum number of replies from
Governments.
A/61/328
2 06-51822
humanitarian law, with respect to the alteration of the character and status of
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
“5. Emphasizes the need for the parties to speedily resolve all
remaining issues in the Gaza Strip, including the removal of rubble;
“6. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of
all Israeli settlement activities in all the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the
full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council;
“7. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by
the International Court of Justice;
“8. Stresses the need for full implementation of Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon
Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of
violence by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee
the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
“9. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by
Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and properties,
particularly in the light of recent developments;
“10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
its sixty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 29 June 2006, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting
responsibilities under the above-mentioned resolution, that the Government inform
him of any steps it had taken, or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of
the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
United Nations A/62/333
General Assembly Distr.: General
12 September 2007
Original: English
07-50290 (E) 240907
*0750290*
Sixty-second session
Item 34 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People
and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution
61/118 of 14 December 2006, the operative part of which reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“…
“1. Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an
obstacle to peace and economic and social development;
“2. Calls upon Israel to accept the de jure applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and to the occupied Syrian Golan and to abide scrupulously by the
provisions of the Convention, in particular article 49;
“3. Notes the Israeli withdrawal from within the Gaza Strip and parts of
the northern West Bank and the importance of the dismantlement of the
settlements therein as a step towards the implementation of the road map;
“4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, in this regard, to comply
strictly with its obligations under international law, including international
humanitarian law, with respect to the alteration of the character and status of
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
“5. Emphasizes the need for the parties to speedily resolve all
remaining issues in the Gaza Strip, including the removal of rubble;
* A/62/150.
A/62/333
2 07-50290
“6. Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and calls for the full
implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council;
“7. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal
obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the
International Court of Justice;
“8. Stresses the need for full implementation of the relevant Security
Council resolutions regarding the Israeli settlements, including Security Council
resolution 904 (1994), in which, among other things, the Council called upon
Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures,
including confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence
by Israeli settlers, and called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and
protection of the Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory;
“9. Reiterates its calls for the prevention of all acts of violence by Israeli
settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and properties, particularly in the
light of recent developments;
“10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its
sixty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution.”
2. On 14 May 2007, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the
Government of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting responsibilities
under the above-mentioned resolution, that the Government inform him of any steps it
had taken, or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of the relevant
provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
4. On 14 May 2007, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to all permanent
missions, in which he requested, in view of his reporting responsibilities under the
above-mentioned resolution, that Governments inform him of any steps they had taken,
or envisaged taking, concerning the implementation of the relevant provisions of the
resolution. The Permanent Mission of Cuba forwarded a note verbale dated 10 July 2007
providing, in pertinent part, the following information:
“The separation wall constructed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, constitutes one of the most
serious violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. It has left more than
20 thousand Palestinians without means of earning a living. It has destroyed
thousands of hectares of land and water wells in the West Bank, constituting the de
facto confiscation of around 60 per cent of the territory, including East Jerusalem.”
5. The Permanent Mission of Argentina forwarded a note verbale dated 3 August
2007 containing, in pertinent part, the following information:
“Argentina continues to take the position that Israeli settlements in the
occupied territories constitute a unilateral act which prejudices the results of
negotiations concerning the definitive juridical status of the territories. In
conformity with the road map, Argentina supports calls for the freezing of all
settlement activities and other associated measures related to this matter.”
United Nations A/63/519
General Assembly Distr.: General
5 November 2008
Original: English
08-58797 (E) 061108
*0858797*
Sixty-third session
Agenda item 30
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
Summary
In its resolution 62/108, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General
to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-third session a report on the implementation of
the resolution. The present report, which has been prepared by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is submitted pursuant to that
resolution. The period covered by the report is January to August 2008.
The report addresses the continuation of the construction of Israeli settlements
in the occupied Arab territories with its associated system and violence by Israeli
settlers against Palestinians.
A/63/519
2 08-58797
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 62/108 of 17 December 2007, the General Assembly
expressed, inter alia, grave concern about the continuation by Israel, the occupying
Power, of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly
about Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in and around East
Jerusalem. It also expressed concern about the dangerous situation resulting from
violent actions taken by the armed Israeli settlers in the occupied territory.
2. In the light of recent reports of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to
the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/7/76 and A/HRC/8/17), which address the
humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip in 2008 and also deal with the killing of
Palestinian and Israeli civilians as well as the firing of rockets against Israeli
civilian areas, and of the submission, pursuant to General Assembly resolution
62/109, of the report of the Secretary-General on Israeli practices affecting the
human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(A/63/518), the present report addresses progress made in the implementation of
resolution 62/108 concerning, specifically, the continuation in the construction of
settlements in the occupied territory with its associated regime, as well as violence
by Israeli settlers.
II. Legal background
A. International humanitarian law
3. The most relevant international humanitarian law standards concerning the
responsibilities of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the occupying
Power are set out in the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.1 In its 2004 advisory
opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), the International Court of
Justice recalled that, while Israel is not a party to the 1907 Convention with respect
to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, to which the Hague Regulations are
annexed, the provisions of the Regulations have become part of customary
international law. It also concluded that the Fourth Geneva Convention is applicable
in the Palestinian territories which before the 1967 conflict lay to the east of the
Green Line and which, during that conflict, were occupied by Israel. Since then, a
number of United Nations resolutions have reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth
Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.2
4. The advisory opinion and a number of United Nations resolutions have all
affirmed that Israel’s practice of constructing settlements — in effect, the transfer by
an occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
occupies — constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In addition to
the construction of the settlements, other activities related to settlements are also
illegal. These include the requisition of land, the destruction of houses and orchards,
the construction of roads meant for the use of settlers only, the exploitation of
__________________
1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
2 See, for example, Security Council resolutions 446 (1979), 465 (1980), 469 (1980) and 471
(1980) and General Assembly resolution 61/118.
A/63/519
08-58797 3
natural resources within the occupied territory and the alteration of the character and
status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The international community has also
raised concerns regarding the depletion of natural resources as a result of
settlements.3
B. International human rights law
5. In its advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice concluded that the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
are applicable within the occupied territory.4 The position of United Nations human
rights treaty bodies, which mirrors that of the International Court of Justice, is that
Israel as a State party to international human rights instruments, continues to bear
responsibility for implementing its human rights conventional obligations in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, to the extent that it continues to exercise jurisdiction
in those territories.5 The Court also noted that the obligations of Israel under the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights include an
obligation not to raise any obstacle to the exercise of such rights in those fields
where competence has been transferred to Palestinian authorities (para. 112).
III. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and
their impact on the enjoyment of human rights
6. The issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank remains central to the
question of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. From 1967 to the end of 2007, Israel
established 120 settlements in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, which were
recognized by the Ministry of the Interior of Israel as Israeli “communities” within
__________________
3 See, for example, Security Council resolution 465 (1980), in which the Security Council, taking
note of the reports of the Commission of the Council established under resolution 446 (1979) to
examine the situation relating to settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967,
including Jerusalem, expressed its concern and requested the Commission to continue to
examine the situation relating to settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967,
including Jerusalem, to investigate the reported serious depletion of natural resources,
particularly the water resources, with a view to ensuring the protection of those important
natural resources of the territories under occupation.
4 See paras. 102-113. The Court concluded that the protections offered by human rights
conventions do not cease in cases of armed conflict and that the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
the Convention on the Rights of the Child are applicable in respect of individuals within its
jurisdiction of a State, even concerning those individuals under its jurisdiction outside its own
territory.
5 An examination of the concluding observations of various United Nations treaty bodies confirms
this view. In its concluding observations on Israel of 2003 (CCPR/CO/78/ISR), the Human
Rights Committee reiterated that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights apply to the benefit of the population of the occupied territories for all conduct
by the State party’s authorities or agents in those territories that affect the enjoyment of rights
enshrined in the Covenant. Similarly, in its concluding observations on Israel of 2003
(E/C.12/1/Add.90), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reaffirmed its view
that the State party’s obligations under the Covenant apply to all territories and populations under
its effective control. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination drew a similar
conclusion in its concluding observations on Israel of 2007 (CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, para. 32).
A/63/519
4 08-58797
the occupied territory. Twelve other settlements are located on land annexed by
Israel in 1967 and made part of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem. In addition,
there are approximately 100 “outposts”, which are settlements unauthorized and
unrecognized by the Israeli authorities.6 The 16 settlements built in the Gaza Strip
and 3 settlements in the northern West Bank were dismantled in 2005 during
implementation of the so-called disengagement plan.
7. Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank has taken place under every
Government since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 2007, there were more than 450,000
settlers living in 149 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, the settler population in the West
Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, increased by 5.1 per cent, from an estimated
268,163 in January 2007 to 282,362 in January 2008.7 According to United Nations
sources, almost 40 per cent of the West Bank is now taken up by Israeli
infrastructure associated with the settlements, including roads, barriers, buffer zones
and military bases.
8. According to figures from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, construction
in the settlements has increased in 2008 by a factor of 1.8 in comparison with the
same period in 2007. The Israeli Ministry of Housing initiated 433 new housing
units during the period from January to May 2008, compared with just 240 housing
units during the period from January to May 2007.8
9. According to recent reports,9 as of August 2008, more than 1,000 new
buildings were in the process of being constructed in the settlements, of which
approximately 2,600 were housing units. Approximately 55 per cent of these new
structures are located to the east of the separation wall. The number of tenders for
construction in the settlements has increased by 540 per cent in 2008 (417 housing
units, compared with just 65 in 2007). The number of tenders in East Jerusalem has
increased by 3,728 per cent (1,761 housing units, compared with 46 in 2007).
Furthermore, 125 new structures have been added to existing outposts, including 30
permanent houses.
10. Until the end of the 1970s, the Government of Israel claimed that the
construction of settlements was undertaken and the associated regime of special
roads implemented on the grounds of military necessity and security. In the 1990s,
the justification for the closure regime imposed on Palestinians resident in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory shifted, the emphasis being placed on the need to
protect Israeli settlers and the settlements themselves.10
__________________
6 Data available from B’Tselem (http://www.btselem.org/english/settlements/).
7 See http://www.reliefweb.int. The figure does not consider the approximately 200,000 settlers in
East Jerusalem. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2007,
there were more than 450,000 settlers living in 149 settlements in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem (“The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other
Infrastructure in the West Bank”, July 2007).
8 Construction initiated by the Israeli Housing Ministry accounted for 64 per cent of all of the
construction counted in the West Bank by the Central Bureau of Statistics in recent months
(Peace Now, “Eliminating the Green Line”, August 2008, available at http://www.peacenow.org).
9 See Peace Now, “Eliminating the Green Line”, August 2008.
10 See Israeli High Court of Justice, Tabib et al. v. Minister of Defence (202/81) Piskei Din 36(2)622
and Ayub et al. v. Minister of Defence et al. (258/79), Piskei Din 33(2)113, 119, quoted in
“Forbidden Roads: Israel’s Discriminatory Road Regime in the West Bank” B’Tselem, 2004, p. 7.
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11. The Government of Israel committed itself, under phase I of the road map, to
freeze all settlement activity from March 2001 (S/2003/529, annex). This was
consistent with the recommendation contained in the Mitchell report of 2001, which
states that Israel should freeze all settlement activity, including the “natural growth”
of existing settlements, and that the kind of security cooperation desired by Israel
cannot for long coexist with settlement activity.11
12. The existence of settlements restricts the freedom of movement of Palestinians
resident in the West Bank in several ways. The areas included within the municipal
boundaries of settlements are designated “closed areas”, and Palestinians are
prohibited from entering those areas unless they hold a specific permit (usually
restricted to labourers and settlers themselves).12 The actual built-up area
settlements and their municipal boundaries consists of some 9 per cent of the total
territory of the West Bank.13 Furthermore, additional land is included within the
settlement regional jurisdiction. This includes land reserved for agricultural and
industrial areas attached to settlements, areas for future settlement boundary
expansion, and military closed areas around settlements, all of which are prohibited
to Palestinians.
13. Despite the claim of the Government of Israel that the internal closure system
within the West Bank is imposed on Palestinian residents there for security
purposes, most of those internal restrictions on movement are largely premised on
the protection of Israeli settlers and settlements and are designed to provide settlers
with unobstructed travel capacity between settlements and to Israel itself.14 None of
the restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians apply to Israeli settlers
or Israeli citizens travelling throughout the West Bank.15
14. The example of Gaza is illustrative of the relationship between the existence of
settlements and the closure system imposed on Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Following the Israeli disengagement and removal of the settlements from the Gaza
Strip in August 2005, the need for internal closure became non-existent. This fact
suggests that the presence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has a similar effect
in relation to the need to maintain the internal closure system operating there.
__________________
11 Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, 30 April 2001, available at
www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/mitchell_plan.htm.
12 Order Regarding Security Regulations (Judea and Samaria) (No. 378) (5730-1970), Declaration
Concerning Closing an Area.
13 World Bank, “Movement and Access Restrictions”, May 2007, available at http://domino.un.org/
unispal.nsf/.
14 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians
of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in the West Bank”. The report states: “As
violence escalated in September 2000, the closure regime focused on those West Bank roads
mainly used by Israelis to severely restrict Palestinian movement. These continuing measures
are justified by the Government of Israel as necessary to protect Israeli citizens from terrorist
attacks. As this report demonstrates, these measures are also intimately linked to maintaining
settler access and their quality of life. The roads have become corridors to link settlements to
Israel. They have also fragmented the West Bank, into a series of enclaves, isolating Palestinian
communities from each other” (p. 124).
15 A clear example is the restrictions on the movement of Palestinians within the market area of
Hebron, justified as part of the general operational plan that is designed to provide security to
the Jewish settlement bloc in the city (World Bank, “Movement and Access Restrictions”).
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15. The right to an adequate standard of living is guaranteed under article 11 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. That right
encompasses the right to food, the right to the highest attainable standard of health,
the right to water, the right to necessary social services, the right to clothing and the
right to housing. The enjoyment of all of those rights by Palestinians living in the
occupied territory has been negatively affected by the impact of the settlements,
including the associated security regime to protect the settlements and by repeated
instances of settler violence.
16. The freedom of movement of Palestinians living in the West Bank has been
limited by a number of measures designed to increase the security of the
settlements. Some roads in the West Bank have been designated for the use of
settlers only, with a complete ban on the use of such roads by Palestinians.
Likewise, Palestinians are not permitted to approach the settlement areas for the
purposes of farming or herding.16
17. The right of Palestinians in the West Bank to own property has consequentially
been affected by the settlements. The building of settlements has entailed
expropriation and destruction of private Palestinian lands contrary to articles 53 of
the Fourth Geneva Convention and articles 46, 52 and 23 (g) of the Hague
Regulations. Land owned by Palestinian farmers has been requisitioned and homes
have been demolished in order to construct settlements. In addition, the construction
of the barrier and roads for the exclusive use of settlers has caused further
appropriation of land.
Confiscation of land
18. It is estimated that that 33 per cent of settlements and land incorporated into
settlement areas is private land owned by Palestinians.17 Much of this private land
was expropriated by the State of Israel on grounds of military necessity, or under
land appropriation laws. Evidence suggests that initially the establishment of
settlements was justified on the grounds of military necessity and security. As with
the road system, it was claimed during the 1970s that the settlements served a
security function. This was sanctioned by the Israeli High Court of Justice, thereby
justifying the expropriation of Palestinian private land.18 However, in 1979, the
Court ruled that a proposed settlement was not legal, since it was evident to the Court
that it was intended not to serve a temporary security purpose but to be permanent.19
19. Following that decision, the Government of Israel has shifted its policy of
expropriation of private land based on military necessity and security grounds to one
of constructing settlements on public or State lands or appropriating land under the
civil laws in place since before the occupation. The Government of Israel has since
__________________
16 These restrictions are in violation of article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, article 5 (d) of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 10(2) of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
17 World Bank, “Movement and Access Restrictions”; “Breaking the Law in the West Bank: The
Private Land Report”, Peace Now, November 2006.
18 High Court of Justice, Arub et al. v. Minister of Defence et al. (258/79), Piskei Din 33(2)113, 119.
19 High Court of Justice, Douykat v. Government of Israel, Piskei Din 34(1), 13 (1979) (“Elon
Moreh Case”); see Palestine Yearbook of International Law, 1984, p. 134.
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declared that land in the West Bank is to be considered State land until proven
otherwise.20 This is done under Ottoman land laws according to which land left
fallow for three years reverts to the State.21 Land may be seized either because no
one can prove ownership in accordance with the required standard of evidence or
because the area in which the land is situated is declared a closed military zone
which farmers are prohibited from entering. After three years, such unused land may
be declared abandoned according to the Ottoman land law, and ownership reverts to
the State. Accordingly, it is estimated that as much as two thirds of land in the West
Bank could be classified as State lands. The Planning Council of the Civil
Administration may then apportion the land to existing or new settlements. Once the
land is apportioned to a settlement, Palestinians are prohibited from accessing the
area. The seizure of land in such circumstances or the declaration of a closed
military zone necessarily has an impact on the freedom of movement of Palestinians
and restricts their freedom to choose a residence by preventing access to homes and
land. The Government of Israel claims that such settlements do not violate
international humanitarian law since they are constructed on public lands and do not
displace the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
20. More recently, particularly following the Oslo Accords of 1993, an alternative
method of expropriating Palestinian land for the construction of settlements has
been employed under the Jordanian planning laws,22 which permit expropriation for
__________________
20 B’Tselem, “Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories as a Violation of Human Rights: Legal
and Conceptual Aspects”, 1997, available at www.btselem.org.
21 In the early 1980s, the Government of Israel reinterpreted the Ottoman land code to permit the
Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces in the West Bank to declare as “State land”
uncultivated miri land that had not been registered during the British Mandate or Jordanian rule.
Between 1980 and 1984, the Government of Israel declared some 80,000 hectares of the West
Bank as State land — sometimes without formally notifying the farmers who had cultivated it
for generations (B’Tselem, “Land Grab: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank”, 2002).
Furthermore, lands enclosed within closed areas or closed military zones, when left uncultivated
for three years are also declared State lands and the land largely apportioned for settlements
(M. Benvenisti, The West Bank Data Project: A survey of Israel’s policies, American Enterprise
Institute for Policy Research, Washington, D.C., 1984, p. 32). Some areas declared State land
were not actually enclosed within closed zones immediately, and in some circumstances farmers
continued to cultivate such land. However, with lands now enclosed within the seam zone, to
which access has been denied to the owners, it appears that such land will be declared State
lands and appropriated for further settlement construction or expansion.
22 In Area C of the West Bank, the Government of Israel retains authority for zoning and
construction planning permits. The Jordanian City, Village and Building Planning Law (No. 79)
(1966) serves as the basis for all planning activities, and its provisions are used to determine the
size, zoning and location of each unit of land. It determines three levels of plans — regional
outline plans, general local outline plans and detailed plans — and corresponding institutional
systems such as the Supreme Planning Council and district and local planning committees, and
determines the mechanisms for consultations, public participation, publication and objections.
The ambit of the law applies to housing, industry, roads and public institutions. The law was
modified by military order in 1971, and subsequent amendments transferred the power from the
Jordanian Ministry of the Interior to the Military Commander of the West Bank and introduced
major changes, particularly to the planning system, by replacing Palestinians on the planning
committees with Israeli security forces officials and settlers: Order Concerning the City, Village
and Building Planning Law (Judea and Samaria) (No. 418) (5371-1971), sect. 2(2)(3). The
Supreme Planning Council became a part of the Civil Administration, and all district planning
committees and planning authorities of village councils were eliminated, their powers
transferred to the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration. See also World Bank,
“Movement and access restrictions”.
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the “benefit of the population”, despite the fact that access by the Palestinian
population to such lands within settlement boundaries is prohibited. Israeli control
of the Supreme Planning Council, which forms part of the Civil Administration,
particularly in Area C,23 has also been instrumental in promoting the growth of
settlements and limiting the development of Palestinian towns and villages.24
IV. Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory
21. As already noted, the settlements are supported by a road network that
includes roads reserved for the use of settlers, and others that are restricted to
Palestinian residents at certain times, which impede the freedom of movement of
Palestinian communities. The construction of the barrier to include settlement areas
also contributes to the isolation of Palestinian communities. More than 80 per cent
of all Israeli settlers living in the West Bank reside on the western side of the
barrier. The barrier’s route weaves between some Palestinian villages and
neighbourhoods, contributing to the fragmentation of the West Bank into a series of
Palestinian enclaves separated from one another by settlements, outposts, military
areas, natural reserves, the wall and the restricted/prohibited roads.
A. The wall
22. According to available maps, the route of the wall in the West Bank has been
largely determined by the location of settlements and the security of settlers.25 The
other side of this rationale, according to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, is that densely populated Palestinian areas that are inside the
Jerusalem municipal boundary are separated from the city by the wall.
23. The wall encircles settlements built around Jerusalem and within the West
Bank and connects them to Israel, ensuring that Israeli settlers, 80 per cent of whom
reside to the west of the wall, have unimpeded access to Jerusalem. The settler
population and the land area of settlements have rapidly expanded, helped by the
existence of the wall, which creates a de facto demarcation. At the same time, the
wall weaves around and between East Jerusalem and West Bank towns and villages,
dividing Palestinian communities and neighbourhoods in several places.
24. Public pronouncements by senior officials of the Government of Israel would
seem to indicate that the construction of the wall and the determination of its route
by the Government is not premised solely on security considerations, but is to a
great degree determined by the desire to include on the Israeli side of the wall as
many Israeli settlements as possible and to exclude as many Palestinians as
__________________
23 The division of the West Bank under the 1993 Oslo Accords resulted in the majority of the
territory, Areas B and C, remaining under Israeli control, leaving Palestinian “A” areas in
isolated, non-contiguous zones. Israeli settlements were located mostly in Area C in a
contiguous area of territory linked to Israel itself. Most of the main roads fell into Area C.
Travel between “A” areas necessitated passing through areas controlled by Israel and along
Israeli-controlled roads.
24 See “Land Grab: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank” B’Tselem, May 2002, p. 85.
25 Maps are available at http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection&section_id=130&static=
0&format=html.
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08-58797 9
possible.26 A political purpose connected with the wall is suggested by statements
made by the former Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and the then Minister of Justice,
Tzipi Livni.27 Further, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office has acknowledged that the
expansion of settlements was taken into account in the planning of the route of
sections of the barrier.28
25. It is important to note that, upon completion, 87 per cent of the wall will be
located inside the West Bank, and that 9.8 per cent of West Bank territory, including
East Jerusalem, will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank. Approximately
420,000 settlers in 80 settlements and 285,000 Palestinians (including in East
Jerusalem) will be located between the wall and the Green Line. Approximately
125,000 Palestinians in 28 communities will be surrounded on three sides by the
wall, and 26,000 Palestinians in 8 communities will be surrounded on four sides.29
B. Bypass roads
26. The severe restrictions on Palestinian access to certain roads within the
Occupied Palestinian Territory is one of the policies sustaining settlements. As with
the wall, roads are being built allegedly for the security of Israeli settlers and
settlements. The concept of the bypass road system is aimed at enabling Israeli
settlers to travel between settlements without having to pass through Palestinianinhabited
areas.
27. Since 1967, Israel has established a network of roads throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, allegedly to support military needs and to improve
infrastructure for the benefit of the Palestinian people.30 The construction of roads
in the West Bank has been sanctioned by the High Court of Justice of Israel on the
basis of military necessity and the security of Israeli citizens.31
__________________
26 See “The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in
the West Bank”, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, p. 124, which states: “The
construction of the barrier since 2002 has further fragmented the West Bank and has reinforced
the permanence of the settlements. The route of the barrier is determined by the settlements. The
barrier cuts deep into the West Bank, looping around the settlements, stretching 22 km to
encircle Ariel settlement at its most intrusive point. Without the settlements, the barrier could
follow the Green Line with minimal disruption to Palestinian life.”
27 Ariel Sharon, while addressing members of the Jewish community in Paris on 28 July 2005,
stated that as a result of the wall “Israel has gained unprecedented political achievements”,
including “a guarantee that the major population centres in Judea and Samaria (that is, the West
Bank) will remain part of Israel in any final status agreement; and there will be no return to the
1967 borders” (E/CN.4/2006/29, para. 26). The Israeli Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni,
acknowledged on 30 November 2005 that “one does not have to be a genius to see that the fence
will have implications for the future border. This is not the reason of its establishment, but it
could have political implications”. (Ha’aretz, 1 December 2005).
28 See High Court of Justice, Beit Sourik Village Council et al. v. Government of Israel et al.
(2056/04), sect. 80.
29 See “The Humanitarian Impact of the Barrier: Four Years After the Advisory Opinion of the
International Court of Justice on the Barrier”, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, July 2008, update No. 8.
30 See “Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in the
West Bank”, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
31 See High Court of Justice, Tabib et al. v. Minister of Defence (202/81), Piskei Din 36(2) 622;
High Court of Justice, Ayub et al. v. Minister of Defence et al. (258/79), Piskei Din 33(2) 113,
119. Quoted in “Forbidden Roads”, pp. 8-9.
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28. Maps produced by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
show that a two-tiered road system has been established throughout the West Bank
in which the main roads are reserved for the exclusive use of Israeli settlers and
Israeli security personnel, while Palestinians are confined to a secondary network of
roads that are in inferior condition. The maps reveal that the vast majority of Israelibuilt
roads in the West Bank form a network linking the Israeli settlements with one
another and to Israel itself.32 The Office has estimated that Palestinians are denied
free access to approximately 1,500 km of road within the West Bank.
29. In some instances, Israeli settlers themselves have commenced road
construction illegally on privately owned Palestinian land without obtaining prior
authorization and without subsequent action or intervention by the Israeli security
forces.
C. Prohibited roads
30. Roads in the West Bank fall into three categories: completely prohibited,
partially prohibited and restricted-use roads.33 According to the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, prohibited roads include some 20 major and
regional roads throughout the West Bank. Most prohibited roads comprise the major
north-south and east-west routes in the West Bank. These are reserved for settlers,
Israeli security forces and non-Palestinian international passport holders, including
international United Nations staff.13 Travel on these roads by Palestinian residents
and vehicles bearing Palestinian number plates is completely forbidden. Emergency
services and commercial vehicles are also covered by this blanket prohibition.34
31. Access to some prohibited roads is controlled by staffed checkpoints, while in
other cases access is prevented by physical barriers such as earth mounds, fences,
iron gates and trenches. Where a prohibited road cuts across a Palestinian road,
Palestinians are forbidden from crossing the prohibited road by car. In order to cross
the prohibited road, Palestinians must alight from their vehicle, cross the road on
foot and find another vehicle on the other side to continue their journey.35
32. Partially prohibited roads are those for which a special permit is required; such
permits are applied for in the same manner as normal movement permits for
individuals. Some public-transport companies have been granted permits, including
bus companies, which run buses between the checkpoints that regulate access to all
major Palestinian cities.
__________________
32 It seems that some of the roads in the West Bank were planned so as to place a physical barrier
to inhibit Palestinian development, since their routes often cut through Palestinian areas to
create fragmented enclaves. In fact, the Settlement Plan for 1983-1986 specifically stated that a
primary consideration in choosing the route of a road and the placement of settlements should be
to limit the expansion and construction of Palestinian villages; see “Land Grab: Israel’s
Settlement Policy in the West Bank”, B’Tselem, May 2002, chap. 8; see also “Forbidden
Roads”, p. 6.
33 Waiting for Justice: Al-Haq: 25 Years of Defending Human Rights (1979-2004), p. 87; see also
“Forbidden Roads”.
34 See “The question of freedom of movement and the impact of the ‘separation barrier’ on it in the
territories occupied by Israel”, European Union, 2006.
35 See Waiting for Justice; “Forbidden Roads”; and “The Question of Freedom of Movement”.
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33. Palestinian travel is entirely or partially prohibited on some 41 roads and
sections of roads throughout the West Bank, including many of the main arterial
routes covering some 700 km of road.36
34. Restricted roads are those that can be accessed only through an intersection at
which a checkpoint stands. Individuals travelling on such roads who are not from
the local area must have a permit. On passing the checkpoint, all vehicles are
searched, and permits are checked by Israeli security forces. There are usually
significant delays involved in passing through these checkpoints.37 In the West
Bank, Palestinian vehicles that are stopped for any suspected infringement of traffic
laws will be searched and confiscated if the driver is found not to have the
appropriate permit.
35. The road-classification system and the physical obstructions present on roads
throughout the West Bank, in conjunction with the permit system, serve to divide
the West Bank into six separate areas and to control or inhibit the movement of
Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The prohibition on travel along
many main roads means that Palestinians must make long and convoluted detours to
reach their destination, often on substandard roads. According to the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, since the restrictions apply also to
commercial vehicles, there is a significant increase in the time required for, and the
cost of, transporting produce and other commodities throughout the West Bank.
36. The establishment of roads reserved for the exclusive use of the occupants of
settlements is discriminatory and in violation of the prohibition against
discrimination based on article 3 (1), article 13 and article 27 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. International human rights law insists that there must be no unlawful
discrimination even in times of national emergency, such as has not been declared
by the Government of Israel.
D. Checkpoints
37. Access to the restricted or prohibited road network is controlled by flying (i.e.,
temporary and moveable) and permanent checkpoints. Furthermore, there is a
variety of physical barriers, such as earth mounds, fences, gates, trenches and earth
walls, which physically prohibit Palestinians from accessing such roads. The effect
of the prohibited and restricted road network, coupled with checkpoints and other
physical obstacles to travel, is that circuitous and lengthy journeys are required to
travel from one village to another or from one area to another, or that people are
unable to travel between them at all. This inevitably disrupts many aspects of the
daily life of Palestinians (see http://www.ochaopt.org).
__________________
36 For example, routes 463, 466 and 443 (linking Jerusalem and the settlements surrounding it with
Tel Aviv) and 557 (from Elon Moreh and Itamar settlements, effectively isolating 14,000
Palestinian villages from Nablus and the rest of the West Bank) are solely for use by Israeli
citizens; see “The Question of Freedom of Movement”; see also “Forbidden Roads”.
37 See “Forbidden Roads”.
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V. Settler violence in the occupied territory
38. There have been reports of incidents of violence committed by Israeli settlers,
including vandalism of crops, the killing of livestock, the poisoning of water wells,
the blocking of roadways, the destruction of cars and the verbal abuse of and
assaults on Palestinians. According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, from January 2008 until the end of July, 270 incidents of
violence committed by settlers were reported, resulting in injury to approximately
50 Palestinians. International humanitarian workers have also been attacked; for
instance, in July 2008, a group of Palestinian children walking to a summer camp in
Tuwani village (Hebron) were attacked by settlers, and the international worker
accompanying them was injured.
39. On 10 May 2008, settlers from areas south of Bethlehem reportedly took over
a Palestinian house belonging to the Arts church in the south of the city. Allegedly,
Israeli soldiers were present but did not intervene. On 30 May, settlers threw stones
at a Palestinian house located close to the southern fence of Kiryat Arba settlement;
soldiers who were present allegedly failed to halt the attack.38 Over a period of
three days in mid-June 2008, hundreds of settlers reportedly besieged the villages of
Howwrah, Boreen and ‘inYbous, south of Nablus. The settlers were reported to have
blocked the main road leading from the villages to Nablus. On the second day, the
settlers allegedly set fire to and destroyed 100 dunums of land planted with olive
trees on a hill near Howwrah village. It was reported that Palestinian firemen who
came to extinguish the fire were stopped by Israeli security forces.39 The particular
nature of those attacks, targeting property including agricultural land belonging to
Palestinian farmers, is significant in the broader context of land appropriation.
40. In January 2007, B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, launched the
“Shooting Back” advocacy project, through which the organization provides video
cameras to Palestinians living close to settlements, with the stated purpose of
bringing the reality of their lives under occupation to the attention of the Israeli and
international public, exposing and seeking redress for violations of human rights.
Since January 2007, many of the attacks have been filmed and brought to the
attention of the authorities and of the public.40
41. It appears that the Israeli authorities have failed to adequately ensure public
order to protect Palestinians from criminal attacks by settlers. Some incidents of
settler violence were allegedly not investigated promptly or at all by the Israeli
authorities, in violation of article 43 of the Hague Regulations, which obliges the
occupying Power to take all measures within its power to restore, and ensure, as far
as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented,
the laws in force in the country.
__________________
38 “Settler Violence Report: May and June 2008”, Alternative Information Centre, July 2008.
39 Settler violence incidents are also reported in The Humanitarian Monitor.
40 All documented attacks are available at http://www.btselem.org/english/OTA/
?WebbTopicNumber=01&image.x=14&image.y=7.
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VI. Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
42. As at the end of June 2008, some 18,000 Israeli settlers were estimated to be
living in 32 settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan.41 Construction of
infrastructure and housing was pursued actively in 2007 and early in 2008,
notwithstanding calls by the international community to halt construction in the
occupied territories and despite the fact that the Golan Heights is on the agenda of
recent peace talks between the Syrian Arab Republic and Israel.42
43. The detrimental impact of the Israeli occupation of the Golan on the
livelihoods of the local population relates to the restrictions on land cultivation and
farming. The alleged confiscation of land belonging to Syrian citizens, the uprooting
and destruction of trees and seedlings, and discrimination with regard to access to
water and construction permits affect Syrian citizens living in the occupied Golan.
The consequent economic difficulties have been exacerbated by a particularly harsh
winter, which destroyed much of the 2007 harvest. Land that is left uncultivated is
subject to confiscation by the Israeli authorities.43
44. According to the Arab community of Majdal Shams, the Israeli water authority
had initially allocated 750 cubic metres (m3) of water per dunum of land to Israeli
settlers. Arab farmers were allocated a quota of 150 m3 per dunum. Recently the two
quotas have been reduced to 450 m3 and 90 m3, respectively. As a result of these
unequal quotas, Syrian citizens are unable to produce the same quantity of highquality
apples per dunum of land as Israeli settlers in the region. In addition, Syrian
citizens directly pay more for water as a result of an indirectly discriminatory tariff
system. These conditions, as well as discrimination with regard to subsidies,
combined with a high dependency on the Israeli market, mean that cultivation has
become increasingly difficult for Syrian citizens of the Golan.43
45. Such practices are contrary to the standards and principles set out by the
International Labour Organization concerning equality of opportunity and treatment
in employment and occupation, which include the right to equal access to natural
and other resources, including subsidies, without discrimination.
VII. Recommendations
46. In view of the worsening human rights situation in the occupied
Palestinian territory, the protection of both Palestinian and Israeli civilians
requires action by all parties and the international community. As such, all
parties to the conflict should cease all actions violating international human
rights and humanitarian law.
47. The Government of Israel should abide by its commitments as stated in
the road map and reiterated in the Annapolis joint statement of November
2007, namely, to immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since
March 2001 and to freeze, consistent with the Mitchell report, all settlement
activity (including natural growth of settlements).
__________________
41 See http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.4311487/.
42 See Ha’aretz, 27 May 2008; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/987462.html.
43 See “The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories”, International Labour
Organization, at http://www.ilo.org.
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48. The Government of Israel should take action to halt attacks by Israeli
settlers against the civilian population of the occupied territory and ensure that
a proper investigation is carried out in regard to incidents caused by such
settlers and that redress is given to the victims of such violence.
49. The General Assembly and the international community should actively
promote the implementation of its decisions, resolutions and recommendations
and those of the Security Council, the International Court of Justice and the
United Nations human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies and special
procedure mandate-holders.
United Nations A/64/516
General Assembly Distr.: General
6 November 2009
Original: English
09-59811 (E) 121109
*0959811*
Sixty-fourth session
Agenda item 32
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to General Assembly resolution 63/97, in
which the Secretary-General was requested to report to the Assembly at its sixtyfourth
session on the implementation of the resolution. The period covered by the
report is September 2008 to August 2009.
The report addresses the continuation of Israeli settlement activities in the
occupied Arab territories and its impact on the human rights of the residents.
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I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 63/97, the General Assembly expressed grave concern about
the continuation by Israel, the Occupying Power, of settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of international humanitarian law,
United Nations resolutions and agreements reached by the parties, particularly about
Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in and around East Jerusalem. It
also expressed concern about the dangerous situation resulting from violent actions
taken by armed Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
2. Furthermore, the General Assembly, in the same resolution, reaffirmed that the
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan were illegal and called upon Israel to strictly comply with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In addition, the resolution
reiterated its demand for the complete and immediate halt of all Israeli settlement
activities, including in East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan.
3. The General Assembly also called for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their
properties and agricultural lands, and stressed the need for the implementation of
Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council called upon Israel to
continue to take and implement measures, including confiscation of arms, aimed at
preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers. The resolution also called for
measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian
civilians in the occupied territory.
4. The present report addresses progress made in the implementation of
resolution 63/97 concerning, specifically, Israeli settlement activities in the
occupied territories, as well as violence by Israeli settlers. Other relevant issues
referred to in the resolution are covered by the report of the Secretary-General on
Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (A/64/517).
5. The preset report needs to be read in conjunction with the previous report of
the Secretary-General on this question (A/63/519). Such issues as the confiscation
of land, the wall, the bypass and prohibited roads and checkpoints presented
previously are not repeated here. The previous report also provided the historical
background of the issues of Israeli settlements. The present report provides an
update on the settlements and highlights additional concerns. The report relies
heavily on information made publicly available by the Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (see http://www.ochaopt.org).
II. Legal background
A. International humanitarian law
6. The most relevant international humanitarian law standards concerning Israel’s
responsibilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the Occupying Power are set
out in the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons
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in Time of War and in the Hague Regulations, which are recognized as part of
customary international law.1
7. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates specifically that “the
Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies”. Israel’s continued settlement activities are in flagrant
violation of this provision, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice in its
advisory opinion on the wall. This has also been confirmed repeatedly by a number
of United Nations resolutions, including, most recently, by General Assembly
resolution 63/97 and Human Rights Council resolution 10/18.
8. The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying power from undertaking
permanent changes in the occupied area unless they are due to military needs in the
narrow sense of the term or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local
population. The occupying power must refrain from changing the character, status or
demographic composition of the occupied territory. It is also bound to protect the
rights of protected persons in occupied territories. In addition to the construction of
the settlements themselves, other settlement-related activities, such as the
confiscation of land, the destruction of houses and orchards, the construction of
roads meant for settlers only and the exploitation of natural resources, including
water, within the occupied territory and altering the character and status of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, are also prohibited by international law. Concerns
over the use and depletion of natural resources as a result of settlements have been
raised by the international community on numerous occasions.2
B. International human rights law
9. Israel has ratified several of the most important international human rights
treaties, including the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
__________________
1 In its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory of 2004 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), the International Court of Justice
concluded that the Fourth Geneva Convention was applicable in the Palestinian territories
which, before the 1967 conflict, lay to the east of the Green Line and which, during that
conflict, were occupied by Israel. Since then a significant number of United Nations resolutions
have reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the most recent being
Human Rights Council resolutions S-9/1 and 10/18 and General Assembly resolutions 63/96,
63/97 and 63/201. In its advisory opinion, the Court recalled that while Israel was not a party to
the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 18 October 1907
(Convention IV), to which the Hague Regulations are annexed, the provisions of the Hague
Regulations had become part of customary international law.
2 See various General Assembly resolutions, including 63/201. Also see Security Council
resolution 465 (1980), whereby the Council, taking note of the reports of the Commission of the
Security Council established under resolution 446 (1979) to examine the situation relating to
settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, expressed its
concern and requested the Commission to continue to examine the situation relating to
settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and to investigate
the reported serious depletion of natural resources, particularly water resources, with a view to
ensuring the protection of those important natural resources of the territories under occupation.
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the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
10. In its advisory opinion on the wall, the International Court of Justice affirmed
that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child were applicable in respect of acts carried out by and legal
obligations of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/ES-10/273,
paras. 102-113). The position of United Nations human rights treaty bodies mirrors
that of the International Court of Justice, namely, that as a party to international
human rights instruments, Israel continues to bear responsibility for implementing
its human rights obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the International Convention on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination to the extent that it continues to exercise jurisdiction in
those territories.3 The Court also noted that Israel’s obligations under the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights include “an
obligation not to raise any obstacle to the exercise of such rights in those fields
where competence has been transferred to Palestinian authorities” (A/ES-10/273,
para. 112).
11. Israel’s establishment of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has
affected numerous rights of Palestinian residents that are enshrined in international
human rights law. In particular, the Government of Israel has imposed severe
restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in the vicinity of the
settlements, including through the building of the wall, checkpoints, road closures
and a road network open only to settlers and Israeli citizens. Those restrictions on
freedom of movement have in turn generated violations of a wide range of other
human rights, such as the right to education, the right to work, the right to an
adequate standard of living, the freedom of religion and the right to the highest
attainable standard of health, which, as mentioned above, are dealt with in more
depth in another report (A/64/517).
III. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and their impact on the
enjoyment of human rights
A. Overview
12. As noted in the previous report of the Secretary-General to the General
Assembly (A/63/519), settlements represent an obstacle to the creation of the future
Palestinian state. The Government of Israel committed itself, under phase 1 of the
road map, to freeze all settlement activity from March 2001 (S/2003/529, annex).
This was consistent with the recommendation contained in the report of the Sharm
__________________
3 An examination of the concluding observations of different United Nations treaty bodies
confirms this view. See A/HRC/8/17, para. 7; CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, para. 32,
CRC/C/15/Add.195, CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 11, and A/60/38, part two, paras. 221-268.
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el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee of 2001, which stated that Israel should freeze all
settlement activity, including the so-called “natural growth” of existing settlements,
and that the kind of security cooperation desired by Israel could not be reconciled
with settlement activity.
13. Despite the commitments made by the Government of Israel to cease
settlement activity and international calls to halt expansion, settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory continue to expand in violation of Israel’s obligations
under international humanitarian law. The Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs reports that by the end of 2008, about 485,800 settlers were
residing in 121 settlements in the West Bank, including 195,000 in 12 settlements in
East Jerusalem. Statistics indicate that in 2008 the settler population, excluding in
East Jerusalem, grew by 4.6 per cent, a much faster rate than the general population
elsewhere in Israel (1.6 per cent). According to the Israeli non-governmental
organization B’Tselem, some 40 per cent of the growth in the settler population
outside of East Jerusalem was the result of persons emigrating from elsewhere in the
world or Israel, as opposed to natural growth.
14. As at June 2009, some of the major construction projects in progress included
those in Ma’ale Adumim and Giv’at Zeev Illit (around East Jerusalem), where
around 900 and 800 housing units, respectively, were being built. Hundreds of other
housing units are being constructed in Beitar Illit and Modin Illit. In more than
22 other settlements in the West Bank, construction ranging from the building of
1 or 2 to 50 villas is actively being carried out.
15. Despite a policy of the Government of Israel that settlements should not be
built on privately owned Palestinian land, there is evidence, reported by the
non-governmental organization Peace Now, that this is not always the case and that
land owned privately by Palestinian residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territory
has been expropriated for the building of settlements. An illustrative example is that
of Ofra settlement, populated by 2,700 persons some 24 kilometres east of the Green
Line (i.e. inside the occupied territory), of which some 60 per cent of land had
already been registered to Palestinian residents before 1967.
16. In practice, large swaths of land around settlements are often de facto closed
off to Palestinian residents, either by the Government of Israel or by the settlers
themselves with the tacit approval of the Israeli security forces. While this had been
occurring for many years, it was further institutionalized by the Government of
Israel in 2002 through the “special security area” framework, by which closed areas
300 metres wide (later expanded to 400 metres) are established around many
settlements. In March and April 2008, B’Tselem obtained from the Government of
Israel information showing that, as a result of those measures having been taken
around 12 settlements, their overall area had increased from 3,235 dunams to
7,794 dunams. More than half of the land that has reportedly been effectively
expropriated under this framework is private land owned by Palestinians. In some
cases, such as Ma’ale Adumim, 86 per cent of the lands on which settlement units
are built are privately owned.
17. Peace Now recently reported that the Government of Israel was planning to
construct at least 73,300 housing units in the West Bank, 15,000 of which had
received final governmental approval. Close to 5,700 of those units are reportedly to
be constructed in East Jerusalem.
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18. In addition to settlements, there are currently around 100 “outposts”
throughout the West Bank. Outposts are settlements that are not authorized by the
Government of Israel and are therefore illegal under Israeli law, in addition to being
illegal under international law. Nevertheless, the establishment of new outposts
continued over the past year. In some of those, including Kida, Toka B and C,
Lehavat Yitzar, Givat Harel, Ahiya and Neve Daniel North in the West Bank,
permanent structures are being built, while the extensive expansion of factories in
the industrial area in Areil and Barkan (central West Bank) is also being carried out.
19. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in
response to concerns raised by several States, the Government of Israel announced
in May 2009 that it would dismantle outposts existing in various locations in the
West Bank.
20. Although the existence and expansion of settlements affects nearly all
Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the most vulnerable are the
Bedouins in Area C, many of whom are refugees from the Negev. As herders and
livestock owners, they are prevented from grazing their animals within 3 kilometres
of nearby settlements in many areas and have frequent demolitions carried out
against them by Israeli security forces4 or the Israeli civil administration. Generally,
Bedouins are becoming increasingly vulnerable and dependent on externally funded
projects, which provide them with basic needs such as water and dry fodder.
B. Settlements in East Jerusalem
21. Between 1948 and June 1967, Jerusalem was divided in two: West Jerusalem,
which consisted of an area of about 38 square kilometres, was under Israeli control,
and East Jerusalem, which contained an area of some 6 square kilometres, was
under Jordanian control (as was the rest of the West Bank). In June 1967, following
the 1967 war, Israel annexed some 70 square kilometres beyond the municipal
boundaries of West Jerusalem, on which it imposed Israeli law.
22. International law prohibits the annexation of territory occupied pursuant to an
armed conflict.5 Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem constitutes a flagrant
violation of international law.
23. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
12 settlements have been constructed in East Jerusalem since its annexation, and the
settler population stands at approximately 195,000.
24. In addition to having approved the expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem,
the Government of Israel has implemented a number of other policies the result of
which is to change the demography of East Jerusalem. In particular, the policies of
the Government of Israel regarding urban planning in East Jerusalem, the dispensing
of building permits and the demolition of homes built without permits have a
__________________
4 Including border police, Israeli police and Israel Defense Forces.
5 Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations, the 1970 Declaration on Principles
of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations (General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), annex) and
Security Council resolution 242 (1967) which emphasized the inadmissibility of the acquisition
of territory by war.
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discriminatory impact on Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem.6 Furthermore,
according to B’Tselem, the revocation of residency and social benefits of Palestinian
residents who stay abroad for a continuous period of seven years or who are unable
to prove that they reside in East Jerusalem are also discriminatory and are clearly
aimed at ensuring that the maximum number of Palestinians leave the city (see, e.g.,
CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, para. 20). Those policies and practices are in violation of
human rights obligations on non-discrimination, in particular as elaborated in
article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; articles 2 and
5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and
article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
They also affect the right to self-determination, guaranteed under article 1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In addition, those policies affect a number of
other human rights of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, such as their right
to adequate housing (article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights) and their right to privacy and family life (articles 17 and 23 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 10 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).
25. In addition, the Government of Israel has been planning to construct a new
settlement between Ma’ale Adumim (a large settlement 14 kilometres east of
Jerusalem housing approximately 33,000 people) and East Jerusalem. The proposed
settlement (commonly known as the E1, for “East 1” plan) consists of around
3,500 housing units for approximately 15,000 people, as well as commercial areas
and tourism buildings. This would reportedly entail the removal of close to
2,700 Jahalin Bedouins, who live a traditional semi-nomadic life in the area.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, all of the
West Bank east of Ma’ale Adumim has been declared a closed military area by the
Israeli military, and access is prohibited to all Palestinians.
IV. Israeli settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
26. Violent acts by settlers against the Palestinian population of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory continued. Data compiled by the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicates that settler-related incidents7 have
increased significantly over recent years. The Office documented 391 such incidents
in 2008, as compared with 243 in 2007 and 182 in 2006. The number of Palestinians
killed or injured as a result of settler violence also increased significantly, from
__________________
6 For example, the land available for Palestinians in East Jerusalem for the construction of houses
is a mere 13 per cent of East Jerusalem, much of which is already built up. Even there it is
difficult to obtain permits. Also, the density, known as the plot ratio, permitted is half, or in
some cases much less than half, that found in neighbouring Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem,
or in West Jerusalem, thus limiting the possibility of housing for Palestinians. Between 1996 and
2000, for example, the number of recorded building violations was four and a half times higher
in Israeli areas (17,382 violations) than in the Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem
(3,847 violations). In spite of this, the number of demolition orders issued in West Jerusalem
was merely one fourth (86 orders) the number in East Jerusalem (348).
7 Including violence committed by settlers against Palestinians as well as other violations, such as
the damaging of Palestinian property and trespassing.
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74 in 2006 to 92 in 2007 and 195 in 2008.8 In 2008, the Office noted that a
significant majority of such violent acts had been carried out by groups of settlers as
opposed to individuals, as had generally been the case before 2006.
27. The Office also reports that settler-related incidents in 2009 are continuing. It
notes that the number of violent acts resulting in Palestinian casualties in 2009 may
be slightly lower compared with 2008. On the other hand, the number of Palestinian
persons injured by settlers remains at the high level of 2008, with 269 settler-related
incidents as at September 2009 41 of which resulted in the injury of 108
Palestinians.9 Israeli settlers living in many areas have a special dispensation
regarding the owning and carrying of firearms, and many settlements maintain their
own volunteer paramilitary forces, some of which are heavily armed.
28. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that as at
December 2008, approximately half of all Palestinian injuries from settler violence
were suffered by women and children. Defence for Children International —
Palestine Section, an international non-governmental organizations, documented 25
cases of settler violence directed at children from early 2008 to August 2009.10
Settlers often commit violent acts against Palestinian residents with impunity. The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in 2008 that the
majority of settler incidents recorded since 2006 had been committed by groups of
Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians as they performed their daily tasks —
walking to school or to market, grazing their livestock, tending their fields or
harvesting their crops. Children as young as 8 years old and elderly people as old as
95 have been targets of attacks. The full extent of settler violence is difficult to
capture in part because settler harassment has become such a routine part of life for
some Palestinians. Many incidents go unreported unless they have a significant
result. In some areas, such as in the part of Hebron city under Israeli control or in
the villages surrounding Yitzhar settlement in the Nablus governorate, the Office has
recorded routine settler harassment and intimidation of Palestinian civilians by
means of a variety of techniques, from the threat of force to its actual use.
29. Recent events in the Palestinian village of Safa (Hebron) and the Bedouin
community of Umm al-Khayr (southern West Bank) are illustrative.11 Safa is
bordered by the Israeli settlements of Bat Ayin to the north and Gush Etzion to
the north-east. Following a murder that took place in the centre of Bat Ayin
settlement by an unknown assailant on 3 April 2009, at about 2200 hours,
dozens of Israel security forces entered Safa from different directions, using
megaphones to order all men in the village to come out to the street. Several
Palestinians were beaten by Israeli security forces and some were arrested.
Several days later, on 8 April, settlers from both settlements, escorted by
__________________
8 It should be noted that these data rely on the monitoring efforts of the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and are not necessarily comprehensive.
9 In 2008, 3 settlers were killed and 27 were wounded over the course of 2008 by Palestinians.
The International Crisis Group notes that the presence of settlements also generates Palestinian
violence; international observers and settlers report recent Palestinian attacks, including driveby
shootings, Molotov cocktails, bombs at settlement gates and a series of stabbings.
10 In one case, for example, a lone 15-year-old boy was reportedly assaulted, for no apparent
reason, by a group of more than 20 settlers.
11 These are only a few of several cases that the United Nations is monitoring that illustrate the
extent of the violations occurring to Palestinians owing to settlements and settlers’ violence. For
case studies see A/HRC/12/37 and A/HRC/12/48.
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troops, gathered to the north and east of Safa. Both the settlers and Israeli
security forces opened fire at Palestinian civilians with firearms, sound bombs
and tear gas canisters. The attacks continued for 90 minutes, peaking when
troops broke into the village and raided houses, wounding nine Palestinian
civilians (see A/HRC/12/37, paras. 62-70).
30. The Bedouin herding community of Umm al-Khayr lives on land — parts
of which are privately owned by the community — that is in close proximity to
several settlements.12 The Bedouin community currently lives literally within
metres of a settlement fence and suffers persistent harassment from settlers,
with settler youth often lining up along the fence at night to throw stones and
hurl verbal abuse. Security guards of the settlement, together with Israel
Defense Forces, regularly make incursions into the village and search houses,
claiming that there are “terrorists” planning to attack — despite the fact that
there has never been any attack on the settlement. Despite several complaints to
the police and the civil administration, in particular over the course of 2008, no
serious investigation appears to have been conducted.
31. Since the summer of 2008, representatives of the Israeli civil
administration, police officers and the security guards of the settlement have on
different occasions verbally informed members of the community that they
would no longer be allowed access to the area of the surrounding land that
constitutes the bulk of their grazing land. Israel Defense Forces are now
regularly positioned on top of one of the hills that is currently off limits to
members of the community, ensuring that they are unable to have access to the
area and are forced to take a long, roundabout route to graze their livestock.
32. Furthermore, a new security road that is currently under construction
around Karmel settlement passes only 50 metres from the community’s main
water cistern. The community is denied access to the cistern while daily work
on the road is carried out. Finally, the community has been subject to home
demolitions. Most recently, on 29 October 2008, six homes and one food store
were demolished, displacing 57 persons (including 28 children). The stated
reason for the demolition was that the buildings concerned did not have
building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain in Area C. The
information available to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights indicates that in 2007, more than 90 per cent of applications
for building permits in Area C were rejected (see A/HRC/12/37).
33. In May 2008, Yesh Din, an Israeli non-governmental organization, published
figures indicating that only 8 per cent of complaints involving settler-related
incidents resulted in indictments. Some 87 per cent of assault complaints filed were
reportedly closed without indictment. Overall, 92 per cent of cases involving
criminal trespass, seizure of land and damaging of Palestinian crops were closed
with no further action taken. Not a single property damage complaint was closed
with an indictment. Although those figures rely on Yesh Din’s monitoring efforts
and are not comprehensive, Yesh Din states that no official body maintains
comprehensive data on such investigations. The overwhelming majority (94 per
cent) of the cases monitored by Yesh Din were closed owing to failures in the
__________________
12 Until 2000, many members of the community performed labour in Israel and earned income.
However, as restrictions on holders of West Bank identification entering Israel increased, this
became impossible, and now the raising of livestock is one of the main sources of income.
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investigation, such as failing to identify the perpetrator or to collect sufficient
evidence. Yesh Din documented several cases in which the effort put into the
investigation of serious crimes committed by settlers fell seriously short of that
required to hold alleged perpetrators accountable and combat impunity. They
included cases in which victims’ complaints and testimonies were recorded in
Hebrew rather than Arabic (the language in which the testimonies was given) and
cases in which the police investigators did not visit the crime scene or when
testimonies were not collected from key witnesses. According to Yesh Din, in a
number of cases a decision was made to close the investigation even though there
was sufficient prima facie evidence to prosecute the suspects. In one case, the police
failed to conduct any investigation into the alibi of one settler whose identity card
had been found at the scene of vandalized Palestinian crops.
34. In July 2009, in a letter from the Ministry of Justice to the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ministry stated that in 2007,
491 investigations against Israeli settlers for “disturbances of peace” were opened in
the West Bank, leading to 57 indictments against 73 persons. In 2008, 525
investigations were opened, leading to 106 indictments against 140 persons.
35. Even when Israeli security forces are present at the scene, the information
gathered by non-governmental organizations while carrying out field monitoring
and collecting testimony suggests that their intervention to protect Palestinian
residents is rare. Settlers are rarely arrested for committing violent acts. Numerous
cases have also been documented in which the Israeli security forces facilitates, or
even participates in, violence by settlers.13
36. There have been instances in which settlers were prosecuted. B’Tselem reports
that in December 2008, a resident of the Yitav settlement in the north-eastern part of
the West Bank was sentenced to 16 months of imprisonment after shooting and
paralysing for life an unarmed Palestinian civilian. On the other hand, even in highprofile
cases where there is incontrovertible evidence against the settler, effective
prosecution and sentencing can be lacking. In July 2009, the Israeli Prosecutor’s
office reportedly stated that it would drop charges against a settler who had been
caught on film shooting at Palestinians at close range during the aforementioned
incident in December 2008. Although the settler had initially been charged with
intention to cause grievous bodily harm, the Prosecutor’s office refrained from
pursuing the prosecution, stating that doing so might result in the revealing of secret
evidence.
__________________
13 In one case documented by Defence for Children International — Palestine, on 3 April 2009 two
Palestinian boys (one 15-year-old and one 16-year-old) were attacked, for no apparent reason,
by three Israeli border police officers and a settlement security guard in a field near Ma’on
settlement in Hebron. After being chased and assaulted, the two boys were reportedly put in a
police vehicle and transported to a nearby checkpoint, where they were taken out of the vehicle,
handcuffed, kicked and beaten in front of approximately 20 other Israeli security force troops.
The troops then stood by as a group of six or seven settlers, passing nearby, started throwing
stones at the boys. The boys were eventually released when representatives from an
international non-governmental organizations, which the boys were unable to identify, arrived
on the scene and negotiated their release with the troops. In several other cases, settlers have
been filmed committing violent acts against Palestinians in the presence, and sometimes even
with the participation, of Israeli security forces.
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V. Situation of Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements
37. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), thousands of
Palestinian women, men and children work in settlements in the West Bank, mainly
in industrial and agricultural areas. It is estimated that some 26,000 Palestinian
workers are employed in seven major settlements and industrial zones alone.
Working in settlements is in many cases the only viable way to secure a livelihood
for many Palestinians; however, as reported by ILO, the Palestinian workers are
vulnerable to exploitation and violations of rights.
38. Many of the Palestinians who work in Israeli settlements and industrial zones
are exposed to what ILO describes as “hazardous work environments without
appropriate occupational safeguard and health measures in place”. In addition, the
existence of (Palestinian) child labour in Israeli settlements, particularly in
numerous agricultural fields of the Jordan valley, is of great concern. ILO estimates
that some 1,900 children work in those settlements, including some who perform
dangerous work on date plantations, in violation of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, to which Israel is a State party, which states in article 32, paragraph 1,
that children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous.
39. Although Israeli settlers working in settlements are represented by the Israeli
national trade union, Palestinian trade unions are prohibited from operating in
settlements. This discriminatory treatment has resulted in a situation in which
Palestinian labourers are vulnerable to violations of their rights, with far less access
to remedies than Israeli workers. While it is possible for a Palestinian worker in a
settlement to take legal action against his employer with the aid of an Israeli
national trade union, reports indicate that in reality Palestinian workers face far
more obstacles in obtaining such assistance than Israeli workers do.
VI. Water resources and pollution
40. As the Occupying Power, Israel is obligated to ensure that the Palestinian
population is able to realize its right to an adequate standard of living, the highest
attainable standard of health and adequate housing and food, as elaborated in
articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, including their right to water. As noted by the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, “the right to water clearly falls within the category of
guarantees essential for securing an adequate standard of living, particularly since it
is one of the most fundamental conditions for survival. … The right to water is also
inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of health ... and the
rights to adequate housing and adequate food .... The right should also be seen in
conjunction with other rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights,
foremost amongst them the right to life and human dignity” (E/C.12/2002/11,
para. 3). Moreover, the obligation to guarantee that the right to water is enjoyed
without discrimination prohibits any discrimination on the grounds of race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status, which has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the
equal enjoyment or exercise of the right to water.
A/64/516
12 09-59811
41. Israel, as the Occupying Power, is also responsible under international law for
the well-being, including public health and hygiene, of the occupied population.
Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention imposes on the occupying State
primary responsibility for ensuring public health and hygiene in order to prevent the
spread of disease and epidemics. The obligation to protect water sources is also
derived from the occupying State’s duty to ensure “public order and safety”. This
duty includes not only the negative obligation to refrain from harming the local
population, for example, by damaging or polluting water sources and their supply,
but also the positive obligation to take suitable measures to protect the population
from dangers to which it is exposed. Furthermore, the Hague Regulations state that
the occupying State “shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary” of
the natural resources of the occupied territory.
42. The Government of Israel exploits the natural resources in the West Bank for
the use of Israeli citizens in Israel and, in particular, in the settlements in the West
Bank (see A/64/354). Although much of the West Bank is extremely arid, it is home
to significant water resources, including underground deposits. One of the first acts
of the Israeli military occupying forces in 1967 was to take control of all water
resources and to prohibit any person from owning or establishing a well without
prior authorization. The Government of Israel then proceeded to declare the lower
Jordan River a closed military zone and destroyed Palestinian pumps and irrigation
ditches (see A/40/381). In 1982, Israel placed the water supply system of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (including Gaza) under the control of Mekerot, the
Israeli national water company.
43. According to B’Tselem, more than 200 Palestinian communities, with a total
of 215,000 inhabitants, are not connected to a running water network and are forced
to buy water from private suppliers, using up to 20 per cent of their income for the
purchase of water (see, e.g., A/61/500/Add.1). According to the World Bank, per
capita, the Palestinian population has access to only about a quarter of the ration of
Israelis: West Bank Palestinians had about 123 litres a person daily, while Israelis
had 544. Some Palestinians are surviving on as little as 10 to 15 litres a day. At
these extremely low levels of consumption in both the domestic and agricultural
spheres, Palestinians rank lowest in access to freshwater in the region.
44. The current water crisis for Palestinians in the West Bank is coupled with the
problem of wastewater flowing into available natural reservoirs, aquifers and
streams that many Palestinians depend on. In August 2008, the Government of Israel
reported that by 2007 only 81 out of 121 settlements were connected to wastewater
treatment facilities, which resulted in 5.5 million cubic metres out of a total of
12 million cubic metres of wastewater from settlements flowing into West Bank
streams and valleys. Of the 81 treatment plants that exist in the settlements, many of
them are inadequate, and high maintenance costs mean that their operation is often
defective. In some large, well-established settlements, most of which were built in
the 1970s and the 1980s, wastewater is not treated at all, or treatment systems have
been neglected for decades. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has
reportedly stated that it has plans for treating settlement wastewater, but as yet no
scheduled completion date has been provided.
45. Since most settlements are located on ridges and hilltops, their untreated
wastewater flows to nearby Palestinian communities, which are generally located
A/64/516
09-59811 13
further down the slope. A Palestinian study showed that crops and water sources of
70 Palestinian villages near settlements were contaminated.
46. The Israeli national water company reportedly reduces the water supply to
Palestinian communities substantially during the summer months,14 causing
considerable water shortages, to meet increased consumption needs in Israel and in
Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
47. It should be noted that the exploitation of natural resources of the West Bank is
by no means confined to water. In March 2009, Yesh Din petitioned the Israeli High
Court to rule that the extensive mining operations in the West Bank were illegal and
should be halted. As one of the bases of their petition, the non-governmental
organization used a Government of Israel report that stated that the annual gravel
yield in Area C of the West Bank was a total of some 12 million tons a year and that
most of the quarries were owned by Israeli companies and mainly marketed the
product in Israel (some 74 per cent of the yield).
VII. Settlements in the Occupied Syrian Golan
48. To date, the International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that the Israeli
population in the occupied Syrian Golan is between 17,000 and 21,000 living in
some 40 settlements. Since the occupation of the Syrian Golan in 1967, the
Government of Israel has continued its settlement expansion, despite renewed
resolutions calling upon Israel to desist from doing so (see, e.g., General Assembly
resolution 63/99). In 2009, the Ministry of Housing reportedly embarked on a plan
to increase the population of Katzrin from 6,500 to 20,000 over the next 20 years,
and the Israel Land Authority issued 14 tenders for the construction of apartment
buildings in Katzrin. In the past years, investments in tourist infrastructure in the
occupied Golan reportedly increased.
VIII. Conclusions and recommendations
49. The Government of Israel should abide by international legal obligations
and its pre-existing commitments as stated in the road map, as well as the
repeated calls of the international community, namely, to immediately
dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001 and to freeze all
settlement activity, including natural growth, including in occupied East
Jerusalem.
50. The Government of Israel should take action to halt attacks by Israeli settlers
against the civilian population of the occupied territory and ensure that a proper
investigation is carried out in regard to incidents caused by such settlers and that
redress is given to the victims of such violence (see also A/63/519).
51. The Government of Israel should take action to ensure that the labour rights of
all Palestinian workers in settlements, including the right to form and join trade
unions, are respected. In accordance with article 32, paragraph 1, of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the Government of Israel should protect children from
__________________
14 The most recent information available, from 2006, indicates that the water supply is reduced
from 15 to 25 per cent in the summer months.
A/64/516
14 09-59811
economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous,
such as working on date plantations.
52. The Government of Israel should cease to exploit natural resources, including
water, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In particular, the Government of Israel
should take steps to halt the damage being caused to the aquifer in the West Bank
and, as the Occupying Power, should ensure non-discriminatory distribution of
water resources (see A/64/354).
53. The General Assembly and the international community should actively
promote the implementation of its decisions, resolutions and recommendations and
those of the Security Council, the International Court of Justice and the United
Nations human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies and special procedures
mandate holders.
United Nations A/65/365
General Assembly Distr.: General
14 September 2010
Original: English
10-53226 (E) 201010
*1053226*
Sixty-fifth session
Item 52 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/93, in
which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its
sixty-fifth session on the implementation of the resolution. The period covered by the
report is September 2009 to August 2010.
The report addresses the continuation of Israeli settlement activities in the
occupied Arab territories and its impact on the human rights of the residents.
* A/65/150.
A/65/365
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Contents
Page
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. Legal background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A. International humanitarian law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B. International human rights law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . 5
A. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
B. Settlements in East Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
IV. Israeli settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
VI. The wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
VII. Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
A/65/365
10-53226 3
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 64/93, the General Assembly expressed grave concern about
the continuation by Israel, the occupying Power, of settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of international humanitarian law,
United Nations resolutions and agreements reached by the parties, particularly about
Israel’s construction and expansion of settlements in and around East Jerusalem,
including its so-called E-1 plan that aims to connect its illegal settlements around
and isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank, the continuing demolition
of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from the city and
intensifying settlement activities in the Jordan Valley. It also expressed grave
concern about the dangerous situation resulting from violent actions taken by armed
Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
2. The General Assembly, in the same resolution, reaffirmed that the Israeli
settlements in the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan were illegal and called upon Israel to strictly comply with its
obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with
respect to the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In addition, the resolution
reiterated the Assembly’s demand for the complete and immediate halt of all Israeli
settlement activities, including in East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan.
3. The General Assembly also called for the prevention of all acts of violence and
harassment by Israeli settlers, especially against Palestinian civilians and their
properties and agricultural lands, and stressed the need for the implementation of
Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council called upon Israel to
continue to take and implement measures, including the confiscation of arms, aimed
at preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers. The resolution also called
for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian
civilians in the occupied territory.
4. The present report addresses progress made in the implementation of
resolution 64/93 concerning, specifically, Israeli settlement activities in the
occupied territories, violence by Israeli settlers and the status of the wall. The
present report should be read in conjunction with the previous reports of the
Secretary-General on this issue (A/64/516 and A/63/519). Whereas the previous
reports provided a historical background to the issues of Israeli settlements, the
present report provides an update on the settlements and highlights emerging
concerns. The report relies heavily on information made publicly available by the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (see www.ochaopt.org).
II. Legal background
A. International humanitarian law
5. The most relevant international humanitarian law standards concerning Israel’s
responsibilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the occupying Power are set
out in the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons
A/65/365
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in Time of War and in the Hague Regulations, which are recognized as part of
customary international law.1
6. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates specifically that “the
Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies”. Israel’s continued settlement activities are in flagrant
violation of this provision, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice in its
advisory opinion on the wall. This has also been confirmed repeatedly by a number
of United Nations resolutions, including, most recently, by General Assembly
resolution 64/93 and Human Rights Council resolution 13/7.
7. The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying Power from undertaking
permanent changes in the occupied area unless they are due to military needs in the
narrow sense of the term or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local
population. The occupying Power must refrain from changing the character, status
or demographic composition of the occupied territory. It is also bound to protect the
rights of protected persons in occupied territories. In addition to the construction of
the settlements themselves, other settlement-related activities, such as the
confiscation of land, destruction of houses and orchards, the construction of roads
meant for settlers only and the exploitation of natural resources within the occupied
territory and altering the character and status of the occupied territory, are also
prohibited by international law.
B. International human rights law
8. Israel has ratified several of the most important international human rights
treaties, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
9. In its advisory opinion on the wall, the International Court of Justice affirmed
that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child were applicable in respect of acts carried out by and legal
obligations of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/ES-10/273 and
Corr.1, paras. 102-113). The position of United Nations human rights treaty bodies
mirrors that of the International Court of Justice, namely, that as a party to
__________________
1 In its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory of 2004 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), the International Court of Justice
concluded that the Fourth Geneva Convention was applicable in the Palestinian territories which
before the 1967 conflict, lay to the east of the Green Line and which, during that conflict, were
occupied by Israel. Since then a significant number of the United Nations resolutions have
reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the most recent being Human
Rights Council resolutions S-9/1, 10/18 and 13/7 and General Assembly resolutions 63/96,
63/97, 63/201 and 64/93. In its advisory opinion, the Court recalled that while Israel was not a
party to the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 18 October
1907 (Convention IV), to which the Hague Regulations are annexed, the provisions of the Hague
Regulations had become part of customary international law.
A/65/365
10-53226 5
international human rights instruments, Israel continues to bear responsibility for
implementing its human rights obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to the extent that it continues to
exercise jurisdiction in those territories.2 The Court also noted that Israel’s
obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights include “an obligation not to raise any obstacle to the exercise of such rights
in those fields where competence has been transferred to Palestinian authorities”
(A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 112).
III. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem
A. Overview
10. As indicated in the Secretary-General’s previous report to the General
Assembly (A/64/516), settlements remain an obstacle to peace and to the creation of
the future Palestinian state. The Government of Israel had committed itself, under
phase 1 of the road map, to freeze all settlement activity and to dismantle the
outposts erected since March 2001 (S/2003/529, annex). The commitment was
consistent with the recommendation contained in the report of the Sharm el-Sheikh
Fact-Finding Committee of 2001, which stated that Israel should freeze all
settlement activity, including the so-called “natural growth” of existing settlements,
and that the kind of security cooperation desired by Israel could not coexist with
settlement activity.
11. Despite the commitments made by the Government of Israel to cease
settlement activity and international calls to halt expansion, settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory continue to expand in violation of Israel’s obligations
under international humanitarian law. In a positive step on 25 November 2009,
Israel approved a 10-month moratorium on the construction of new settlements in
the West Bank.3 The moratorium did not, however, include those settlements for
which permits had already been issued and whose foundations had been laid, as well
as certain public buildings. Settlements in East Jerusalem, 2,500 apartments already
under construction, and 455 housing units whose construction was authorized in
September 2009 remained unaffected by the temporary halt.4 The moratorium was
further undermined by exceptions made by the Israeli Government authorizing the
__________________
2 An examination of the concluding observations of different United Nations treaty bodies
confirms this view. See A/HRC/8/17, para. 7; CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 5; CERD/C/ISR/CO/13,
para. 32; CRC/C/15/Add.195; CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 11; and A/60/38, part two,
paras. 221-268.
3 See the statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu on the Cabinet decision to suspend new
construction in Judea and Samaria, 25 November 2009, available at:
www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/EventsDiary/eventfreeze251109.htm.
4 See B’Tselem, By Hook and by Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank, July 2010,
available at: www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/201007_By_Hook_
and_by_Crook.asp.
A/65/365
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construction of 112 new units in Beitar Illit settlement, 84 new units in Modi’in Illit
and 89 units in Ma’ale Adumim.5 According to reports from Peace Now, as of
August 2010 at least 600 housing units had started construction during the
temporary moratorium, in over 60 different settlements.
12. By the end of 2009, approximately 301,200 settlers lived in the existing 121
official Israeli settlements in the West Bank.6 Almost 195,000 settlers lived in 12
settlements in East Jerusalem. Statistics published in The Jerusalem Post indicate
that in 2009 the settler population, excluding in East Jerusalem, grew by
4.9 per cent, a much faster rate than the general population in Israel (1.8 per cent).
The Israeli non-governmental organization B’Tselem reports that the three largest
settlements in the West Bank — Modi’in Illit, Betar Illit, and Ma’ale Adumim —
had expanded significantly from 2001 to 2009 and that the population growth in
those three settlements had been greater than the annual growth of the settler
population as a whole.
13. During the moratorium, the Government of Israel increased the number of
inspectors whose reports resulted in limiting some efforts by settlers to build.
However, according to B’Tselem, in April 2010, five months after the 10-month
moratorium began, the State Attorney’s Office informed the Israeli High Court of
Justice that, since the freeze had started, 423 files about illegal construction in the
settlements had been opened. The Government also informed the High Court of its
intention to legalize construction in the outposts of Derekh Ha’avot, Haresha, and
Hayovel and to enable the expropriation of additional land, some of which is
recognized by Israel as private Palestinian land.4
14. The Israeli Government continues to offer settlers a variety of benefits and
incentives primarily in the spheres of construction, housing, education, industry,
agriculture and tourism. These benefits are based on classification of the entire West
Bank as a national priority area entitled to benefits. The Government approved a
new decision in December 2009 to reclassify the national priority areas. Under the
new scheme, settlements continue to be automatically entitled to benefits granted by
the Government, whereas the granting of similar benefits to the Arab towns and
villages remains within the discretion of individual ministers.7
15. In addition to settlements, there are currently more than 100 settlement
outposts in the West Bank. Outposts are settlements built without official
authorization, but often with the support and assistance of governmental ministries.
As with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the outposts are
illegal under international humanitarian law. The outposts control some 16,000
dunam of land, of which 7,000 consist of private, Palestinian-owned land.4 Despite
an Israeli road map commitment to evacuate settlement outposts constructed since
March 2001, the Israeli Government has undertaken only the evacuation of some
non-residential structures in a very limited number of outposts. On 25 April 2010, as
__________________
5 See Peace Now, August report: eight months into the settlement freeze, 2 August 2010, available
at: www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=61&docid=4747.
6 See B’Tselem, By Hook and by Crook (citing provisional figures released by the Central Bureau
of Statistics, Israeli Statistical Yearbook 2009; these figures relate to settlements recognized by
the Ministry of Interior and do not include outposts).
7 See Adalah Position Paper, “On the Israeli Government’s New Decision Classifying Communities
as National Priority Areas”, `February 2010, available at: www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/
feb10/docs/english%20layout.pdf.
A/65/365
10-53226 7
reported by Haaretz, the Government informed the High Court of Justice that it had
decided to consider retroactively legalizing a West Bank outpost comprising
40 houses initially slated for demolition.
16. Israeli settlements, their infrastructure and the territory zoned for their
expansion have been identified as the single largest factor shaping the system of
access restrictions applied to the Palestinian population. The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that access restrictions to Palestinian
farmland in the vicinity of Israeli settlements located on the eastern (Palestinian)
side of the wall is widespread. While in some cases the restricted areas are
unilaterally established and enforced by the settlers, in other cases the Israeli
military erects fences around settlements, and declares the area behind the fence a
special security area, where access for Palestinian farmers requires prior
coordination with the Israeli Civil Administration.
17. The zoning regime applied by the Government of Israel in Area C, comprising
60 per cent of the West Bank, further benefits the establishment and growth of
settlements while denying the natural growth and development of Palestinian
communities. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
the zoning regime applied by Israel in Area C effectively prohibits Palestinian
construction in some 70 per cent of Area C, or approximately 44 per cent of the
West Bank, while in the remaining 30 per cent a range of restrictions make it
virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain a building permit. In practice, Israeli
authorities allow Palestinian construction only within the boundaries of an
Israeli-approved plan which covers less than one per cent of Area C, much of which
is already built up. As a result, Palestinians are left with no choice but to build
“illegally” and hence risk demolition and displacement, as reported by B’Tselem.
While the regime has heavily restricted Palestinian construction in Area C, including
almost the entirety of the Jordan Valley, it has favoured a range of parallel practices
in Israeli settlements.
B. Settlements in East Jerusalem
18. As indicated in the previous report of the Secretary-General (A/64/516),
Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem immediately after the 1967 war is a flagrant
violation of international law.8 Contrary to its obligations under international law,
Israel has constructed 12 settlements in East Jerusalem since its annexation, and the
settler population currently stands at approximately 195,000.9
__________________
8 Article 2, paragraph 4 of the Charter of the United Nations, the 1970 Declaration on Principles
of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations (General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), annex) and
Security Council resolution 242 (1967) which emphasized the inadmissibility of the acquisition
of territory by war; see also Security Council resolution 478 (1980) reiterating that Jerusalem is
occupied territory.
9 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Humanitarian Monitor, June 2010 explaining that the space for Palestinian construction
continues to shrink. As of June 2010, whereas 35 per cent of land (24.50 square km) was zoned
to be expropriated for Israeli settlements, merely 13 per cent (9.18 square km) was zoned for
Palestinian construction.
A/65/365
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19. As explained above, the 10-month moratorium announced by the Government
in November 2009 did not apply to East Jerusalem. Indeed, the Government of
Israel explicitly excluded East Jerusalem from the settlement restraint policy
through the announcement on 17 November 2009 of a plan to expand the settlement
of Gilo by approximately 900 housing units, as reported by Haaretz. There was an
unannounced cessation of the Israeli policy of demolitions and evictions in East
Jerusalem, which lasted for several months from the start of 2010 until mid-year.
Since that time, the expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem has continued, most
notably the plan to expand the settlement of Ramat Shlomo, followed by news of
two developments in Sheikh Jarrah: the issuance of building permits for a new
settlement at the site of Shepherd Hotel and plans for the new settlement of Shimon
Ha-Tzaddik nearby. In addition, there have been announcements of new tenders for
settlement construction in Neve Yaacov, Har Homa and Pisgat Zeev, and the
announcement of major plans to “redevelop” part of Silwan. On 29 July 2010 Israeli
settlers alleging ownership of a house in the Old City seized possession of a
building in the Muslim Quarter, inhabited by 56 Palestinians, evicting 49
Palestinians including 29 children and eight refugees registered with the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
20. During the reporting period, the Government of Israel implemented a number
of other policies, the purpose of which appears to be an effort to maintain a certain
Jewish-Arab demographic balance in Jerusalem, as part of a long-articulated policy.
In particular, the policies of the Government of Israel regarding urban planning in
East Jerusalem, the dispensing of building permits and the demolition of homes
built without permits continue to have discriminatory impacts on the Palestinian
residents of East Jerusalem.10 For instance, in June 2010, the Jerusalem Local
Planning Committee approved a development plan for the Al-Bustan area of Silwan
neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. The plan would lead to the demolition of more
than 40 Palestinian buildings to make way for recreational areas and various
commercial and residential structures. Some 500 Palestinians would be displaced as
a result of this plan, according to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
21. Hundreds of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East
Jerusalem remain at risk of displacement as a result of efforts by settler
organizations to have them evicted from their homes in order to make way for a new
settlement. Since November 2008, a total of 56 people, including 20 children, have
been evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. In addition, a part of the home of a
family of 12 was taken over by settlers, accompanied by Israeli police, in December
2009, following the issuance of a court order authorizing the settlers to take
possession of the uninhabited section of the house. The Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 475 Palestinians are at risk of forced
__________________
10 For example, the land available for Palestinians in East Jerusalem for the construction of houses
is a mere 9.8 per cent of East Jerusalem, much of which is already built up. There are also
difficulties that hinder Palestinians from obtaining permits. Also, the density, known as the plot
ratio, permitted is half, or in some cases much less than half, that found in neighbouring Israeli
settlements in East Jerusalem, or in West Jerusalem, thus limiting the possibility of housing for
Palestinians. Between 1996 and 2000, for example, the number of recorded building violations
was four and half times higher in Israeli areas (17,382 violations) than in the Palestinian areas of
East Jerusalem (3,847 violations).
A/65/365
10-53226 9
eviction, dispossession and displacement due to plans for settlement construction in
Sheikh Jarrah.
22. Furthermore, the revocation of residency and social benefits of Palestinian
residents who stay abroad for a continuous period of seven years or are unable to
prove that they reside in East Jerusalem are discriminatory and appear to be aimed
at ensuring that Palestinians leave the city.11 According to the information released
at the end of 2009 by the Israeli Ministry of Interior and as reported by the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during 2008 the Ministry revoked the
residency status of 4,577 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, including 99
children, denying them their right to reside or even enter East Jerusalem. This figure
constitutes more than half the number of revocations recorded between 1967 and
2007 and represents a sharp increase compared to the number of residency
revocations executed by the Ministry in previous years: 289 in 2007, 1,363 in 2006,
and 222 in 2005. Similar figures regarding 2009 are currently unavailable. Once the
residency is revoked, people lose their right to enter or reside in East Jerusalem, as
well as the rights to register their children as residents or receive social benefits.
23. Finally, the Government of Israel has been planning to construct a new
settlement between Ma’ale Adumim (a large settlement 14 kilometres east of
Jerusalem, housing approximately 34,600 people) and East Jerusalem, the
implementation of which would connect the two areas and cut off East Jerusalem
from the rest of the West Bank. The proposed settlement (commonly known as the
E-1, for “East 1” plan) consists of around 3,500 housing units, for approximately
15,000 people, commercial areas and tourism buildings. According to B’Tselem and
Bimkom, this would entail expulsion of Jahalin Bedouins, who live a traditional
semi-nomadic life in the area. Although the neighbourhood has not been built yet,
Israel has already built the new Samaria and Judea (West Bank) Police District
Headquarters there. While constructing the police headquarters, Israel paved roads
and built infrastructure to serve hundreds of planned housing units and splitting the
West Bank in two.
IV. Israeli settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
24. Violent acts by settlers against the Palestinian population of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory continued. Data compiled by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs indicates that settler-related incidents, including violence
committed by settlers against Palestinians and their property as well as incidents of
trespassing, have increased significantly over recent years. From September 2009 to
August 2010, the Office documented 283 such incidents. In the first eight months of
2010, 168 incidents of settler violence were recorded, compared to 92 incidents
reported in the same period last year, indicating a dramatic increase in Israeli settler
violence. Settler attacks during the reporting period included arson attacks on
mosques, vandalizing olive trees, arson attacks on agricultural fields, killing
livestock and assaulting Palestinian villagers, including children, living near
settlements.
25. As recorded by the Office, settler harassment along with obstacles erected by
settlers significantly impaired the access of Palestinian farmers to agricultural lands
__________________
11 See A/HRC/13/54 and CERD/C/ISR/CO/13.
A/65/365
10 10-53226
located in the vicinity of settlements, hence undermining the livelihood of dozens of
families. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, in conjunction with Palestinian
farmers from the villages of Jaba’ and Silwad (West Bank), petitioned the Israeli
High Court of Justice in November and December 2009, alleging that the Israeli
authorities had failed to enforce the law on Israeli settlers who illegally prevent the
access of Palestinian farmers to agricultural land located in the vicinity of,
respectively, the Geva Binyamin and Ofra settlements. In both cases, the Palestinian
owners have been unable to access the areas since 2000 owing to violence,
harassment and intimidation at the hands of the settlers, who have fenced off and
deployed attack dogs on part of the land.
26. Incidents of settler violence and harassment continued to disrupt the education
of children in the West Bank. Since the beginning of 2010, the United Nations
Children’s Fund has reported one act of vandalism of a West Bank school by Israeli
settlers. Settlers continue to attack the children on their journey to and from school.
In particular, in the village of Al-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, since 2001,
Israeli settlers from Havat Ma'on outpost have routinely attacked the children as
they walked to or returned from school. In November 2004, Israeli authorities
established a daily military escort. However, the soldiers have at times failed to
provide a consistent escort for the children by not walking with them along the path
in some cases, have at times refused to complete the escort until the end of the
settlement and have forced the children to run. During the last school year, soldiers
frequently arrived late, causing the children to wait, sometimes for hours, before and
after school. As a result, during the 2009-2010 school year, the children have been
victims of violence by settlers 19 times, missed almost 27 hours of school, and
waited a total of 53 hours for military escort after school.
27. Many of the incidents of settler violence during the reporting period occurred
in the context of a new pattern of violence, named by Israeli settlers as the “price
tag” strategy by which Israeli settlers exact retribution on Palestinian villagers and
their property in response to attempts by the Israeli authorities to dismantle
unauthorized outposts in the West Bank.3 The overall objective of the strategy is to
deter the Israeli authorities from evacuating the outposts, enforcing the partial
restraint policy or acting against what is perceived as the settlers’ interests. It has at
the same time contributed to displacement, temporary or permanent, of entire
Palestinian communities. The following few examples recorded by the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which occurred during the reporting period,
while not exhaustive, are illustrative of the phenomenon.
28. On 9 September 2009, Israeli forces removed the small outpost of Givat
Hadegel in southeast Hebron. Immediately afterwards, a group of over 10 Israeli
settlers from the Suseya settlement entered the neighbouring Palestinian village of
Susiya, hurled stones and physically assaulted a group of Palestinians. Fifteen
members of one family, including three men, two women and 10 children were
injured. No settlers were arrested by Israeli authorities. The outpost was rebuilt the
same night.
29. In October 2009, in Kafr Qaddum village in Qalqiliya district, settlers from the
Mitzpe Ami outpost burned 250 olive trees following evacuation of the outpost by
the Israeli authorities.
30. On 16 April 2010, two Palestinian cars in the northern West Bank village of
Hawara were torched, and “price tag” was scrawled on one of the cars. Two days
A/65/365
10-53226 11
before the incident, settlers had vandalized a mosque in the Hawara and sprayed
graffiti on its walls. Three cars belonging to Palestinians were torched around the
same time.
31. The Israeli security forces have repeatedly failed to intervene and stop settler
attacks on Palestinian civilians or arrest suspected settlers on the spot. While some
efforts have been made to enforce the law on settlers involved in high-profile
attacks on Palestinians and their property, generally the absence of accountability of
Israeli settlers who perpetrate attacks against Palestinians further contributes to the
continued cycle of violence. Israeli security forces apprehended two settlers alleged
to have been involved in fatal attacks on Palestinians and these settlers are now
being charged and tried in court. As the occupying Power, Israel is responsible
under international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and the Hague
Regulations, for ensuring public order and safety in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, as well as for the protection of the civilian population from any threat or
act of violence.
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
32. As indicated in the previous report of the Secretary-General, the estimated
Israeli population in the occupied Syrian Golan is between 17,000 and 21,000.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 6,400 are living in the
town of Katzrin and the rest dispersed among 32 small settlements that extend over
the majority of the Golan Heights. Since the occupation of the Syrian Golan in
1967, the Government of Israel has continued its settlement expansion, despite
renewed General Assembly resolutions, including 63/99 and 64/95, calling upon
Israel to refrain from doing so. Settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan is
ongoing.
VI. The wall
33. The wall, with its gate and permit regime, continued to be the single greatest
obstacle to Palestinian movement within the West Bank, including to and from
Jerusalem. During the reporting period, construction of the wall focused on certain
areas around Jerusalem and Bethlehem and some re-routings to implement rulings
of the Israeli High Court of Justice. As of July 2010, approximately 60 per cent of
the wall was complete and 85 per cent of its entire route ran inside the West Bank.
The total area located between the wall and the Green Line constituted 9.5 per cent
of the West Bank. This area includes the “seam zone”, in which Palestinians must
request permits from the Israeli authorities in order to access their agricultural land
and water resources, and where access to health care and education is limited.12 The
protection of Israeli settlements, including areas planned for their future expansion,
__________________
12 The Human Rights Committee, in its consideration of the report submitted by Israel, urged
Israel to stop the construction of a “seam zone” by means of a wall, seriously impeding the
rights to freedom of movement and to family life. Concluding Observations, Human Rights
Committee, Israel, 29 July 2010 (CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3).
A/65/365
12 10-53226
constitutes the major reason behind the deviation of the wall’s route from the Green
Line.13
VII. Recommendations
34. The Government of Israel should abide by its international legal
obligations and its pre-existing commitments as stated in the road map, as well
as the repeated calls of the international community, namely, to cease
transferring its civilian population into settlements, immediately and
completely freeze all settlement activities, including in occupied East
Jerusalem, and immediately dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.
35. The Government of Israel should immediately cease demolitions in Area C
and adopt measures that will ensure that Palestinian planning and development
needs are met.
36. The Government of Israel should cease to plan and implement policies,
such as those regarding urban planning in East Jerusalem, the dispensing of
building permits, and the demolition of homes constructed without permits,
that alter the character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
37. The Government of Israel must, in line with its obligations under
international law, adopt all necessary measures to prevent attacks by Israeli
settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property; ensure that Israeli
security forces are properly instructed to protect Palestinian civilians from
settler violence; and ensure that there is no impunity for crimes committed by
Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and that redress is provided to the
victims of such crimes.
38. The Government of Israel should take immediate action to fully comply
with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal
Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
namely, to cease construction of the wall, including in and around East
Jerusalem, and to dismantle or re-route the constructed section to the Green
Line.
39. The General Assembly and the international community should vigorously
promote the implementation of its decisions, resolutions and recommendations
and those of the Security Council, the International Court of Justice and the
United Nations human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies and special
procedure mandate holders.
__________________
13 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
West Bank Movement and Access update, June 2010, available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/
documents/ocha_opt_movement_access_2010_06_16_english.pdf.
United Nations A/66/364
General Assembly Distr.: General
16 September 2011
Original: English
11-50103 (E) 300911
*1150103*
Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 53
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 65/104,
in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at
its sixty-sixth session on the implementation of the resolution. The period covered by
the report is September 2010 to July 2011. The report should be read in conjunction
with the previous reports of the Secretary-General on Israeli settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian
Golan (A/65/365, A/64/516 and A/63/519).
The report addresses the continuation of Israeli settlement construction in
occupied Arab territories and its impact on the human rights of the residents,
including violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property and the
lack of accountability for settler violence.
A/66/364
2 11-50103
Contents
Page
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. Legal background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. Discriminatory practices underlying Israeli settlement expansion and law enforcement in the
West Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A. Expansion of settlements and restrictions on Palestinian construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
B. House demolitions and discriminatory planning and enforcement policies in the West
Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
C. Settler violence and discrimination in law enforcement in the West Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
IV. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
V. Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A/66/364
11-50103 3
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 65/104, the General Assembly expressed grave concern about
the continuation by Israel, the occupying Power, of settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in violation of
international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, agreements
reached between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map. The
General Assembly also expressed its grave concern about the rising incidents of
violence, harassment, provocation and incitement by armed Israeli settlers in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian
civilians, including children, and their properties. The General Assembly reaffirmed
that settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian
Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development.
2. In the same resolution, the General Assembly called upon Israel to strictly
comply with its obligations under international law, including international
humanitarian law, with respect to the alteration of the character, status and
demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem. It reiterated its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, and for the full implementation
of all relevant resolutions of the Security Council. The General Assembly reiterated
its call for the prevention of all acts of violence and harassment by Israeli settlers,
especially against Palestinian civilians and their properties, and for the
implementation of Security Council resolution 904 (1994), in which the Council
called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the
Palestinian civilians in the occupied territory.
3. The present report, as requested in resolution 65/104, addresses progress made
in the implementation of the resolution. The report should be read in conjunction
with the previous reports of the Secretary-General on Israeli settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan (A/65/365, A/64/516
and A/63/519). The previous reports provided a historical background on the issue
of Israeli settlements, as well as updates on settlement construction and highlighted
emerging concerns, including the confiscation of land, the wall, the bypass and
prohibited roads and checkpoints. Other relevant issues referred to in the resolution
are also covered by the report of the Secretary-General on Israeli practices affecting
the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
pursuant to General Assembly resolution 65/105 (A/66/356), including the
continued construction of the barrier and the situation of Bedouin communities.
4. The present report provides updated information regarding the expansion of
Israeli settlements in the occupied territory. It seeks to underscore the discriminatory
nature of the Israeli policy and practice of promoting settlements in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. While illegal settlement expansion continues to take place
in the West Bank, restrictions on Palestinian construction and the demolition of
Palestinian homes have been on the rise. The report also addresses settlers’ violent
acts against Palestinians and their properties during the reporting period and the
discriminatory treatment of Israeli settlers and Palestinians in law enforcement. The
involvement of Israel Defense Forces in acts of violence, either through their
participation or inaction to prevent the acts, is discussed as a growing concern. It is
important to note that the present report is not an exhaustive overview of all
A/66/364
4 11-50103
instances of discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied territory and, rather,
is limited to those involving settlements and settlers.
II. Legal background
5. The most relevant international humanitarian law standards concerning Israel’s
responsibilities in the occupied territory are set out in the Fourth Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and in the
Hague Regulations, which are recognized as part of customary international law.1
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits an occupying
Power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory. Israel’s
continued settlement activities flagrantly violate this provision, as confirmed by the
International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of
the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A number of
United Nations resolutions, including General Assembly resolution 65/104, have
confirmed that conclusion. In addition to the construction of the settlements
themselves, other settlement-related activities, such as the confiscation of land,
destruction of houses and orchards, the construction of roads for Israeli settlers only
and the exploitation of natural resources within the occupied territory and altering
the character and status of the occupied territory, are also prohibited by international
law.
6. In addition to those provisions of international humanitarian law, Israel has
obligations under the international human rights treaties it has ratified, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women. In its advisory opinion on the wall, the
International Court of Justice affirmed that the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were applicable in respect of
acts carried out by Israel in the occupied territory.2 Similarly, a number of United
Nations human rights treaty bodies also reaffirm that as a party to international
__________________
1 In its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory of 2004 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), the International Court of Justice
concluded that the Fourth Geneva Convention was applicable in the Palestinian territories which
before the 1967 conflict, lay to the east of the Green Line and which, during that conflict, were
occupied by Israel. Since then a significant number of the United Nations resolutions have
reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the most recent being Human
Rights Council resolutions S-9/1, 10/18 and 13/7 and General Assembly resolutions 63/96,
63/97, 63/201, 64/93 and 65/103. In its advisory opinion, the Court recalled that while Israel
was not a party to the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of
18 October 1907 (Convention IV), to which the Hague Regulations are annexed, the provisions
of the Hague Regulations had become part of customary international law.
2 See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 102-113.
A/66/364
11-50103 5
human rights instruments, Israel continues to bear responsibility for implementing
its human rights obligations in the occupied territory.3
III. Discriminatory practices underlying Israeli settlement
expansion and law enforcement in the West Bank
7. Israeli settlement policies and practices, namely construction of settlements,
land confiscation, zoning and planning regime, forced evictions and demolitions,
and the preferential treatment of settlers perpetrating violent acts against
Palestinians, are discriminatory and violate Israel’s international human rights
obligations.4 Such policies cause tremendous hardship for Palestinians, while
providing generous benefits and infrastructure for Israeli settlements. Such
differential treatment lacks any security rationale and is solely based on national
origin. In its consideration of Israel in July 2010, the Human Rights Committee
concluded that Israel was in violation of articles 2 and 26 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, non-discrimination and equality before the
law and equal protection of the law, in its treatment of the Palestinian population of
the occupied territory, including the Bedouins. Specifically, the Committee
concluded that Israel’s policy and practice of demolition, zoning and planning
(particularly in Area C and East Jerusalem), access to water and sanitation for
Palestinians, and forced eviction of the Bedouin population are discriminatory.5
A. Expansion of settlements and restrictions on Palestinian construction
8. Despite the repeated calls from the international community and the illegality
of settlements, the State of Israel is continuing to expand settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in violation of its
international legal obligations. The expansion of Israeli settlements throughout the
West Bank is associated with a complex system of policies that negatively affect the
rights of Palestinians. Severe restrictions in place specifically target Palestinian
construction and, in addition to the perpetuation of violations, are blatantly
discriminatory.
9. During the reporting period, settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, continued to expand. The most recent figures available
indicate that 296,586 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, not including those in
East Jerusalem, in at least 123 settlements and approximately 100 “outposts”6
__________________
3 An examination of the concluding observations of different United Nations treaty bodies
confirms this view. See CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 5; CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, para. 32;
CRC/C/15/Add.195; CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 11.
4 See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 2 (1) and 26; International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, arts. 2 (2) and 3; International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, arts. 1 (1), 2 (1), 3 and 5; Convention
on the Rights of the Child, arts. 2 and 30.
5 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3.
6 The term “outpost” refers to Israeli settlements that have not been authorized by Israeli
authorities. Notwithstanding their status under Israeli law, it should be noted that all Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are contrary to international law.
A/66/364
6 11-50103
scattered throughout the West Bank.7 In East Jerusalem, 50,000 residential units in
at least 12 Israeli settlements are occupied by almost 192,000 Israeli settlers.8 That
brings the total number of settlers living in Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory to nearly half a million. Immediately after the end of the
10-month partial moratorium on settlement construction in September 2010, Israeli
settlement activities resumed in the West Bank.9 That included approval and
construction of hundreds of new housing units in various settlements as well as
confiscation and clearing of Palestinian-owned land in preparation for settlement
expansion.10 An interim report published by the Israeli non-governmental
organization Peace Now in May 2011 indicated that, immediately after the end of
the partial moratorium, Israeli settlers started the construction of 2,000 previously
approved housing units in 75 different settlements and “outposts”, one third of them
in settlements east of the barrier. Meanwhile, the Israeli Government approved the
planning and marketing of at least 800 new units in 13 settlements.11 Peace Now
has also documented a dramatic increase in the number of new illegal buildings in
the settlements since the end of the partial moratorium. In most cases the
construction is proceeding according to plans that were never approved by the
Israeli Minister of Defense. At least 507 unapproved housing units are currently
being built in 29 settlements (9 of which are “outposts”, where there are 35
unapproved structures under construction).12 In July 2011, Israel revealed plans for
construction of 900 new housing units in East Jerusalem.13 The Israeli Government
continued to promote settlement expansion through a variety of benefits and
incentives offered to settlers in spheres of construction, housing, education,
industry, agriculture and tourism. Recent public statements by senior Israeli officials
__________________
7 Peace Now, West Bank and Jerusalem Map, “The Settlements: the Biggest Threat to a Two-State
Solution”, January 2011, available from http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/west-bank-andjerusalemmap
2011.
8 Ibid.
9 The moratorium did not apply to those settlements for which permits had already been issued
and whose foundations had been laid as well as certain public buildings. Settlements in East
Jerusalem, 2,500 apartments already under construction, and 455 housing units whose
construction was authorized in September 2009 remained unaffected by the moratorium (see
A/65/365).
10 On 30 June 2011, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the
Israeli forces handed over an order for declaring 189 dunums as State land in the village of
Qaryut (Nablus). The order gives the opportunity for objection during 45 days of distributing the
order. According to the village council, about 30 farmers own the land (see Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Protection of Civilians
Weekly Report”, 29 June-5 July 2011, available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_
protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2011_07_08_english.pdf). For a detailed description of
the process through which land is confiscated, see report by B’Tselem, Land Grab: Israel’s
Settlement Policy in the West Bank (May 2002), available from www.btselem.org/
download/200205_land_grab_eng.pdf (chapter III). See also B’Tselem, “Yovel Outpost: Israel
retroactively approves theft of private land” (14 July 2011), available from www.btselem.org/
topic-page/14-july-11-yovel-outpost-israel-retroactively-approves-theft-private-land.
11 Peace Now, “Interim Report: Settlement Activity since the End of the Moratorium” (20 May
2011), available from http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/interim-report-settlement-activity-endmoratorium-
0.
12 Ibid.
13 The Palestine Telegraph, “Israel to construct 900 housing units in Jerusalem” (5 July 2011),
available from www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9559-israel-to-construct-900-
housing-units-in-jerusalem.html.
A/66/364
11-50103 7
are indicative of the Government’s intention to continue expanding settlements in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.14
B. House demolitions and discriminatory planning and enforcement
policies in the West Bank
10. While Israeli settlements expand, Israel has continued to impose restrictions
on land allocation and planning for Palestinian construction. Israel’s discriminatory
planning restrictions result in the lack of building permits for the Palestinian
population in the West Bank forcing them to build without permits and live under
the constant threat of eviction and demolition. The Human Rights Committee, in its
consideration of Israel, concluded that the planning systems in the West Bank,
particularly in Area C and in East Jerusalem, are discriminatory and that they
disproportionately favour the Israeli population of those areas.15
11. There was a sharp increase during the reporting period in demolition of
Palestinian structures by Israeli authorities.16 Between August 2010 and June 2011,
the Israeli authorities demolished 149 residences in Area C of the West Bank,
displacing 820 people, including 374 children. Another 23 residences were
demolished in East Jerusalem during the same period, displacing 117 persons,
including 64 children. Estimates indicate that at least 2,000 Palestinian homes have
been demolished since 1967.17 Demolitions are exercised mostly against Palestinian
structures. Moreover, in many cases, demolitions of Palestinian homes are
frequently linked to settlement expansion. Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs-Occupied Palestinian Territory reports that settlement
developments in the Jordan Valley accounted for half of the structures demolished
through June 2011.18
12. Israel’s discriminatory planning policy has severely and negatively impacted
the development and growth of Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank. In
__________________
14 See e.g., “Lieberman rules out settlement freeze, ‘even for three hours’”, Haaretz, 10 May 2011,
available at http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense; France 24, “Israeli Defence
Minister Ehud Barak Talks to FRANCE 24”, 17 June 2011, available from
www.france24.com/en/20110617-ehud-barak-talks-france-24-annette-young-israel-palestinianssettlements-
peace-process; see also Peace Now, “Interim Report: Settlement Activity Since the
End of the Moratorium” (see footnote 11); Ynet news, “PM to victims’ family: They murder, we
build”, 13 March 2011, available at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4041757,00.html.
15 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 17.
16 B’Tselem, “Planning and building: Israel demolishes dozens of Palestinian homes in Jordan
Valley and southern Hebron Hills”, 21 June 2011, available at http://www.btselem.org/topicpage/
21611-israel-demolishes-dozens-palestinian-homes-jordan-valley-and-southern-hebronhills.
17 International Peace and Cooperation Centre, 2007, Jerusalem Strategic Planning Series —
Jerusalem on the Map III.
18 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, The
Monthly Humanitarian Monitor, June 2011, available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/
ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2011_07_20_english.pdf.
B’Tselem reports that by the end of 2010, the Israeli Government had approved funding for the
construction of dozens of housing units in two settlements in the northern Jordan Valley close to
the sites of three demolitions in 2011 (Ein al-Hilwa, Hammamat al-Maleh al-Maiteh and
al-Farisiya). B’Tselem Dispossession and Exploitation: Israel’s Policy in the Jordan Valley and
Northern Dead Sea (May 2011).
A/66/364
8 11-50103
addition, as a result of discriminatory enforcement practices, house demolitions
exercised exclusively against Palestinians have displaced thousands of families,
while neglecting to enforce the planning laws on Israeli settlers.
1. East Jerusalem
13. Since 1967 and the occupation of East Jerusalem, more than one third of East
Jerusalem has been expropriated for the construction of Israeli settlements. Israeli
authorities have since planned and zoned only 13 per cent of East Jerusalem — most
of which is already built up — for Palestinian construction. Even in those areas,
Palestinians need to go through a complicated and costly process to obtain an Israeli
building permit. The remainder of East Jerusalem has been designated as a “green
area”, where construction is not allowed, or has been designated for public
infrastructure or has not yet been zoned, meaning that Palestinians are not able build
on it.19
14. A myriad of requirements needs to be fulfilled before a building permit is
granted to Palestinians in East Jerusalem. They include the availability of an
approved plan of the area and the existence of adequate private infrastructure, the
responsibility for which lies with the Israeli municipal authorities. While the
requirements are similar for construction in West Jerusalem, underinvestment by the
Jerusalem Municipality in public infrastructure and the inequitable allocation of
budgetary resources in East Jerusalem make obtaining a building permit virtually
impossible for Palestinians wishing to build on land they own.20 With respect to the
provision of services and infrastructure by the Jerusalem Municipality to the
Palestinian population, non-governmental organizations describe a blatant neglect of
services and infrastructure, deficient sanitation services and dilapidated sewage and
drainage infrastructures20 hindering any prospects for meeting the Israeli set criteria
to grant building permits. For instance, despite being entitled to the same services as
Israeli citizens, at least 160,000 out of the 300,000 Palestinian residents of East
Jerusalem are not connected to the municipal water supply.20
15. The application cost for building permits is prohibitive for many Palestinians,
and the process can take several years with no guarantee that a permit will be
granted. The Jerusalem Municipality explained to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs that between 2003 and 2007 between 100 and 150 permits
were granted each year allowing for the construction of 400 housing units per year.
During 2006 and 2010 the trend remained the same. Only 55 per cent of permits
were approved, providing for an average of about 400 housing units per year.21
__________________
19 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, East
Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns (Special Focus: March 2011).
20 The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Facts and Figures about East Jerusalem available
from www.acri.org.il/en/?p=500.
21 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, see
footnote 17. It is important to note that the application fee is the same for Palestinians and
Israelis in Jerusalem. However, Palestinian construction is generally small-scale, carried out by
an individual or a small group of families, with limited resources, rather than the larger-scale
housing projects typical of West Jerusalem or of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. As a
result, there are fewer people to share the permit costs. Furthermore, because of the manner in
which fees are structured, applications for permits for smaller buildings (typical of East
Jerusalem) have higher per square-metre fees than larger buildings.
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However, the growth of the Palestinian population of Jerusalem requires the
construction of 1,500 units each year.22
16. The above factors result in a situation where Palestinians are forced to build
without official permits and subsequently face the risk of demolition, heavy
financial fines and displacement.23 The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs estimates that 32 per cent of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem were built
without the required Israeli permit, putting at least 86,500 Palestinians at risk of
displacement, should the Israeli authorities decide to demolish all “illegal”
structures.24 Official figures suggest that the majority of illegal construction is
carried out in Israeli neighbourhoods (80 per cent) rather than in the Palestinian
neighbourhoods of Jerusalem (20 per cent). Yet, the percentage of enforcement
action is reversed, with the Israeli authorities taking action against the Palestinian
“violations” in 80 per cent of the cases and against only 20 per cent of the violations
in Israeli neighbourhoods.25
17. When the Jerusalem Municipality notices unauthorized construction, the owner
must pay steep fines and still risk the demolition of the home. In a case documented
by UNRWA, a Palestinian refugee was forced to demolish his own house at the end
of a long battle with the Israeli legal system. Since completing construction of his
house in 1999, Mahmoud Aramin had been heavily fined and twice sentenced to
community service because he lacked the required Israeli building permits, which he
had unsuccessfully sought to obtain. In February 2011, after months of having to
pay heavy fines to the Jerusalem Municipality, an Israeli court warned Mahmoud
Aramin that if he did not demolish the house himself, the Jerusalem Municipality
would carry out the demolition, in which case Mahmoud Aramin would not only
have to pay an exorbitant fine but would also have to cover the costs incurred by the
Municipality for undertaking the demolition. Mahmoud Aramin consequently
demolished his house on 28 May 2011, thereby displacing his brother, who resided
in the house, the brother’s wife and their daughter. The forced demolition came just
days after the Israeli authorities authorized the construction of a 50-unit Jewish
settlement in the Ras al-Amoud neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, near the home of
Mahmoud Aramin.
18. Plans of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem for the demolition of Palestinian
structures in East Jerusalem demonstrate the link between the policy of demolition
and that of settlement expansion in the city. Not only do policies and practices of
zoning and planning make it virtually impossible for Palestinians to build to meet
the natural growth of their communities, contrary to what is accorded to Israeli
__________________
22 Ir Amim, A Layman’s Guide to Home Demolitions in East Jerusalem, March 2009, p. 4,
available from www.ir-amim.org.il/Eng/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/HomeDemolition
GuideEng(1).doc.
23 See footnote 19 (explaining in detail the phenomenon of illegal construction). See also
A Layman’s Guide.
24 See East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns, p. 36 (explaining that the figure is
conservative and the percentage could be as high as 48 per cent, with 130,000 potentially at risk
of displacement).
25 Americans for Peace Now, Settlements in Focus, March 2006, available from
http://peacenow.org/entries/archive2292.
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settler communities,26 but demolition of Palestinian structures built without permits
is at times followed by building new or expanding existing Israeli settlements. In a
recent example, the historical Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah was demolished in
January 2011 to make way for the construction of a new Israeli settlement.27 In
Silwan, nearly 1,000 Palestinians are at risk of being displaced due to
Municipality’s plans for demolition of their homes, which were built without Israeli
permits, to make way for a “biblical park”.28
2. Area C
19. The Government of Israel applies a zoning regime in Area C, comprising 60
per cent of the West Bank, which further benefits the establishment and growth of
settlements while denying the natural growth and development of Palestinian
communities. It effectively prohibits Palestinian construction in some 70 per cent of
Area C, approximately 44 per cent of the West Bank, allocated for the use of Israeli
settlements or the Israeli military.29 In the remaining 30 per cent a range of
restrictions make it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain a building permit
for any building of homes or infrastructure like water pipes or electrical lines. In
practice, Israeli authorities allow Palestinians to build only within the boundaries of
a plan approved by the Israeli Civil Administration, which covers less than 1 per
cent of Area C, much of which is already built up. As a result, Palestinians are
forced to build without Israeli building permits, risking the demolition of their
structures and subsequent displacement. From 1998 to 2009, approximately 2,450
Palestinian structures in Area C were demolished by the Israeli authorities for lack
of building permits.30 In addition to zoning and demolitions, Israeli authorities have
practically prohibited Palestinians from having any access to the Jordan River
through drilling wells to service settlements that have dried up Palestinians’ water
sources, cutting Palestinian water lines, and confiscating Palestinian water tankers,
tractors, sheep, and other property.31 During the period from August 2010 through
June 2011, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded that the
Israeli authorities demolished 149 Palestinian residences in Area C of the West
Bank, displacing 820 people, including 374 children. The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also reports a marked increase in the
__________________
26 The Jerusalem Municipality master plan known as “Local Outline Plan 2000” — although not
formally adopted, is in force de facto in Jerusalem — further allows limited housing
opportunities for Palestinian residents yet adding 5,000 dunums (or 5 km2) for the expansion of
Israeli settlements (see Settlements in Focus).
27 Ir Amim, “Israeli settlement slated to replace the Shepherd Hotel can still be thwarted”,
available at: http://www.ir-amim.org.il/Eng/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/news.htm.
28 East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns.
29 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Restricting
Space: The Planning Regime Applied by Israel in Area C of the West Bank” (Special Focus:
December 2009) available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/special_focus_area_c_
demolitions.december_2009.pdf. See also Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory, “‘Lack of Permit’ Demolitions and Resultant Displacement in
Area C” (Special Focus: May 2008) available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/
Demolitions_in_Area_C_May_2008_English.pdf.
30 Information released by the Israeli State Attorney’s Office in December 2009 and reported by
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory in
Restricting Space.
31 Human Rights Watch, “Separate and Unequal”, www.hrw.org/reports/2010/12/19/separate-andunequal.
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demolition of Palestinian structures.32 In the first half of 2011, 342 Palestinianowned
structures, including 125 residential structures and 20 rainwater collection
cisterns, were demolished by the Israeli authorities. A total of 656 people, including
351 children, lost their homes in the first half of 2011, almost five times more than
within the same period last year. One third of these people were displaced in June
2011 alone. Over 3,000 demolition orders are outstanding, including 18 targeting
schools.32 Most demolitions in 2011 affected livelihood structures, negatively
affecting the sources of income and living standards of some 1,300 people.32 Many
communities in Area C have suffered multiple waves of demolitions.32
20. While Israeli authorities have heavily restricted Palestinian construction in
Area C, they have established preferential practices for Israeli settlements and
“outposts”. Although they have failed to sufficiently plan for Palestinian villages in
Area C, they have approved detailed plans for almost all Israeli settlements located
in the West Bank.33 The planned expansion area of about 135 Israeli settlements in
Area C is nine times larger than their built-up area.34 Moreover, while Israeli
authorities act assertively against Palestinian violators of the planning system, they
fail to take action against unapproved construction in settlements. According to the
Israeli State Comptroller, more than 2,100 cases of unapproved construction in the
settlements were brought to the attention of authorities and no action was taken in
77 to 92 per cent of the cases.35 While the Israeli authorities have not allowed
Palestinian communities to participate in the preparation of plans, the approval
process or the issuance of building permits,36 Israeli settlers participate fully in
planning and zoning activities and are generally responsible for enforcement
activities within settlement areas.37 Further, settlers in Area C receive significant
state support.38
__________________
32 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Humanitarian Factsheet on Area C of the West Bank, July 2011, see http://ochaopt.org/
documents/ocha_opt_Area_C_Fact_Sheet_July_2011.pdf.
33 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Khirbet Tana: Large-scale demolitions for
the third time in just over a year” (February 2011); available at www.ochaopt.org/documents/
ocha_opt_Khirbet_tana-fact_sheet_20110210.english.pdf.
34 Humanitarian Factsheet on Area C of the West Bank.
35 See B’Tselem, By Hook and by Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank, July 2010,
available at http://btselem.org/publications/summaries/201007_by_hook_and_by_crook.
36 Planning and construction in Area C is governed by the 1966 Jordanian Planning Law, as
modified by an Israeli military order signed in 1971, Order Concerning Towns, Villages and
Buildings Planning Law (Judea and Samaria) (No. 418). The military order nullified a number
of provisions that allowed for community participation in the planning and zoning process. For
example, under the 1966 Jordanian Law, Local Planning Committees had authority for planning
over specific areas, prepared outline and detailed plans, and issued building permits in
accordance with approved plans. Israeli military orders, however, annulled these committees for
Palestinian villages. These functions are now performed by the Israeli Civil Administration’s
Local Planning and Licensing Sub-Committee, with no Palestinian representation.
37 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Restricting
Space”.
38 For example in December 2009 the Israeli Knesset approved adding settlements in the Jordan
Valley to a list of “national priority” communities that would receive, on average, $260 per
person in subsidies for education, employment and culture. It is noted that the Jordan Valley
comprises almost half of Area C. See also Human Rights Watch, “Separate and unequal”,
December 2010.
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C. Settler violence and discrimination in law enforcement in the
West Bank
21. Acts of violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their
properties continue to threaten the livelihood and security of Palestinians in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Many of these incidents have been overtly
violent acts targeting Palestinian individuals and communities with live
ammunition, destruction and denial of access to property, physical assault and the
throwing of stones. Some incidents have led to the killing and injury of Palestinians.
The incidents in most cases appear to aim at intimidating the Palestinian population
and asserting “settler dominance” over specific geographic locations.39 Many
incidents of settler violence occur as part of the so-called “price tag” strategy,
whereby Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and Israeli security forces in response to
Israeli authorities’ attempts to evacuate settlement “outposts”. From September
2010 to May 2011, 5 deaths (including three children) and more than 270 cases of
injury of Palestinians by Israeli settlers were recorded.40
22. As reported in the Secretary-General’s previous report, lack of accountability
for Israeli settlers persists. In 1981, an Israeli government committee headed by then
Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp was appointed by the Attorney-General to
look into law enforcement in the West Bank, in particular to examine the
investigation of offences committed by Israeli civilians against Palestinians. The
committee’s report (Karp Report) highlighted serious concerns with law
enforcement against Israeli civilians in the West Bank. First, the police launched
investigations only where a complaint was filed — although, as the report noted,
Palestinians often refrain from filing a complaint owing to concern for their safety
or for lack of confidence in the Israeli law enforcement system. The closure of
investigation on the grounds of “perpetrator unknown” — which applied to 50 per
cent of the cases examined — was “exceptional and unreasonable”. The report noted
a direct link between inadequate investigations and the high number of cases closed
and marked “perpetrator unknown”. Of the investigations examined, only 20 per
cent led to the transfer of the file to the prosecution with recommendations that
suspects be indicted.41 Two subsequent Israeli government-mandated reports, in
1994 and 2005, noted the continuing failure of the Israeli law enforcement system to
reform based on the recommendations of the Karp report. The 1994 report
confirmed that there had been no real improvement in the situation since the Karp
report.42 In 2005, Advocate Talia Sasson, commissioned by the Israeli Prime
Minister to look into Israeli “outposts” in the West Bank, also concluded that Israel
Defense Forces soldiers were ignorant of their law enforcement responsibilities in
the West Bank, and noted that “the attitude towards law breaking settlers is mostly
__________________
39 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory,
“Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property” (Special
Focus: December 2008), p. 2. Available at: www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_
violence_special_focus_2008_12_18.pdf.
40 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Protection
of Civilians: Casualties Database”. Available from www.ochaopt.org/poc.aspx?id=1010002.
41 Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law: Law Enforcement upon Israeli Civilians in the West Bank, June
2006, p. 31. Available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/opt_prot_yeshdin_semblance_law_june_
2006.pdf.
42 Report of the Shamgar Commission, established in 1994 following the massacre of
29 Palestinian worshippers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron by an Israeli settler.
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forgiving”.43 Non-governmental organizations support the conclusions of these
reports.44
23. During the reporting period for the present report, impunity for settlers
perpetrating violent attacks continued. The Israel Defense Forces not only failed to
protect Palestinians, there are documented instances of their direct involvement in
violence perpetrated against Palestinians. The following cases monitored by
OHCHR are illustrative of the violence that Palestinians suffer at the hands of
Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
24. On 7 March 2011, a group of at least 12 settlers from the “outpost” of Esh
Kodesh in the northern West Bank attacked Palestinians from the adjacent village of
Qusra. Three of the settlers were armed with a handgun and two rifles while the rest
were carrying baseball bats and metal bars. One of the settlers had a dog. The
settlers hurled stones at the Palestinians and fired guns in the air, before physically
assaulting the Palestinians. Israel Defense Forces soldiers reached the scene 30 to
45 minutes later, but the Israel Defense Forces personnel acted only in support of
the settlers. Ten Palestinians were injured, including five by live ammunition. One
of the Palestinians injured with live ammunition stated that he was shot in his left
wrist by a settler, while he was being chased by a group of at least four settlers who
were shooting at him. Another victim was shot in the leg from a distance of some
30 metres by an Israel Defense Forces soldier. Once on the ground he was shot
again from close range in the other leg by the same Israel Defense Forces soldier.
While trying to flee, the victim was hit in the leg and kicked in the face by a settler
with a wooden stick, in the presence of the Israel Defense Forces soldier who had
just shot him. Another Palestinian was hit in the head by an Israel Defense Forces
soldier with the butt of his rifle. Once the victim fell on the ground, a settler and the
Israel Defense Forces soldier started kicking him, injuring at least one costal
cartilage according to his medical report. Ten days after the incident, bruises
remained clearly visible on the victim’s face, chest and upper body. All the
witnesses described the group of settlers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers as one
group advancing in the same line towards the Palestinians. According to one of the
witnesses, settlers were initially shooting in the air and only started shooting at the
Palestinians once the Israel Defense Forces arrived. The Israel Defense Forces
soldiers fired tear gas canisters towards the Palestinians, rubber bullets, injuring one
Palestinian, and then live ammunition. All victims and witnesses concurred that all
live ammunition injuries occurred after the arrival of the Israel Defense Forces. No
arrests were made by the Israeli police and the Palestinians were told to file a
complaint at the police station in the settlement of Binyamin. Most of the victims of
this attack spent two weeks in the hospital and require close medical attention.
25. In another case, on 13 January 2011, a Palestinian farmer was working his land
southeast of Qusra in the north of the West Bank when a group of 40 to 50 Israeli
settlers appeared and moved towards him shouting. Some of the settlers were armed
and fired in the air. A group of younger settlers walked closer to the farmer and
started throwing stones at him injuring him in the head. Palestinians were also
gathering after hearing the gunfire. Shortly after, Israel Defense Forces soldiers and
Israeli police arrived at the scene and forced the settlers to walk back in the
direction of Shilo settlement. The soldiers also fired warning shots in the air to
__________________
43 “Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian Civilians”.
44 Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law.
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disperse the Palestinians, as well as several tear gas canisters and finally used their
batons against some Palestinians to force them to leave their own land.
26. On 27 January 2011, an 18-year-old Palestinian grazing his goats on his land
was shot dead at point blank range by a settler on Palestinian land south of the
village of Iraq Burin.45 Footage of the killing captured by a security camera
appeared in various media.46 On 15 February 2011, an 18-year-old Palestinian from
the village of Jalud south of Nablus, which is surrounded by six Israeli settlements
and “outposts”, was shot in his stomach with live ammunition by one of three
settlers from a distance of about 40 metres. The settlers then fled towards Kida
settlement. Because of the frequent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians
from this village, Palestinians usually work their lands only after coordinating with
the Israel Defense Forces, which is often neither efficient (since it is cumbersome
and time-consuming) nor successful (the permission to access land is often refused).
27. Settlers also attack and destroy Palestinian property, including homes, schools,
cars and olive trees — vital to the livelihood of Palestinian agricultural
communities. On 10 October 2010, 55 olive trees belonging to a Palestinian farmer
west of Hawwara village were chopped down. In the early morning of 27 January
2011, a Palestinian from the village of Einabus south of Nablus realized that his car,
which was parked outside, was on fire. The man called the Palestinian Authority
Liaison Officer District Coordination Office. About an hour later Israel Defense
Forces troops and Israeli police arrived and started inspecting the scene. They took
note of the car set on fire, barbed wire torn apart and Hebrew graffiti reading “the
holy man organization, you just paid the bill” in what is commonly known as a
“price-tag” attack. While being interviewed by the police, the Palestinian saw two of
the Israel Defense Forces soldiers seemingly attempting to destroy evidence of the
crime by erasing the writings on the outer walls of his house. In another incident, on
26 February 2011, settlers from the “outpost” of Givat Aroseh broke into a
Palestinian property in Burin village, set the landlord’s vehicle on fire, stoned the
house and fled. In 2010, the Palestinian family residing in the property was victim
to 10 similar incidents. The family had filed a complaint after each incident, but as
of the finalization of the present report, it had not received any information
regarding the results of any investigation.
28. During this reporting period, there was an increase in the number of incidents
of settler violence against mosques. In October 2010, a group of Israeli settlers
broke into a mosque in Beit Fajjar, in the south of the West Bank and set it ablaze.
On 3 May 2011, another group of Israeli settlers broke into a neighbourhood in
Huwwara town and burned part of Huwwara secondary school used for prayers by
Palestinians residing in that neighbourhood. During the night of 6 June 2011, a third
Palestinian mosque in Al Mughayyir village in the centre of the West Bank was set
on fire by Israeli settlers.
29. Some of the victims of Israeli settler violence contemplate filing complaints
with the Israeli police, which is responsible for investigating such incidents. To do
so, however, they must enter a settlement, as most Israeli police stations are located
__________________
45 Al-Haq, Press Release, 1 February 2011, available at http://www.alhaq.org/etemplate.php?id=568.
46 Haaretz, “Police: Israeli responsible for shooting death of Palestinian teen”, 27 January 2011,
available at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/police-israeli-responsible-forshooting-
death-of-palestinian-teen-1.339621. (The footage is available at: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=48PhfH2zFhI.).
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inside settlements, thus making access difficult for Palestinians. Owing to the
trauma many sustain as a result of violent attacks by settlers, entering the
settlements can be an intimidating experience. Palestinians also need special permits
to enter settlements because of authorities’ restrictions on Palestinian movement.47
Those who do make it inside and file a complaint are still not certain that their
complaint will result in an investigation. In many cases followed by OHCHR,
Palestinians preferred to report the case to the Palestinian Liaison Officer District
Coordination Office. Depending on the gravity of the case, the Palestinian District
Coordination Office might report the case to his Israeli counterparts. However, such
reporting is not based on any formal agreement between the Israel Defense Forces
and the Palestinian District Coordination Office, and is therefore not done on a
systematic basis. Moreover, follow-up of complaints remains inadequate. Yesh Din,
an Israeli non-governmental organization, noted, based on its monitoring of
hundreds of investigations, that police rarely collect evidence from the crime scene,
attempt to verify alibi claims or conduct live lineups.48 In February 2011, Yesh Din
found that 90 per cent of investigations in cases of settler violence monitored by the
organization were closed on the following grounds: “offender unknown” and “lack
of evidence”, which raises doubts about the methods and procedures used by Israeli
investigators.49
30. According to a letter sent to Yesh Din by an Israel Defense Forces
spokesperson, responsibility for law enforcement in the West Bank is divided
between the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli police.50 In incidents where
advance information of a possible incident is available, law enforcement
responsibility lies with the police and the Israel Defense Forces will only assist in
securing the area. In cases where information is not available, the Israel Defense
Forces will carry out law enforcement pending the arrival of the Israeli police. The
response added that “in the absence of police presence, soldiers of the Israel
Defense Forces are responsible, yet they must, to the extent that it is possible,
refrain from entering the scene and must disperse all parties present in order to
preserve the evidence intact until the police arrive (…) if necessary, Israel Defense
Forces forces are authorized, as well as obligated, to detain and even arrest those
suspected of criminal activity”.51 In many cases monitored, both the Israel Defense
Forces and the police have failed in their duty to protect the Palestinians in the West
Bank. In particular, the involvement of the Israel Defense Forces in supporting
__________________
47 Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law ... (June 2006), p. 76.
48 Ibid., pp. 97-101.
49 Yesh Din, Monitoring Update: Law Enforcement upon Israeli Civilians in the West Bank
(February 2011) available at http://www.yeshdin.org/userfiles/file/datasheets/
YESH%20DIN_Law%20Enforcement%20Monitoring%20Eng_2011.pdf.
50 It is noteworthy that while the Israeli authorities seem to be unable or unwilling to enforce the
law in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority, as per the Oslo Agreements, has no authority
for law enforcement but in Area A, which is limited to the Palestinian cities. The majority of
incidents of settler violence take place in the vicinity of settlements, in Area C, where authority
in the security sphere is left with Israel. In cases of settler violence, the role of the Palestinian
Authority is often limited to informing the Israeli Civil Administration of the incidents and
documents the damages or injuries when possible.
51 Response to the report by Yesh Din by Office of the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson dated
12 June 2006 in Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law ..., p. 132.
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settler attacks against Palestinians is a grave concern and brings into question the
understanding Israel Defense Forces soldiers have of their responsibilities.52
31. The problem of discrimination is most apparent in the markedly different
justice systems to which Palestinians and settlers are subjected. When violence is
committed or is suspected to have been committed by Palestinians against Israeli
settlers in the West Bank, the Israeli authorities often mobilize vast resources to
apprehend the perpetrator. Large-scale arrest and detention campaigns are often
carried out by the Israel Defense Forces throughout the West Bank, and the Israeli
police and Border Police in specific neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem. Curfews on
Palestinian towns and villages are also often imposed.53 The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that between September 2010 and
June 2011, Israeli forces carried out 3,791 search-and-arrest operations during
which 2,760 Palestinians were arrested.54 Most of those arrested will be tried
through the Israeli military justice system, contrary to Israeli civilians who, when
arrested, are tried by civilian courts. Israeli civil courts provide more protections to
the defendants in a number of areas, including the right to see a lawyer, the length of
detention before being brought before a judge and the maximum penalty allowed.55
Settlers are de facto given impunity for violent acts against Palestinians and their
property in the occupied West Bank while substantial resources are devoted to the
prosecution of Palestinians accused of engaging in violence against settlers. The
result of the situation is an overtly discriminatory system against Palestinians, both
in law and in practice.
32. An illustrative case followed by the OHCHR shows the steps taken by the
Israeli authorities in situations where attacks against settlers in the West Bank occur.
Following the killing of five Israeli settlers, including three children, from Itamar
settlement in the West Bank on 11 March, residents of the adjacent Palestinian
village of Awarta were awoken in the early hours of the following day by the Israel
Defense Forces, declaring that a curfew was imposed on the entire village. During
the four-day curfew, residents of Awarta were not allowed to leave their homes. All
males between 15 and 40 years of age were detained in the village’s school, and
fingerprints were collected from most males. Houses were occupied by Israel
Defense Forces soldiers and used as watchtowers. Between 8 and 10 houses were
turned into temporary places of detention. House-to-house searches took place and
__________________
52 See also English translation of Talia Sasson report in Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, Unprotected: Israeli Settler Violence
against Palestinian Civilians.
53 Ibid., p. 14. According to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2008 for
example, 29,000 Palestinians in five different locations in the West Bank spent a total of 600
hours under curfew imposed by the Israel Defense Forces after Palestinians threw stones at
Israeli vehicles.
54 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory, Monthly
Humanitarian Monitor, April 2011, available from www.ochaopt.org/documents/
ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2011_05_19_english.pdf.
55 B’Tselem, Violence by Settlers, available from www.btselem.org/settler_violence/
dual_legal_system. See also Opening remarks by United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights at a press conference in Jerusalem, 11 February 2011, available from www.ohchr.org/
EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10721&LangID=e.
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resulted in damages to private property.56 More than 50 persons were arrested
during the four-day operation.57
33. In East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities allocate considerable financial
resources to the protection of the Israeli settlers currently living in “outposts”
throughout East Jerusalem. Around-the-clock armed private security guards protect,
escort and transport Israeli settlers. Available estimates indicate that security
arrangements cost 54 million Israeli New Shekels in 2010 and more than 70 million
in 2011.58
IV. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
34. Since the occupation of the Syrian Golan in 1967 and its purported annexation
in 1981 by the passing of the Golan Heights Law, the Government of Israel has
continued its settlement expansion, despite renewed resolutions calling upon Israel
to refrain from doing so.59 The estimated Israeli population in the occupied Syrian
Golan is about 19,000, with some 6,400 living in the town of Katzrin and the rest
dispersed among 32 small settlements throughout the Golan Heights.60 Settlement
activity, including expropriation of resources for the exclusive use of settlers in the
occupied Syrian Golan is ongoing. During the reporting period, a new campaign to
encourage additional Israeli settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan began, aiming
to recruit 140 new families during 2011.61 Meanwhile, the Syrian population of
Golan continues to be banned from visiting family members in the Syrian Arab
Republic.61 It is estimated that the number of Israeli settlers in the Occupied Golan
will increase by 15,000 by 2012, doubling the population of the indigenous Syrians.62
V. Recommendations
35. The Government of Israel should bring its policies and practices into
compliance with its international legal obligations and its commitments in the
Road Map, as well as the repeated calls of the international community to
__________________
56 A number of United Nations agencies, including Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, documented the cases.
57 See footnote 54. See also al-Haq, Collective Punishment in Awarta: Israel’s Response to the
Killing in Itamar Settlement, April 2011, available from www.alhaq.org/pdfs/
Collective+Punishment+in+Awarta_22_April.pdf.
58 Peace Now, “Settlements in Palestinian Neighborhoods in East Jerusalem”, available at
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/settlements-palestinian-neighborhoods-east-jerusalem.
59 For example, General Assembly resolution 65/106.
60 See International Committee of the Red Cross, “Occupied Golan: nurturing ties with the rest of
Syria”, 15 February 2011, Operational Update available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/
documents/update/2011/golan-update-2011-02-15.htm.
61 Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Briefing to the Security
Council on the situation in the Middle East, 24 February 2011. See also Palestinian Information
Center, “New Jewish neighborhood to be erected in occupied Golan Heights”, January 2011,
available from www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI
46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7cYjteqRVchZUp1eTb9IHyN5LWz6oLVla66G2%2fdei0j4kn8z9GD49n
GEmTlRoUYXW3owUefav1ka8RliVkLNeuZvYpG7iyc2znAqlfKx5xhQ%3d#Page_Top.
62 Al-Marsad, the Arab Center for Human Rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, “Breaking Down
the Fence: Addressing the Illegality of Family Separation in the Occupied Syrian Golan”, April
2010, available from www.golan-marsad.org/Images/022011/Family_Separation.pdf.
A/66/364
18 11-50103
immediately cease the transfer of its civilian population into occupied territory
and to completely freeze all settlement activities in the West Bank, including in
East Jerusalem, and to immediately dismantle all “outposts”.
36. The Government of Israel should end its discriminatory policies and
practices against Palestinians, in particular those that violate Palestinians’ right
to adequate housing. Non-discriminatory planning policies that take account of
natural growth of Palestinians should be developed and implemented as a matter
of urgency. The current situations in Area C and East Jerusalem merit priority
action by the Government in this regard.
37. The Government of Israel should take all necessary measures to prevent
attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In this respect, there is an urgent need for
a comprehensive training programme for Israel Defense Forces and other Israeli
security forces deployed in the West Bank on applicable international legal
standards. The Government of Israel may consider requesting technical
cooperation from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights to design and deliver such a training programme.
38. The Government of Israel should ensure that all serious allegations
concerning criminal acts committed by settlers or the Israel Defense Forces are
subject to independent, impartial, effective, thorough and prompt investigations,
in accordance with international standards.
39. The Government of Israel should ensure that, in line with its international
legal obligations, all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without
any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In particular, it should
ensure that all judicial guarantees and procedural safeguards, including fair trial
and due process, are guaranteed for all.
40. The General Assembly and the international community should more
actively seek the implementation of their decisions, resolutions and
recommendations, as well as those of the Security Council, the International
Court of Justice and the United Nations human rights mechanisms, including
treaty bodies and special procedure mandate holders, in relation to the situation
of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory.
United Nations A/67/375
General Assembly Distr.: General
18 September 2012
Original: English
12-51228 (E) 011112
*1251228*
Sixty-seventh session
Item 53 of the provisional agenda*,**
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report by the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/78, in
which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its
sixty-seventh session on the implementation of the resolution. The period covered by
the report is 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.
The construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Arab territories and its
impact on the human rights of the residents are addressed in the report.
* A/67/150.
** The present report was submitted late in order to include up-to-date information from Member
States, United Nations organizations, non-governmental organizations and human rights
defenders.
A/67/375
2 12-51228
I. Introduction
1. in its resolution 66/78, the General Assembly expressed grave concern about
the continuation by Israel, the occupying Power, of settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The General Assembly
also reiterated its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of Israeli
settlement activities and called upon Israel, as the occupying Power, to comply
strictly with its international law obligations and its obligations set forth in the
advisory opinion rendered by the International Court of Justice on 9 July 2004.1
2. As requested by the General Assembly, progress made in the implementation
of its resolution 66/78 is addressed in the present report. The period covered by the
report is 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. The information contained in the report is
based on monitoring and other information-gathering activities carried out by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and information
provided by other United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in
particular the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the
United Nations Children’s Fund. The report also contains information received from
Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organizations, human rights defenders and
media sources. It should be read in conjunction with previous reports of the
Secretary-General on Israeli settlements (A/66/364, A/65/365, A/64/516 and
A/63/519).
3. A number of relevant issues identified in General Assembly resolution 66/78
are addressed in separate reports of the Secretary-General submitted to the
Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. They include the reports on Israeli practices
affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/67/372) and the Applicability of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949 (the Fourth Geneva Convention), to the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories
(A/67/332).
II. Legal background
4. The applicable international legal framework in relation to Israeli settlements
in the occupied territory can be found in international humanitarian law and
international human rights law. The provisions concerning the responsibilities of
__________________
1 In its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory of 2004 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), the International Court of Justice
concluded that the Fourth Geneva Convention was applicable in the Palestinian territories
which, before the 1967 conflict, lay to the east of the Green Line and which, during that
conflict, were occupied by Israel. Since then a significant number of United Nations resolutions
have reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the most recent being
Human Rights Council resolutions S-9/1, 10/18 and 13/7 and General Assembly resolutions
63/96, 63/97, 63/201, 64/93, 65/103, 65/104 and 66/78. In its advisory opinion, the Court
recalled that while Israel was not a party to the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and
Customs of War on Land of 18 October 1907 (convention IV), to which the Hague Regulations
are annexed, the provisions of the Hague Regulations had become part of customary
international law.
A/67/375
12-51228 3
Israel in the occupied territories are set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention and in
the Hague Regulations.2 Although Israel has disputed the application of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, the situation remains one of belligerent military occupation, as
recognized by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights
Council, to which the Fourth Geneva Convention applies (see, for example, General
Assembly resolutions 62/181 and 63/98, Security Council resolution 1860 (2009)
and Human Rights Council resolution 10/18). Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention explicitly prohibits an occupying Power from transferring parts of its
own civilian population into the territory it occupies. This is an absolute prohibition
which does not admit any exceptions.3
5. In addition to its obligations under international humanitarian law, Israel has
responsibilities under the international human rights treaties that it has ratified,
including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The International
Court of Justice affirmed that those Covenants and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child were applicable in respect of acts carried out by Israel in the occupied
territories (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 102-113). Similarly, United Nations
human rights treaty bodies have reaffirmed that, as a party to international human
rights instruments, Israel continues to bear responsibility for implementing its
human rights obligations in the occupied territories.4
III. Overview
6. As noted in previous reports to the General Assembly (A/63/519 and
A/64/516), Israeli settlements are an obstacle to the creation of a future Palestinian
state. Israel has committed itself under the Quartet road map to freeze all settlement
activity, including the “natural growth” of settlements, a commitment never fully
implemented. While there was a partial freeze of settlement activity for a period of
10 months in 2010, since then no further measures have been undertaken to meet
that commitment. During the reporting period, Israeli settlements continued to
expand, and new settlements were approved by the Government of Israel,5 in clear
__________________
2 The Hague Regulations are annexed to the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs
of War on Land of 18 October 1907 (Convention IV).
3 This prohibition was “intended to prevent a practice adopted during the Second World War by
certain Powers, which transferred portions of their own population to occupied territory for
political and racial reasons or in order, as they claimed, to colonize those territories. Such
transfers worsened the economic situation of the native population and endangered their
separate existence as a race”, according to a commentary on article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention by Jean Pictet, ed., The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary
published under the general editorship of Jean S. Pictet, IV Geneva Convention (Geneva,
International Committee of the Red Cross, 1958).
4 An examination of the concluding observations of different United Nations treaty bodies
confirms this view (see CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 5; CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, para. 32;
CRC/C/15/Add.195; and CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 11).
5 For example, three “outposts”, Sansana, Rechelim and Bruchin, were approved on 23 April
2012. “Outposts” are settlements which, although often established with some level of
Government support, are not officially recognized under Israeli law. It should be stressed that all
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, regardless of their status under Israeli
law, are unlawful under international law.
A/67/375
4 12-51228
violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law and despite
repeated international condemnation.
7. Estimates of the Israeli settler population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
vary between 500,000 and 650,000, living in some 150 settlements and 100
“outposts” in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.6 The settler population
(excluding that of East Jerusalem) has grown over the past decade at an average
yearly rate of 5.3 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent for the Israeli population as a
whole. In the previous 12 months, that population increased by 15,579 persons.7
From July to December 2011, 588 units in six settlements in the West Bank
(excluding East Jerusalem) received Government approval.8 On 6 June 2012, the
Prime Minister of Israel announced a “package” meant to compensate for the
evacuation of 84 housing units in the Ulpana area of the Beit El settlement. The
package included the promise to build a total of 851 housing units in six settlements
in the West Bank.9
8. Plans for construction in settlements in East Jerusalem were submitted and
approved throughout the reporting period. For example, in September 2011, an
Israeli planning committee approved a new project comprising 1,100 apartments in
the settlement of Gilo.10 On 18 April 2012, two Palestinian refugee families
comprising 13 people were forcibly evicted by Israeli authorities from their houses
in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, following a court case brought by an Israeli
citizen supported by a “private” settler association, claiming ownership of the
property. The houses, situated in a Palestinian neighbourhood, were subsequently
handed over to settlers. Other such settlements in Palestinian neighbourhoods of
East Jerusalem have been a source of settler violence and other forms of tension.
9. Developments linked to foreseen settlement expansion in the Jerusalem
periphery are of concern. In July 2011, the Israeli Civil Administration indicated its
intention to “relocate” Palestinian communities throughout Area C.11 The primary
target of the relocation plan would be 20 communities12 located in the Jerusalem
periphery.13 The communities are in an area that has strategic significance for the
__________________
6 This number includes the nearly 200,000 Israeli settlers living in settlements located in East
Jerusalem. In November 2011, Peace Now reported that the total number was 506,990 settlers
(196,000 in East Jerusalem and 310,990 in the rest of the West Bank). In his 24 May 2011
speech to the Congress of the United States of America, the Prime Minister of Israel mentioned
that 650,000 Israelis “live beyond the 1967 lines”.
7 “More than 350,000 Israelis live in settlements, up 4.5% in a year”, Israel Hayom, 26 July 2012,
citing statistics of the Ministry of the Interior.
8 “Approvals by the Netanyahu Government for settlements”, Peace Now, updated on 3 December
2011.
9 “Netanyahu promises new West Bank construction, on heels of failed outpost bill”, Haaretz,
7 June 2012.
10 “Government okays 1,100 apartments in Gilo. US joins PA and UN in quickly expressing
disapproval”, Jerusalem Post, 28 September 2011.
11 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Bedouin communities at risk of
displacement due to an Israeli ‘relocation plan’”, The Monthly Humanitarian Monitor, July
2011, p. 3.
12 These communities have a combined population of 2,300; Palestinian refugees account for
80 per cent of the total. The relocation initiative is part of a wider plan to transfer the Bedouin
and other pastoral communities throughout Area C.
13 “10 Oct. ’11: Civil Administration plans to expel tens of thousands of Bedouins from Area C”,
B’Tselem, 10 October 2011.
A/67/375
12-51228 5
further expansion of Israeli settlements.14 The area has been the object of major
development plans issued, but largely not implemented, by Israeli authorities.11,14
Those plans include the wall and the so-called E1 Project,11 which entails the
creation of an Israeli urban continuum between the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim
and East Jerusalem.11,15 It is also planned that the area will be expanded and linked
with smaller settlements in the area, such as Qedar, Kfar Adumim, the Mishor
Adumim industrial zone and Almon; the area is considered of strategic importance
to guarantee Israeli control of Route 1 linking Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.11
Numerous administrative demolition orders are pending against Palestinian homes,
schools and animal shelters in the communities targeted for relocation.14 Settlers
have played an active role in encouraging demolitions. For instance, on 1 August
2011, the municipality of Kfar Adumim settlement petitioned the court demanding a
formal explanation from the Israeli authorities on why the demolition order against
the sole school in the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community, which had been issued in
mid-2009, had not yet been implemented.16
IV. Impact of settlements on the right to self-determination
10. Israeli legal and administrative measures to furnish socioeconomic incentives,
security, infrastructure and social services to citizens of Israel residing in the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, amount to the transfer by Israel of its population
into the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 120).17
The continuation of that transfer and the maintenance and expansion of settlements
have severe negative impacts on the right to self-determination of the Palestinian
people. The right to self-determination is enshrined in Article 1, paragraph 2, of the
Charter of the United Nations and article 1, paragraph 1, of both of the
aforementioned international human rights covenants;18 that right was reaffirmed by
the International Court of Justice with regard to its applicability in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory. The right to self-determination is generally understood as
having several components, including the right to have a demographic and territorial
presence and the right to permanent sovereignty over natural resources (ibid.,
paras. 133-134, and HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1, General Comment No. 12). Those elements
are adversely affected not only by the expansion of Israeli settlements but also by
the mere presence of the settlements.
11. One of the ways in which self-determination is implemented is through the
establishment of a sovereign and independent state (see General Assembly
resolution 2625 (XXV), annex, principle 5). One of the main characteristics of a
state is territory. However, the current configuration and attribution of control over
land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory severely impedes the possibility of the
__________________
14 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Bedouin relocation: threat of
displacement in the Jerusalem periphery”, factsheet, September 2011.
15 See Nir Shalev, “The hidden agenda: the establishment and expansion of Ma’ale Adumim and
their human rights ramifications”, B’Tselem and Bimkom, December 2009.
16 “Bedouin near Ramallah face double-edged sword by Israeli settlers”, Haaretz, 2 September
2011.
17 This violates article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
18 Both the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which entered into force in 1966 and 1976, respectively,
have been ratified by Israel.
A/67/375
6 12-51228
Palestinian people expressing their right to self-determination in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory. In addition to large areas which have been declared closed
military zones, some 43 per cent of the West Bank has been allocated to local and
regional settlement councils, with the result that those areas are off-limits to
Palestinians.19 In addition, because settlements are scattered all across the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, the territory of the Palestinian people is divided
into enclaves with little or no territorial contiguity. The network of settler roads and
military checkpoints, which in many cases are there only to protect settlements, and
settlers using the roads throughout the West Bank compound the problem by
denying the Palestinians territorial contiguity while occupying a significant area of
land. The fragmentation of the West Bank undermines the possibility of the
Palestinian people realizing their right to self-determination through the creation of
a viable state.
12. The demographic and territorial presence of the Palestinian people in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory is put at risk by the continued transfer by Israel, the
occupying Power, of its population into the occupied territory (see para. 10 above).
Between 500,000 and 650,000 Israeli settlers live among 2,642,000 Palestinians in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.20 The transfer by Israel of approximately
8 per cent of its citizens into the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the 1970s has
changed the demography of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlers
now represent approximately 19 per cent of the overall population of the West Bank.
In its advisory opinion of 2004, the International Court of Justice concluded that the
construction of the wall, coupled with the establishment of Israeli settlements, was
altering the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and
thus was severely impeding the exercise by the Palestinian people of their right to
self-determination (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 122 and 123).
13. Settlements and the associated restrictions on the access of Palestinians to
large portions of the West Bank do not allow the Palestinian people to exercise
permanent control over natural resources. As previously mentioned, some 43 per
cent of the West Bank is under the de facto jurisdiction of local or regional
settlement councils, thereby serving to prohibit the Palestinian people from
controlling the natural resources located in those areas. For example, 37 Israeli
settlements are located in the Jordan Valley, the most fertile and resource-rich area
in the West Bank. In respect of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area, 86 per cent
is under the de facto jurisdiction of the regional councils of settlements, which
prohibit Palestinian use, thus denying Palestinians access to their natural resources.
14. Palestinians have virtually no control over the water resources in the West
Bank. The route of the wall, which renders 9.4 per cent of West Bank territory
inaccessible to Palestinians, except for those who receive a permit, has severe
impacts on the control of Palestinians over water resources in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory by effectively annexing 51 per cent of the water resources in
the West Bank (see E/CN.4/2004/10/Add.2, para. 51). The limitation of access to
natural resources, in this case water, is directly connected to the existence of
settlements; in its advisory opinion of 2004 the International Court of Justice
__________________
19 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The humanitarian impact of Israeli
settlement policies”, factsheet, January 2012.
20 Peace Now, Map of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, November 2011.
A/67/375
12-51228 7
concluded that the Israeli settlements constitute the major factor for the deviation of
the wall’s route from the Green Line (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 119).
V. Settler violence
15. During the reporting period, acts of violence committed by Israeli citizens
living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory against Palestinians and their property
continued to be perpetrated on a regular basis. Some of those acts resulted in
Palestinians being severely injured. Such violent acts seem to have been intended to
intimidate and cause fear among the Palestinian population in order to drive them
away from certain areas. Destruction of property, especially agricultural lands and
acts of violence close to sources of water, has had a grave impact on Palestinians,
who depend on those resources for their livelihood. Those acts of violence have had
an especially strong impact on vulnerable groups, such as children, by affecting
their right to education, as well as Bedouin communities that are already under the
threat of displacement. During the reporting period, nine mosques were vandalized
by Israeli settlers. The Government of Israel recognized the need to seriously
address the issue following a number of acts of vandalism targeting mosques and an
attack by Israeli settlers against a base of the Israeli Defense Forces in December
2011. However, as outlined below, the response by the Israeli authorities to settler
violence continues to be ineffectual.
A. Impact on Palestinians
1. Personal safety and physical integrity
16. In addition to having the right to life and physical integrity, guaranteed by
international human rights law, Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
are entitled to specific forms of protection under international humanitarian law
since they are protected persons according to the Geneva Conventions. Attacks
against Palestinians take the form of beatings, throwing stones and shooting at them
with live ammunition. The bulk of the injuries that have occurred in clashes between
settlers and Palestinians or incidents involving the throwing of stones were caused
by settlers. Such repeated acts of violence are perceived by the victims to be a
method of intimidation used mainly to discourage Palestinians from accessing
certain areas, especially agricultural areas. Between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012,
Israeli settlers injured 147 Palestinians, including 34 children.21 The statistics
represent a significant reduction in the number of casualties resulting from violent
acts perpetrated by Israeli settlers. In the period from September 2010 to May 2011,
5 Palestinians were killed and 270 were injured (see A/66/364, para. 21). Incidents
of violence initiated by Palestinians against Israeli settlers in the West Bank resulted
in two deaths and 32 injuries during the reporting period.22 Israeli authorities
deployed substantial resources to investigate such incidents and apprehend and
prosecute perpetrators in military tribunals. The Secretary-General calls upon the
Government of Israel to respond with the same thoroughness and promptness to all
acts of violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
__________________
21 Statistics compiled by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
22 According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Protection of Civilians:
Casualties Database.
A/67/375
8 12-51228
17. On 26 May 2012, in a case monitored by the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights, a group of Israeli settlers, allegedly from the
Yitzhar settlement south of Nablus, torched fields belonging to Palestinians from the
village of Urif. As a result, clashes erupted between the settlers and residents of
Urif. Settlers opened fire with live ammunition towards the unarmed Palestinians. A
group of settlers seized a young Palestinian man, pushed him to the ground and beat
him. He was lying on the ground with his hands bound behind his back when he was
shot in the abdomen, from a distance of about 10 metres, by an Israeli private
security guard from the settlement who had joined the group. During the incident
about 40 soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces were deployed in the immediate
vicinity for approximately 30 minutes; they attempted to disperse the Palestinians
by firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and warning shots.
18. In another case monitored by the same Office on 16 September 2011, four
members of a Palestinian family were on their land, located about 1 km from Qusra,
when they noticed a group of eight settlers, four of them armed, standing close to
the family’s well. When a member of the family questioned the settlers about their
presence on the land, the settlers started firing into the air in order to scare away the
Palestinians. When other Palestinians from the village reached the location, the
group of settlers started firing live ammunition towards the ground, which resulted
in one of the family members being injured by shrapnel.
2. Access to land and productive resources
19. In addition to causing direct physical injury, acts of violence committed by
Israeli settlers have a significant impact on the right of Palestinians to access land
and productive resources. Attacks on livelihoods can be direct, such as the
destruction of fruit trees and crops. During the reporting period, settlers vandalized
more than 8,450 trees owned by Palestinians throughout the West Bank, typically
burning, uprooting, poisoning with chemicals or otherwise destroying them, mostly
in areas adjacent to settlements, at times when the access of the Palestinians was
restricted.23 Settler violence heightens during the olive harvest (between October
and December each year). Approximately 40 settler attacks took place during the
olive harvest season in 2011, leading to the damage of approximately 1,500 trees
and the injury of 16 Palestinians.23 Violence against Palestinians also has an adverse
effect on their access to livelihoods. Palestinian access to agricultural land in the
vicinity of settlements has been limited not only by physical barriers but also by
Israeli settlers persistently intimidating them. Indeed the majority of acts of violence
directed against Palestinians occurs in agricultural or grazing areas. Such violence
appears to be meant to spread fear among Palestinians who, because they are at risk
of being victims of settler attacks, no longer go to certain areas that they had been
cultivating for the purpose of sustenance. For example, in the area surrounding the
villages of Burin, Iraq Burin and ’Asira al-Qibiliya settler violence targeting
Palestinian residents and their property increased sharply in 2011. In the one-month
period from 30 June to 29 July 2011 alone, settlers reportedly set fire to agricultural
land within the Burin cluster on at least 5 separate occasions, resulting in the
destruction of 1,800 dunums of agricultural land and 1,721 olive trees.24
__________________
23 Statistics compiled by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
24 According to information collected by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
A/67/375
12-51228 9
20. In response to difficulties faced by Palestinians in accessing private
agricultural land located within the fenced-off areas of Israeli settlements, or in
areas where incidents of settler violence are recurrent, a “prior coordination” regime
is applied by the Israeli authorities. Registered Palestinian farmers are allocated a
limited number of days during which they can access their land through the
settlement gate and/or be protected by Israeli forces during the time they work in the
field. Such an access regime has been implemented in the past few years mostly
during the olive harvest season, rendering access at other times uncertain and
dangerous. The application of the prior coordination regime as such continues to be
of concern. The regime puts the onus of adapting to the access restrictions on the
Palestinian farmers rather than on the violent settlers. The procedure has also proven
to be ineffective in preventing attacks against trees and crops, as most attacks occur
outside the times allocated through the coordination process.
21. Israeli settler activity has increasingly infringed on Palestinian access to and
use of water springs. The main methods used by settlers to that end have been
threats, intimidation and the erection of fences around the targeted areas. In the
vicinity of Israeli settlements, 56 water springs in the West Bank have become the
target of settler activities. Of those springs, 30 have been taken over completely by
Israeli settlers and the other 26 are at risk of being taken over, as a consequence of
frequent visits by settlers and their armed escorts and patrols. The inability of
Palestinians living in affected communities to gain access to and use water springs
has significantly undermined their livelihoods and security. Many farmers had been
forced either to cease cultivation or face reduced productivity. Herders and
households have been forced to increase their expenditures on the purchase of piped
or tanked water. The presence of armed settlers at the springs and their surroundings
also has generated friction and clashes.
3. Impact on the enjoyment of the rights of the child
22. Palestinian children are affected by acts of violence perpetrated by Israeli
settlers. The violence has resulted in injuries, a situation that demonstrates that
Israel is not fulfilling its obligations under article 19 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the right to protection from all forms of physical and mental
violence, and has had significant impacts on the right of children to education.
During the reporting period, 28 Palestinian children, 6 girls and 22 boys, were
injured by Israeli settlers. Of such incidents, 22 per cent occurred in the old city of
Hebron and 14 per cent occurred in East Jerusalem (see CRC/C/GC/13). Palestinian
children have been injured by settlers; their injuries were caused by physical assault,
beating with sticks, throwing of stones, spraying with pepper and being hit with
shrapnel from live ammunition. For instance, on 28 April 2012, a 10-year-old boy
was injured by stones thrown by Israeli settlers in Hebron. Another incident
involved a 10-year-old boy beaten by settlers while he was walking home from
school in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. In another instance, on
6 March 2012, a 13-year-old boy was injured by shrapnel that struck his eye when
settlers fired live ammunition at Palestinian children playing at the Wadi An Nabe’
spring near Ramallah.
23. During the period covered by the present report, Israeli settlers reportedly
perpetrated violence against Palestinian schools: 8 incidents were reported in which
more than 1,600 students were affected. In one instance, at around noon on
13 October 2011, Israeli settlers threw stones and empty bottles at the Qurdoba
A/67/375
10 12-51228
Elementary School in Hebron and attempted to break into the school. When teachers
intervened to prevent the settlers from breaking in, the settlers assaulted them.
Israeli soldiers were present in the area at the time, but did not intervene to stop the
assault or apprehend suspects.
24. Settler violence has also been documented in relation to obstructing access of
Palestinian children to schools and harassing them on their way to and from school.
During the reporting period, 6 cases of violence were reported, in which 46 students
were affected. In one instance, on 5 February 2012 Israeli settlers denied 16 students
access to Tiwana Basic School in the Tuba area south of Hebron. The only access to
the school passes through a settlement gate.25
25. In some locations in the West Bank, Palestinian children continue to require
Israel Defense Forces escort protection against potential attacks by settlers. For
example, in At-Tuwani, children have to wait for such an escort to accompany them
to and from school. Delays in the arrival of the escort both in the morning and
afternoon have been recorded, resulting in lost school time.
26. Violence by Israeli settlers results in displacement, which affects children in
particular. For example, between 25 and 27 July 2011, 19 families from the Bedouin
community of Al-Baqa'a left their homes as a result of settler violence allegedly
originating in the Ma'ale Mikhmas settlement. In Al-Baqa'a, a total of 127
individuals were displaced, including 81 children. In an especially serious incident
that led to the evacuation of families, a group of settlers entered Al-Baqa'a on
19 July and threatened to take the Palestinians’ livestock and burn their supply of
animal fodder. The confrontation ended in an exchange of stone-throwing between
the settlers and the community members: three Palestinian children were
hospitalized while three Palestinians (one man and two boys) were arrested by
Israeli security forces.
4. Impact on Bedouin communities
27. Bedouin communities in the eastern Jerusalem periphery remain particularly
vulnerable to settler activities, including settlement expansion and settler violence,
connected with the ongoing threat of forcible transfer faced by many of the
communities. Ongoing settler violence in the area, as well as actions taken by Israeli
settler organizations against Bedouin communities through Israeli courts, increase
the pressure on the Bedouins to relocate.
28. Several Bedouin communities have reported ongoing harassment, intimidation
and acts of vandalism by settlers, which they perceive as being aimed at forcing
them to leave their homes and relocate. Moreover, the communities residing in that
area face continuous pressure as a result of settlement expansion and settler
violence.14,26 Incidents of violence, harassment and provocation by armed settlers
against Palestinian civilians, including children, and their property have been
frequent. For example, during the night of 4 June 2012, settlers, reportedly from
__________________
25 Statistics and cases provided in paras. 24-28 are based on information gathered by the United
Nations Children’s Fund.
26 According to statistics compiled by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as
at 1 September 2011 at least 755 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced in 2011 owing to
demolitions and 127 owing to settler violence; some 40 per cent of the Palestinians were
Bedouin.
A/67/375
12-51228 11
Shchunat Alon and Nofei Prat settlements, allegedly cut several water pipes
supplying five communities in the Khan al-Ahmar cluster, leaving some 700 people
without access to water. Following an intervention by the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, water was eventually
restored to all the communities.
29. In July 2011, the Jewish Colonization Association27 indicated its intention to
“relocate” Palestinian communities throughout Area C;11 the primary target of the
relocation plan would be 20 communities28 located in the Jerusalem periphery.13
Those acts of violence and intimidation are occurring in the context of the
Association’s reported plan, thereby rendering Bedouin and herder communities in
Area C even more vulnerable in the event that the plan is implemented (see
A/67/372).
B. Failure of Israel to maintain public order
30. As the occupying Power, Israel has the obligation to maintain public order in
the occupied territory29 and to ensure that protected persons are safeguarded against
all acts of violence or threats thereof.30 The Secretary-General wishes to recall that
protected persons are those who find themselves in the hands of an occupying
Power of which they are not nationals: in this case, Palestinians who do not have
Israeli citizenship. However, as previously mentioned Palestinians continue to be
victims of acts of violence by settlers, and have few protection mechanisms against
such threats. The Israel Defense Forces, which are responsible for implementing the
occupying Power’s obligations, have in numerous cases that were monitored by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, failed to
protect Palestinians from acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers, even when
those acts occurred in the presence of the Israel Defense Forces. The Forces, have
recognized that the military commander has the duty to respect the lives of persons
and private property and that Israel Defense Forces present during an incident are
authorized, as well as obligated, to detain and also arrest those suspected of criminal
activity.31 Notwithstanding the fact that the issue of the Israel Defense Forces not
taking appropriate measures while acts of violence were being perpetrated in their
presence was raised in the last report to the General Assembly concerning Israeli
settlements (A/66/364), such incidents continue to be reported. During the reporting
__________________
27 The Association is responsible for implementing policies of the Government of Israel in the
West Bank; it is part of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories unit of the
Ministry of Defense.
28 These communities have a combined population of 2,300; Palestinian refugees account for
80 per cent of the total. The relocation initiative is part of a wider plan to transfer the Bedouin
and other pastoral communities throughout Area C.
29 See article 43 of the Hague Regulations annexed to the Fourth Geneva Convention respecting
the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 18 October 1907.
30 Under article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel, as the occupying Power, also has the
obligation under international human rights law to protect the right to life and physical integrity
of Palestinians.
31 Yesh Din, A Semblance of Law: Law Enforcement upon Israeli Civilians in the West Bank,
June 2006.
A/67/375
12 12-51228
period, at least six similar incidents were documented by an Israeli human rights
organization.32
31. In an incident monitored by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, a large group of masked individuals (reportedly
about 200, some of whom were armed) descended into ’Asira al-Qibiliya village
from Yitzhar settlement just after midnight on 12 December 2011, and threw stones
and empty bottles at the houses, causing extensive property damage. Patrols of
Israel Defense Forces arrived approximately 15 minutes later, at which point the
settlers retreated up the hill towards the Yitzhar settlement. Palestinian residents
reported that the patrols did not detain any of the perpetrators, but rather ordered the
residents of the village to go inside their houses; then they cleared the area by
detonating stun grenades and illuminating the area with flares. A complaint was
filed with the Israeli police but the investigation was subsequently closed due to
“lack of evidence”. The incident occurred after Israeli authorities announced plans
to dismantle Mitzpe Yitzhar outpost, located outside the Yitzhar settlement;
therefore, it could be reasonably understood to be a “price-tag” attack, a strategy
devised by settler groups to perpetrate acts of violence against Palestinians, their
property, or the Israel Defense Forces, in response to the dismantling of settlements.
32. In another incident monitored by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, a group of about 50 settlers, most of them armed
and allegedly from the Yitzhar settlement, approached the same Palestinian village,
’Asira al-Qibiliya, on 19 May 2012. They set fire, in four or five different locations,
to fields of grain and groves of olive trees, and started throwing stones at the
houses. The villagers gathered to try to put out the fires. Both sides started to throw
stones. The Israel Defense Forces arrived in the area approximately 15 minutes after
the incident had started. A group of Palestinian youth trying to reach a field that was
on fire met a group of armed settlers who were approximately 30 metres away, and
who were accompanied by three soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces. Three of the
settlers armed with rifles and pistols opened fire, while the soldiers stood by a few
metres away. As a result of the incident, six Palestinians were injured, including one
who suffered a gunshot wound.
33. Both of those incidents and others involving settler violence mentioned in the
present report took place in the vicinity of the settlement of Yitzhar, which has a
history of settler violence. The incident of 12 December 2011 occurred after Israeli
authorities announced plans to dismantle the Mitzpe Yitzhar outpost. An unusually
large number of vehicles were seen approaching Yitzhar settlement on the evening
preceding the incident, and there were reports that social media had been used to
mobilize settlers to defend the outpost. Based on those observations and that in the
past such announcements had led to so-called price-tag incidents, it could have been
anticipated that violence would occur at the hand of extremist settlers. Yet the Israel
Defense Forces failed to take action to prevent a group of 200 settlers from
attacking a Palestinian village. The repeated incidents of settler violence occurring
south of Nablus in the villages surrounding Yitzhar settlement demonstrate a failure
or lack of willingness by the Israel Defense Forces to ensure public order.
34. On 23 September 2011, in Qusra, clashes erupted between Palestinians and a
group of settlers who had trespassed onto privately owned Palestinian land. The
__________________
32 See B’Tselem’s website: www.btselem.org.
A/67/375
12-51228 13
Israel Defense Forces present at the location refused to remove the settlers and
instead focused their efforts on dispersing the Palestinians. The soldiers formed a
line and stood between the settlers, some of whom were armed, and the Palestinians.
The Forces initially used tear gas to disperse the Palestinians, then resorted to
rubber bullets and finally live ammunition, resulting in the death of an unarmed
Palestinian. It was subsequently reported in the media that the commander of the
Israel Defense Forces unit involved in the death of the Palestinian civilian was
relieved from his post but remained in the Israel Defense Forces.33
35. An examination of cases that involved clashes between Israeli settlers and
Palestinians in the presence of soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces raises serious
questions as to whether the Forces are capable and willing to ensure public order in
a non-discriminatory manner. As shown in the above-mentioned cases, in situations
involving confrontation between Israeli settlers and Palestinian civilians, soldiers of
the Israel Defense Forces appear to defer to the will and desires of settlers. This type
of situation leads to serious concern that the Israel Defense Forces are placing more
importance on safeguarding the settlers and their freedom of movement than on the
legal obligation of the Forces to protect the local Palestinian population. Yet one of
the main obligations of the Israel Defense Forces as the agent of the occupying
Power is to ensure that protected persons — in this case Palestinians — are not
subjected to acts of violence. That observation seems to indicate that the presence of
Israeli citizens living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory creates confusion within
the Israel Defense Forces regarding their legal obligation to protect Palestinians and
raises concerns that law and order are enforced in a discriminatory manner in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
36. In one case documented by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police
reacted promptly to an incident of settler attack. On 20 August 2011, close to Jaba
village in Ramallah district, a Palestinian man resting while grazing his sheep was
awoken by the sound of his sheep being attacked by a settler who had killed two of
his sheep and injured three. At the same moment, two other settlers attacked the
Palestinian man, beating him with metal pipes and throwing stones at him. The
injured Palestinian man ran away and alerted the guard of a nearby settlement, who
alerted the police and ambulance crews. The Israeli police and the Israel Defense
Forces searched the area, located the group of settlers and detained them. The
Palestinian man was then brought to the police station to identify the three attackers.
At the time the present report was being prepared no further information was
available on the investigations or resultant judicial processes. The Secretary-General
calls on the Israel Defense Forces to react in the above-mentioned manner in all
cases of settler violence targeting Palestinians. It is unfortunate that to date such
cases have been the exception rather than the rule.
C. Rule of law and lack of accountability
37. The Secretary-General is concerned that a lack of accountability persists with
regard to acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. In
addition to failing to protect Palestinians in the occupied territory from violence, the
Israel Defense Forces have not respected their obligation to maintain public order,
__________________
33 “Events following violent riot near Qusra”, Israel Defense Forces, 23 September 2011.
A/67/375
14 12-51228
by allowing impunity for settlers who have committed acts of violence against
Palestinians. Even if the Israeli police are in charge of investigating alleged criminal
activity by Israeli citizens in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the ultimate
duty-bearer of that obligation remains the Israel Defense Forces, as they are
responsible for exercising the authority of the Government of Israel over the
territory. It should be noted that this issue has been addressed in previous reports.
The last report examined this issue in detail (see A/66/364, para. 22) and underlined
that the Government of Israel has been aware of this problem following publication
of the Karp report in 1984.34
38. In a recent report by an Israeli human rights organization that has been helping
Palestinians file complaints in cases of settler violence, it was stated that 91 per cent
of the investigations launched as a result of complaints filed with the assistance of
the organization had been closed without an indictment being served against
suspects.35 Of the 781 investigations monitored between 2005 and 2011,
indictments were served in only 59 cases, or 9 per cent of the total number of
investigations. The majority of investigations that were closed without an
indictment had been terminated on grounds of “offender unknown” in 401 cases, or
“insufficient evidence” in 138 cases; the rest of the cases were closed on the
grounds of “absence of criminal culpability”. Another Israeli civil society
organization reported that between July 2011 and June 2012, the period covered by
the present report, it had documented a total of 39 cases of settler violence; of that
number 18 were under investigation by the police, 1 was being reviewed by the
prosecutor and 2 resulted in charges being presented.36
39. Lack of accountability permeates all types of acts of violence committed by
Israeli settlers against property and persons. Impunity for acts of violence that have
had serious consequences, such as the death of Palestinian civilians, continues to
generate concern. In a number of cases monitored by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, that is, of killings by settlers or
settler guards that occurred between September 2010 and May 2011, no one has
been charged.37 For example, on 13 May 2010 a group of four Palestinian boys was
throwing stones at cars on Route 60, a road regularly used by settlers to travel to
Jerusalem, when a car allegedly driven by Israeli citizens from a nearby settlement
stopped and one of the passengers opened fire, killing one of the boys (see
A/HRC/16/71, para. 43). The investigation in that case was closed on the grounds of
“offender unknown”. On 22 September 2010, an unarmed Palestinian man was shot
dead in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem by a private guard employed
by the Ministry of Construction and Housing to protect one of the settlements in that
neighbourhood (see A/HRC/16/71, para. 43). When the present report was being
finalized, the police investigation was ongoing, and no one had been indicted. On
13 May 2011, in the same neighbourhood a 17-year-old was shot and killed by
__________________
34 Yehudit Karp, The Karp Report: An Israeli Government Inquiry into Settler Violence against
Palestinians on the West Bank (Beirut, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1984).
35 Yesh Din, Law Enforcement upon Israeli Civilians in the West Bank, Yesh Din Monitoring
Update, data sheet, March 2012.
36 The information was provided directly to and is on file with the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights.
37 Although these incidents took place outside of the reporting period, it is important to allow
some time for the progress of investigations in order to evaluate accountability or the lack
thereof.
A/67/375
12-51228 15
someone who had opened fire from a window in the Beit Yonatan settlement.
According to the information available, the police have finished their investigation
and the file is being reviewed by the Office of the State Attorney. Yet, more than a
year after the incident, no one has been indicted for the killing (for more detailed
analysis on discriminatory practices, see A/66/364).
VI. Other human rights violations linked to the presence
of settlers
40. Settlements and violence committed by Israeli settlers directly resulted in a
number of human rights violations that have been examined in the present and prior
reports to the General Assembly concerning Israeli settlements. They include
violations of the right to life and physical integrity, displacement, house demolition
and discriminatory practices in both law enforcement and planning and zoning
regimes. In addition, settlements and the presence of Israeli settlers give rise to a
large number of other indirect violations, such as limitations on freedom of
movement, use of excessive force by the Israel Defense Forces in operations
designed to protect the settlements and limitations on freedom of expression and
assembly.
41. The Israel Defense Forces impose a range of limitations on the freedom of
movement of Palestinians. The vast majority of those limitations are due to the
presence of settlements, or they are imposed to ensure the security of settlers and to
facilitate their travel throughout the West Bank. There are more than 500 internal
checkpoints, roadblocks and other physical barriers that impede the movement of
Palestinians inside the West Bank.38 Most of those obstacles to freedom of
movement are located in the vicinity of settlements or are intended to restrict or
limit the access of Palestinians to roads that are used by Israeli settlers. In addition,
the route of the wall does not follow the Green Line, although it was to be built
purportedly for security reasons. Upon completion of that structure, approximately
85 per cent of the 708-km wall will be located inside the West Bank, rendering some
9.4 per cent of West Bank territory, including the so-called no man’s land, on the
western side of the wall inaccessible to Palestinians, except for those holding
special permits. The major reason for the deviation in the route of the wall from the
Green Line is to enable the inclusion of Israeli settlements together with areas
planned for future expansion (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 119). The area on
the western, or “Israeli”, side of the wall includes 71 of the 150 settlements and
more than 85 per cent of the total settler population in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem.
42. One example of limitation of movement linked to the presence of Israeli
settlers is the situation in Hebron. Approximately 6,000 Palestinians live in areas
adjacent to settlements in the old city of Hebron. There are more than 120 physical
obstacles deployed by the Israel Defense Forces that segregate the restricted areas
from the rest of the city, including 18 permanently staffed checkpoints. Several
streets in restricted areas leading to Israeli settlements are prohibited to Palestinian
traffic and some even to pedestrian movement. The Israeli authorities justify such
__________________
38 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The humanitarian impact of Israeli
settlement policies”, factsheet, January 2012.
A/67/375
16 12-51228
prohibitions as necessary to enable Israeli settlers residing in the city to lead a
normal life and to ensure their protection and that of other Israeli visitors.
43. Search and arrest operations conducted by the Israel Defense Forces are often
linked to the protection of settlers and settlement property. In a number of cases
documented by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, the use of excessive force during such operations has led to death and injury
among Palestinian civilians. In one instance, an Israel Defense Forces search and
arrest operation was conducted on 1 August 2011 in Qalandia refugee camp. The
presence of soldiers became known to the residents of the camp and the throwing of
stones ensued. In a separate area of the camp where no clashes were occurring,
another group of soldiers came face to face with a group of five unarmed men. The
soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men and injuring another. The operation was
aimed at arresting three teenage boys who were suspected of throwing stones at the
security fence and surveillance cameras of a settlement and setting fire to a field
which spread to land within the settlement area, damaging a number of trees.
44. Freedom of expression and the right of Palestinians to peaceful assembly are
restricted by the Israel Defense Forces in order to protect settlements or to ensure
that the normal daily life of Israeli settlers is not disrupted. Most weekly
demonstrations are held to protest the occupation, the continued expansion of
settlements and the construction of the wall. Often zones used for weekly protests
by Palestinians are located close to the wall or to roads used by Israeli settlers,
which demarcate the area of a settlement, for example in Bil’in and Ni’lin. The case
of the weekly protest in the village of Nabi Saleh is illustrative. Since 2009,
Palestinians have gathered to protest the takeover by the Hallamish settlement of a
water spring belonging to the village. Every Friday the protesters attempt to walk to
the spring; however, to do so they must walk along a road used by Israeli settlers.
Every Friday the Israel Defense Forces prevent even peaceful protesters from
reaching the road by declaring the zone between the village and the road a closed
military area. If the protesters approach the main road, the Israel Defense Forces use
crowd dispersal methods to deter them. Since the weekly protests began in Nabi
Saleh, numerous incidents of excessive use of force by the Israel Defense Forces
have been reported, resulting in dozens of casualties, including one death in
December 2011. Conversely, when Israeli settlers decided to protest the evacuation
of the Ulpana outpost in June 2012, by organizing a march to Jerusalem, the Israel
Defense Forces allowed the protest and limited traffic on Route 60, the main northsouth
artery in the West Bank, in order to enable the march to proceed.
VII. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
45. The Government of Israel continues to occupy the Syrian Golan Heights.
Within the context of that occupation, the activities of Israel consist of legal and
administrative measures to provide socioeconomic incentives, security,
infrastructure and social services to its citizens residing in the occupied Syrian
Golan, which amounts to the illegal transfer of its population into occupied territory.
Such activities continued during the reporting period, including through the issuance
of tenders for the construction of an additional 69 units in the Israeli settlement of
Katzrin.39 The most recent estimates available indicate that approximately 19,000
__________________
39 Sara Hussein, “Israel unveils tenders for 1,121 new settler homes”, Agence France Presse,
A/67/375
12-51228 17
Israelis have settled in 33 Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan.40 That
figure nearly equals the number of Syrians who live in the occupied Syrian Golan.40
The Secretary-General recalls that in Security Council resolution 497 (1981), it was
decided that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration
in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international
legal effect. The Secretary-General further recalls that in the same resolution, the
Security Council demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, should rescind
forthwith its decision, and determined that all the provisions of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, “continue to apply to the Syrian territory occupied by Israel since
June 1967”.
VIII. Conclusions and recommendations
46. Despite the past commitments of Israel to freeze settlement activity, the
Government of Israel continues to encourage the transfer of its population into
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, by expanding settlements and building
additional housing units.
47. The number of settlements, the number of Israeli settlers and the
associated security measures designed to protect them and their freedom of
movement and expanse of territory under the de facto jurisdiction of regional
and local settlement councils violate the right to self-determination of the
Palestinian people. The settlements present an existential threat to the viability
of a future Palestinian state. The Secretary-General notes that the International
Court of Justice described the violation by Israel of the Palestinian people’s
right to self-determination as the violation of an erga omnes obligation.
Therefore that violation is a matter of concern to all States (see A/ES-10/273
and Corr.1, para. 155).
48. Acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, their
property and places of worship continue to occur regularly throughout the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israel, as the occupying Power, must take
all measures to ensure the protection of the Palestinians and their property in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from all such acts of violence.41
While there has been a decrease in the number of injuries, the continued
occurrence of violence and attacks is alarming. The Secretary-General
condemns all acts of violence destined to cause fear and terror among civilian
populations in the occupied Palestinian territories and calls upon the Israel
Defense Forces to ensure public order and accountability for all acts of violence
in a non-discriminatory manner.42 The Israel Defense Forces should take all
necessary measures to prevent and respond to violence perpetrated by Israeli
settlers with the same thoroughness and promptness as in the case of acts of
__________________
4 April 2012.
40 See “Occupied Golan: nurturing ties with the rest of Syria”, International Committee of the Red
Cross, 15 February 2011.
41 See articles 43 and 46 of the Hague Regulations and article 27 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
42 See article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination.
A/67/375
18 12-51228
violence perpetrated against settlers. Failure to do so and the lack of
accountability when such acts have already occurred contribute to a culture of
impunity that allows such acts to continue. That situation constitutes a violation
of the obligation of Israel to protect the right to life and to physical integrity of
the Palestinian people and to maintain public order in the occupied territory.
The Secretary-General is also deeply concerned by attacks on places of worship
and the potential such attacks have for producing negative consequences on
public order in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
49. The Government of Israel must respect its obligations under international
law by freezing all settlement activity in line with the road map and ceasing
measures that amount to the transfer of its own population into the occupied
territory. The Secretary-General has called on the Government of Israel to
begin the process of re-integrating the settler population into its own territory,
with a view to respecting its obligations under article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention and putting an end to the violations of human rights that are linked
to the presence of settlements, especially the right to self-determination.
United Nations A/68/513
General Assembly Distr.: General
9 October 2013
Original: English
13-50534 (E) 241013
*1350534*
Sixty-eighth session
Agenda item 52
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report by the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to General Assembly resolution 67/120, in
which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its
sixty-eighth session on the implementation of the resolution. The report focuses on
the different ways in which the Government of Israel has contributed to the creation
and expansion of settlements by controlling the land and granting benefits and
incentives to settlers. It also addresses the failure of the Government of Israel to
maintain public order and the lack of accountability for settler violence. In addition,
the report includes an update on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Syrian
Golan. The report covers the period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013.
A/68/513
2/17 13-50534
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 67/120, the General Assembly expressed grave concern about
the continued settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan by Israel, the occupying Power, in
violation of international humanitarian law and relevant United Nations resolutions,
among other things. The Assembly recalled the Declaration of Principles on Interim
Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993 (see A/48/486-S/26560,
annex) and the subsequent implementation agreements between the Palestinian and
Israeli sides as well as the obligations contained in the Quartet road map to a
permanent two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, emphasizing its call
for a freeze on all settlement activity, including so-called natural growth, and the
dismantlement of all settlement outposts erected since March 2001. The Assembly
also expressed grave concern about incidents of violence, destruction, harassment,
provocation and incitement by armed Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians and their
properties, and called for the prevention of all acts of violence, destruction and
provocation by Israeli settlers against them. In relation to both the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, the Assembly reiterated its
demand that Israeli immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and,
in that regard, called for the full implementation of all the relevant resolutions of the
Security Council, including, inter alia, resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979),
465 (1980), 476 (1980) and 1515 (2003).
2. The present report is submitted in response to the request of the General
Assembly in resolution 67/120. The reporting period is from 1 July 2012 to 30 June
2013, although additional important information from July 2013 is included where
relevant. The information contained in the report is based on monitoring and other
information-gathering activities carried out by the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and information provided by other
United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report also
contains information received from Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and media sources. It should be read in conjunction with
previous reports of the Secretary-General on Israeli settlements (A/64/516,
A/65/365, A/66/364 and A/67/375).
3. Previous reports by the Secretary-General have analysed the impact of
settlements on the rights of Palestinians, underscored the discriminatory nature of
the policies and practices of promoting settlements in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, provided updates on settlements, and explored specific concerns, such as
settler violence and the impact of the wall on Palestinian communities. The present
report indicates that the Government of Israel has played a leading role in the
creation and expansion of settlements by controlling the land and granting benefits
and incentives to settlers, and through omissions, such as the failure to maintain
public order and ensure accountability for Israeli settlers. The report analyses the
impact of these actions and omissions on the human rights of Palestinians. Further,
the report includes an update on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Syrian
Golan.
A/68/513
13-50534 3/17
II. Legal background
4. As the Secretary-General has pointed out in previous reports, international
humanitarian law and international human rights law apply to the actions of Israel in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/67/375, para. 4). The Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 (Fourth
Geneva Convention) and the Hague Regulations1 set out the responsibilities of
Israel in its capacity as the occupying Power in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention and, notably, article 49 to the
Occupied Palestinian Territory was affirmed by the International Court of Justice2
and has been reaffirmed by the Security Council (resolutions 799 (1992) and 1860
(2009)), the General Assembly (resolutions 66/79 and 67/121) and the Human
Rights Council (resolutions 19/17 and 22/28). Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention establishes that the “Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts
of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”. In addition, the
International Court of Justice affirmed that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, have been established in breach of
international law (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 120).
5. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel is also bound by international
obligations contained in the human rights treaties that it has ratified (see A/67/375,
para. 5). Israel has disputed the application of international human rights treaties to
the Occupied Palestinian Territory. However, United Nations treaty bodies
responsible for reviewing the compliance of States with human rights treaties have
consistently reiterated that Israel is obliged to implement its human rights
obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.3 This has been confirmed by the
International Court of Justice (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 102-113).
III. Overview
6. In September 1993, the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) signed the so-called Oslo Accords, which temporarily divided
the West Bank into three administrative zones, referred to as Areas A, B and C. This
territorial division continues to be used in the West Bank. Area A, which comprises
18 per cent of the territory of the West Bank, includes mainly the major Palestinian
cities, and is under Palestinian security and civil authority. Area B, 21 per cent of
the area of the West Bank, comprises most Palestinian rural communities, in which
civil authority is under the Palestinian Authority, while security responsibilities are
under Israeli authorities (initially joint security control). Area C, approximately
61 per cent of the area of the West Bank, is under almost full Israeli military and
civilian authority, including with respect to law enforcement and the building and
planning regimes.
__________________
1 The Hague Regulations are annexed to the Hague Convention Respecting the Law and Customs
of War on Land of 18 October 1907 (Convention IV).
2 Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the
Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, of 9 July 2004 (A/ES-10/273 and
Corr.1), para. 101.
3 See concluding observations contained in documents CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 10; and
CRC/C/ISR/CO/2-4, para. 3.
A/68/513
4/17 13-50534
7. On 28 September 1995, the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip was signed by Israel and PLO. It details the steps that Israel and PLO were
committed to take and the arrangements between them for the interim period of
negotiations. Final clause 7 of annex XXXI of the Interim Agreement provides that
“Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations”.
Final clause 8 of annex XXXI adds that “The two parties view the West Bank and
Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, the integrity and status of which will be
preserved during the interim period”.
8. Twenty years after the Oslo Accords were signed, many of the commitments
contained therein remain unfulfilled. During the reporting period, Israeli settlements
in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have grown continuously. According to
the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, between 1967 and December 2012, Israel established around 150
settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; 18 of them were established
after 1993.4 In addition, some 100 so-called outposts5 were erected by settlers, most
of them after the signing of the Oslo Accords.6
9. It is difficult to estimate the amount of Israeli public resources involved in the
construction and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
because allocations to settlements are not specified in the national budget. Most
items of the budget are worded in a general way without a geographical breakdown
and without listing the communities to which the resources are allocated.7 Even the
State Comptroller stated that it was not possible to identify the portion of the budget
directed to the West Bank.8 In addition, information on State investments made
through the Settlements Division of the World Zionist Organization, whose role is to
assist the Government in establishing settlements, including in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory,9 is not public.
10. Estimations of the current settlement population in the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem, range between 500,000 and 650,000 (see A/67/375, para. 7). The
settler population living in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) has almost
__________________
4 According to Peace Now, 11 settlements were established in East Jerusalem after 1993: Ramat
Shlomo (1994), Shimon Hatzadik (2001), Emek Zurim (2003), Hashalom Forest (2006), Beit
Hachoshen (2006), Ma’ale Zeitim (1998), Beit Yonatan (2006), Kidmat Zion (2006), Jabel
Mukabber (2010), Nof Zion (2004) and Mosrara East (2004). Seven settlements were
established in other parts of the West Bank after 1993: Bruchin (1999), Har Shmuel (1998 —
officially part of Givaat Ze’ev), Kfar Ha’oranim (1998), Modi’in Ilit (1996), Negohot (1999),
Nirit (expanded into the West Bank around 2004) and Sansana (1999).
5 Outposts are settlements which although often established with some kind of Government
support are not officially recognized under Israeli law.
6 According to Peace Now, 3 out of 100 outposts were established before 1993: Tal Menashe
(1991), Nerya (officially part of Talmon — 1991), and Shvut Rachel (1991).
7 B’tselem, “By hook and by crook, Israeli settlement policy in the West Bank”, July 2010,
available from www.btselem.org.
8 State Comptroller report 54B, 2004.
9 The Sason report (2005), commissioned by the Israeli Government, states: “The Settlement
Division is a part of the World Zionist Organization, which is a settling body, according to a
government resolution. The Division’s role is to assist the government in establishing Israeli
settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Its full budget comes from State treasury”; available
from www.mfa.gov.
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tripled since 1993.10 During the past decade, it grew at an average yearly rate of
5.3 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent for the Israeli population as a whole (see
A/67/375, para. 7). The settler population in East Jerusalem also grew by
approximately one third between 1993 and 2012.11 Since the signature of the Oslo
Accords, there has been an increase of approximately 270,000 settlers in the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem.
11. Ten years after the Oslo Accords were signed, Israel committed, under the
Quartet road map, to freeze all settlement activity, including the “natural growth of
settlements”, a commitment that has never been fulfilled. Beyond the 10-month
partial freeze of settlement activity declared in 2010, no further measures have been
taken to meet that commitment. During the reporting period, existing Israeli
settlements continued to expand and new settlements were approved. In May 2013,
the Government announced its intention to establish four new settlements, Mitzpe
Lachish, Givat Assaf, Maale Rehavam and Haroe, by legalizing outposts.12 It is
difficult to obtain accurate official data on the expansion of settlements. The
planning process involves several stages, including several approvals from the
Minister of Defence. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, between
January and March 2013, the construction of 865 settlement housing units began in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory (excluding East Jerusalem), showing a 355 per
cent increase compared with those initiated during the final quarter of 2012.12
12. As stated by the Secretary-General in a previous report to the General
Assembly (A/66/364), settlement activity and the violence committed by Israeli
settlers are linked to most of the human rights violations against Palestinians in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. For instance, the right not to be discriminated
against is violated through the application of separate legal systems. The Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated in its concluding observations
that Israel should ensure equal access to justice for Palestinians and settlers
(see CERD/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 27). As explained in paragraphs 31 to 34 below,
another example of discrimination against Palestinians is the restrictive regime for
Palestinian construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. As a result of
the restrictions, Palestinians often build without permits, which puts them under a
constant threat of eviction and demolition (see A/66/364, para. 10). During the
reporting period, 602 Palestinian structures were demolished, displacing 894 people,
including 470 children.
13. Palestinians see their freedom of movement restricted by hundreds of physical
barriers and the wall which, upon completion, would render some 9.4 per cent of
West Bank territory on the western side of the wall inaccessible to Palestinians,
except for those with special permits or through a process of “prior coordination”
(see A/67/375, para. 41). In his previous report, the Secretary-General highlighted
that the vast majority of limitations to the rights of Palestinians are related to the
presence of settlements, including to ensure the security of settlers and to facilitate
their movement through the West Bank, and to ensure that the normal daily life of
settlers is not disrupted (ibid., paras. 41 and 44).
__________________
10 According to Peace Now, the population grew from 111,600 in 1993 to 341,418 in 2012.
11 According to Peace Now, there were 150,000 settlers in East Jerusalem in 1993. The Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated their population at 200,000 in 2012.
12 Information provided by Peace Now.
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14. Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are subject to
frequent search and arrest operations, which in many cases are linked to Israeli
security measures carried out with the goal of protecting settlers and their property
(ibid., para. 43). These operations are often linked to stone-throwing by Palestinian
children at settlers’ vehicles. Popular protests against restrictions to movement and
access relating to settlements, construction of the wall and the takeover of land and
resources by settlers frequently result in clashes between Palestinian protestors and
Israeli forces, causing Palestinian civilian casualties. It appears that Palestinian
children are particularly affected by operations by Israeli security forces in the
vicinity of settlements or on roads used by settlers or the army that run by
Palestinian villages (see A/HRC/22/63, para. 48). The rights of Palestinian children
to liberty, security of person and fair trial are often violated from the time of their
arrest throughout detention, trial and sentencing, as recently reported by the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).13 The Committee on the Rights of the Child
also expressed concern about the practice of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian
children arrested, prosecuted and detained by the Israeli authorities
(see CRC/C/ISR/CO/2-4).
IV. Israel’s leading role in the construction and expansion
of settlements
15. Since 1967, the State of Israel has directly participated in the planning of
settlements through provisions in its planning policies, in particular its “basic policy
guidelines”.14 These guidelines are the primary policy instrument of Israeli
administrations and are presented by each Government to the Knesset for
endorsement. Following the signing of the Oslo Accords, policy guidelines focused
on the consolidation and development of existing settlements, indicating that no new
settlements would be established. Israel has also supported settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory through other means, including by legalizing
outposts, controlling land in which settlements are subsequently built, providing
them with infrastructure and public services, granting benefits and incentives to
settlers and sponsoring economic activities.
16. Israel has participated in the expansion of settlements through support to
outposts. According to the Sasson report, which was commissioned by the
Government of Israel in 2005, a substantial number of outposts were built with the
involvement of State authorities and public bodies, including through the provision
of funds, infrastructure and security. The report concluded that this situation
seriously endangered the rule of law and recommended that the Government take
the necessary measures to change this reality.15 While a few evacuations took place
__________________
13 UNICEF Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Children in Israeli military detention: observations
and recommendations”, 6 March 2013; available from www.unicef.org. Israeli authorities have
expressed their willingness to implement the recommendations of UNICEF.
14 For an analysis of the main trends of Israeli policy guidelines regarding the support to
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, see A/HRC/22/63, annex I.
15 In contrast, the Levy report also commissioned by the Government in 2012, recommended
“legalizing”, in Israeli law, most unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank (Haaretz,
15 August 2012).
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following orders from the Israeli High Court of Justice,16 the majority of outposts
remain in place and new ones continue to be established.
Control of land
17. Israel has used different methods to seize land for settlement, amounting to
approximately half of the West Bank.17 Only limited information is available in the
public domain on this issue. In some cases, even the State Comptroller is not
granted access, while, in other cases, information provided by different government
bodies is contradictory.7 The requisition of Palestinian-owned land for military
needs was used mainly between 1967 and 1979, on the premise that it was “required
for essential and urgent military needs”.18 Under international law, the occupying
power has the right to requisition private property under certain circumstances.19
Article 46 of the Hague Regulations establishes that private property cannot be
confiscated, and article 52 states that requisitions can be made only for the needs of
the army of occupation. In most cases of requisition of Palestinian land for military
needs in connection with settlements, these conditions are not fulfilled because
settlements are not established to exclusively satisfy the needs of the Israeli army.
The International Court of Justice confirmed this when it declared that requisitions
of land for military needs in relation to the construction of the wall were illegal
under international law (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 124).
18. Following the decision of the Israeli High Court of Justice on the Elon Moreh
case of 1979,20 in which the Court ordered the return of seized private property to
its owners, the use of military requisition decreased. However, it has often been
used to allow for the construction of bypass roads,21 permitting settlers to travel
through the West Bank without passing through Palestinian towns (see A/63/519). It
is doubtful that these roads qualify as military needs in accordance with the
provisions of the Hague Regulations.
19. Israel made use of land requisitioned for military needs for the construction of
the wall. Some 85 per cent of the wall runs inside the West Bank, leaving almost
half of Israeli settlements between the Green Line and the wall’s route, including
about 85 per cent of the entire settler population. The International Court of Justice
indicated that the wall’s route has been traced in such a way as to include within this
area the great majority of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (including East Jerusalem) (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 119). It
therefore appears likely that land requisition in connection with the wall was
intended for the expansion of settlements and not to satisfy military needs of the
occupying army.
20. The declaration of State land was used mainly during the 1980s and 1990s.
Declarations of State land are based on civilian laws in place before the occupation,
__________________
16 In 2012, Ramat Migron and Ulpana outposts were evacuated.
17 43 per cent of the West Bank is allocated to settlement local and regional councils.
18 This was a standard formula used in military orders. See B’tselem, “Land grab: Israel’s
settlement policy in the West Bank”, May 2002, available from www.btselem.org.
19 Commentary on art. 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention by Jean Pictet, ed., The Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Geneva, International Committee of the Red Cross, 1958).
20 Duweikat v. Government of Israel, HCJ 390/79 (1979).
21 B’tselem, “Land grab: Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank”, May 2002, available from
www.btselem.org.
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in particular the Ottoman Land Law of 1858. According to the interpretation of
these laws by Israel, the occupying Power is allowed to take possession of
uncultivated land (see A/63/519). It appears that the process to declare State land is
not in accordance with the standards of due process and undermines the right to an
effective remedy. Declarations of State land can be appealed within 45 days after the
declaration. However, Palestinian owners often are not duly informed of the
declaration,7 which hinders the possibility of filing an appeal. The Military Appeals
Committee is the Civil Administration body responsible for deciding on the appeals
against declarations of State land. Members of the Committee are appointed by the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which raises serious questions about the independence
and impartiality of such a body, since it reviews decisions made by the military.
Moreover, the decisions of the Committee are not binding21 and may thus be
revoked, depriving Palestinians of an effective remedy against declarations of State
land. Approximately 16 per cent of the West Bank has been declared State land and
is used for settlements, in particular around areas built up by Palestinians.7
21. Subsequent to the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel employed an alternative
method to expropriate Palestinian land, based on the Jordanian land law permitting
expropriations for the “benefit of the population” (see A/63/519, para. 20). Israel
amended this law through military orders, assigning the authority to expropriate to
the Civil Administration, whose decisions can be appealed before the Military
Appeals Committee (ibid., para. 21). Observers have noted that the Civil
Administration does not adequately inform Palestinians about decisions involving
their property in relation to expropriation for public needs. It has been alleged that it
only posts maps of the intended expropriation in its offices, in the Israeli-Palestinian
District Coordination Offices22 and in liaison offices.7
22. The expropriation for public needs has not been frequently used for the
establishment and expansion of settlements, because the law requires that the
expropriation is made for a public purpose, that is, also benefiting Palestinians.21 It
has been used mainly for building infrastructure, including roads to connect
settlements to one another and to Israel, claiming that Palestinians also benefit from
them.7 An exception is the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, which was established east
of Jerusalem on approximately 3,500 hectares of Palestinian land expropriated for
public needs in the 1970s.23 Following the expropriation, the boundaries were
declared by military order. During the 1980s and 1990s, the boundaries were
expanded by approximately 1,300 hectares through declarations of State land.24
Benefits and incentives granted to settlers
23. Following the signing of the Oslo Accords, there was a reduction in the trend
of creation and rapid expansion of settlements.25 However, in June 1996, the
__________________
22 District Coordination Offices were established by the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip as a coordination mechanism between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, mainly
for security issues located in each district of the West Bank and Gaza.
23 B’tselem, “The hidden agenda: the establishment and expansion plans of Ma’ale Adumim and
their human rights ramifications, December 2009, available from www.btselem.org.
24 B’tselem, “Acting the landlord: Israel’s policy in Area C”, June 2013, available from
www.btselem.org.
25 The majority of settlements were established between 1967 and 1992 with a peak between 1988
and 1992. According to B’tselem, between 1993 and 2009 the number of settlements varied
between 120 and 123.
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Government issued its basic policy guidelines, which stated that “settlement in the
Negev, the Galilee, the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley, and in Judea, Samaria
(West Bank) and Gaza is of national importance to Israel’s defence and an
expression of Zionist fulfilment. The Government will alter the settlement policy,
act to consolidate and develop the settlement enterprise in these areas, and allocate
the resources necessary for this”.
24. Successive Governments of Israel periodically set a plan designating villages
and towns as national priority areas in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
These areas are entitled to certain benefits, including Government incentives
supporting housing, education, industry, agriculture and tourism, and support given
to local authorities. National priority areas can be at level A or B; the former
receives the maximum benefits in all fields, whereas the latter receives similar
benefits in a smaller amount. In 1998, the Government approved Decision No. 3292,
which defined many Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as
national priority area level A. Benefits included benefits in housing, education and
taxes significantly lower than those established for communities within Israel proper
(see A/HRC/22/63, annex I).
25. In 2006, the High Court of Justice declared that benefits and incentives on
education granted to national priority areas were biased and discriminatory and
ordered their cancellation.26 The Court recommended that the Government make an
“overall correction” of all benefits granted to national priority areas. This was
purportedly done in 2009, when the Law on National Priority Areas was enacted.27
Some sources report that the law contradicts the decision of the High Court because
it preserves the broad discretion of the Government to allocate State resources to
national priority areas. In 2013, the Government approved a new list of such areas,
including 91 settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The list includes an
additional nine new settlements, including three former outposts, Bruchin, Sansana
and Rechalim, legalized in 2012 (see A/67/375, para. 6).
26. The Ministry of Housing and Construction and the Israel Land Administration
grant incentives and benefits to settlers that reduce housing costs in settlements.
Settlements classified as national priority area A can get a discount of up to a 69 per
cent of the value of the land. In addition, the Government assumes up to 50 per cent
of the development costs of construction.7 The Government also provides mortgage
subsidies, including an automatic subsidized mortgage (for national priority area A)
or association mortgages, a second double mortgage subsidized by the State.
According to the State Comptroller, between 1997 and 2002, the Ministry invested
NIS 419 million in mortgages for apartments located mainly in West Bank
settlements.8
27. Education benefits granted by the Ministry of Education include advantages
for teachers living in settlements, such as rent subsidies, subsidies for travel
expenses related to training and payment of the employer’s share in a teacher’s fund
for advanced training, among other things. Benefits for settlers include an
exemption from tuition fees for preschool children, subsidies for matriculation
__________________
26 High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel v. The Prime Minister of Israel,
Judgment (2006), HCJ-11163/03.
27 Through the additional section to the Economic Arrangements Law entitled “National Priority
Areas” adopted in 2009. See Adalah, “On the Israeli Government’s new decision classifying
communities as national priority areas” (2010).
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examination fees and privileges in scholarships. Local authorities in settlements are
also entitled to benefits in education, including an allocation for additional school
tuition hours, full funding for installing computers in schools, an additional budget
for schools with special needs and a grant of NIS 100,000 to each community
centre.26 Furthermore, the Free Compulsory Education Law from 3 years of age is
partially implemented in national priority area A, while its full implementation has
been postponed until 2019. Schools and kindergartens have an extended school day,
and 90 to 100 per cent of school transportation costs are covered by the State.7
28. The Ministry of Agriculture classifies communities in the Jordan Valley and
remaining settlements as administrative development areas “A”, which entitles them
to grants, subsidies and tax benefits on profits.7 The Ministry also indemnifies
farmers in settlements from European Union customs imposed on their products.28
29. Businesses have benefited from settlements directly and indirectly. Economic
activities in industrial zones located in settlements are increasing because of several
incentives, including tax breaks, low rents and low labour costs. Banks are
contributing by providing financial services to enterprises located in settlements and
special loans for building projects (see A/HRC/22/63, paras. 96 and 97). The
Industry and Trade Ministry provides benefits to factories in settlements, including
24 per cent of the investment, income tax benefits, increased grants for research and
assistance in hiring workers.7 Industry, tourism and trade activities in settlements
have a 69 per cent reduction on land leases.
Israeli policies in Area C
30. Approximately 61 per cent of the occupied West Bank is classified as Area C
under the Oslo Accords, and is home to approximately 150,000 Palestinians. Some
325,000 Israeli settlers live in around 135 settlements and 100 outposts in Area C.
Some 70 per cent of Area C is off limits to Palestinians, as it is placed within the
jurisdictional boundaries of the settlements’ regional and local councils. Palestinians
are not allowed to construct on State land, in military firing zones, nature reserves,
the buffer zone around the wall and alongside major roads, leaving them with only
30 per cent of Area C where construction is not a priori prohibited,24 but various
restrictions make it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain a permit for
building homes or infrastructure in the remaining 30 per cent (see A/66/364,
para. 19).
31. In order to obtain a building permit, any construction must be consistent with
an approved planning scheme. Nevertheless, it is reported that, in practice,
Palestinian construction is allowed only within the boundaries of a detailed or
special Civil Administration plan, and those plans cover less than 1 per cent of Area
C, much of which is already built up. In areas with no Civil Administration plans,
Palestinian construction is permitted but it must adapt to the narrow building
possibilities allowed by plans approved under the British Mandate in the 1940s,
which classify the majority of Area C as an agriculture zone, making them
inadequate to deal with current planning needs of the Palestinians.
__________________
28 In 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that goods manufactured in Israeli settlements in
the West Bank cannot be imported into the European Union duty free, similar to all other
products made within Israel’s 1967 borders.
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32. In addition, Palestinians cannot participate in the planning process. All
decisions related to Area C planning are in the hands of the Civil Administration’s
Higher Planning Council29 under the authority of the Ministry of Defence of Israel
and is composed exclusively of Israeli officials (see A/HRC/22/46/Add.1, para. 66).
Modifications by Israel to the Jordanian law in force at the start of the occupation
eliminated the participation of Palestinians in the planning process. These
modifications to the Jordanian law were of such an extent that Israel exceeded the
competence afforded to it, as the occupying Power, to legislate, according to article
43 of the Hague Regulations. Palestinians are not able to provide any input for the
zoning, the development of plans and the approval of construction for their
communities. They retained only the possibility of presenting objections to plans. In
a positive development, the Higher Planning Council has started to receive
objections to master plans and has agreed to redraft or review some of them.
However, it is reported that such revised plans have yet to be approved or
validated.24
33. The restrictions on Palestinian construction are extended to infrastructure and
services. For instance, over 70 per cent of Palestinian communities in Area C are not
connected to any water supply network. In addition, the Civil Administration grants
building permits for schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure only in few villages
in which it has approved a master plan. Currently, there are master plans for only 16
out of 180 Palestinian villages entirely located in Area C.24
34. In contrast, settlements receive allocations of land, detailed planning and
connection to advanced infrastructure. Settlers enjoy full representation in the
planning process.24 Further, planning and construction laws often are not enforced in
relation to settlers. The State Comptroller noted in 2013 that this is attributable to
the position taken by the Israeli police that investigations of these violations are not
under its jurisdiction, while the Civil Administration refuses to investigate them for
fear of reactions by settlers. Given that violations of planning and construction laws
in the West Bank by settlers are not treated as criminal offences, the authorities only
issue administrative demolition orders, which are rarely implemented.
35. In July 2013, the European Union announced the adoption of binding
directives that forbid any funding, cooperation, awarding of scholarships, research
funds or prizes to anyone residing in settlements. Any contract signed by a European
Union country with Israel should include a clause stating that settlements are not
part of Israel and therefore not part of the agreement. The media reported that, in
response, Israel will refuse to grant new permits or renew existing permits for
European Union construction projects in Area C, and will not issue or renew any
documents that European Union personnel might need for travel in the West Bank or
into Gaza from Israel. This may negatively affect many Palestinians who benefit
from European Union projects in Area C.30
__________________
29 This situation obtains despite the fact that the Oslo Accords called for the gradual transfer of
power and responsibility in the sphere of planning and zoning in Area C from Israel to the
Palestinian Authority.
30 According to B’tselem, European investment in the planning of Area C communities at present
is currently valued at 2.7 million euros.
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Impact of Israeli settlement policies on Palestinians’ economic, social and
cultural rights
36. Some 43 per cent of the land in the West Bank, including almost all land
considered as “State land”, has been allocated to settlements, including fertile
agricultural and grazing lands, water and other natural resources and tourist sites.
This, coupled with the responsibility undertaken by Israel for planning and zoning
in all of Area C, has significantly decreased the space available for Palestinians to
sustain their livelihoods and develop adequate housing and basic infrastructure and
services, such as health and education facilities, and therefore directly impinging
upon the economic, social and cultural rights of Palestinians.
37. Settlements and settlement related activities seriously jeopardize Palestinians’
livelihoods. A case recently monitored by OHCHR illustrates this. The Palestinian
Bedouin community of Umm Al Khair (Hebron Governorate) is located a few
metres behind the settlement of Karmel, which has recently expanded its boundaries
by building new housing units in the area used by the Bedouins of Umm Al Khair to
access their grazing lands. Reportedly, Israeli security forces, in support of the
Karmel settlers, are enforcing the new self-established boundaries and are
preventing the Bedouin Palestinians from accessing their grazing lands, arresting
shepherds, and using physical force against them. Lack of access to their grazing
lands is increasing the economic hardship of the Bedouin Palestinians of Umm Al
Khair.
38. Israel controls all sources of water in the West Bank and prevents Palestinians
from exercising effective control over the development and management of the
available water resources in the region (see A/64/516, paras. 41-47, and A/67/375,
para. 14). A joint water committee was established in the context of the Oslo
Accords. While Israel exercises considerable influence in relation to water issues, in
principle all decisions regarding water projects are approved by the committee. In
practice, however, the Israeli water management system and policies in place
discriminate against Palestinians.31 The Israeli settler population consumes
approximately six times the amount of water used by the Palestinian population.32
Israeli settlers consume per capita a daily average of 369 litres of water for domestic
use, while Palestinians on average have access to 70 litres, well below the standard
of 100 litres set by the World Health Organization. The Israeli Water Authority has
contested this data, stating that Palestinians consume around 190 million cubic
metres of water per year, compared with 60 million cubic metres in 1967 and
118 million cubic metres in 1995. The Israeli Water Authority also claims that the
Palestinian Authority loses more than 33 per cent of its water owing to faulty water
pipes, and that Palestinians do not comply with the Oslo Accords because they do
not treat their sewage. Nevertheless, the ability of the Palestinian Authority to
address these issues is significantly limited by the need to obtain Israeli approval for
repair of the existing water networks or the development of new infrastructure.
39. In terms of the water used for agricultural purposes, the discrepancy between
the levels of access to water and water consumption by Palestinians and settlers is
__________________
31 Human Rights Watch, “Separate and unequal, Israel’s discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (2010).
32 Al Haq, Water For One People Only: Discriminatory Access and Water-Apartheid in the OPT
(Al-Haq Organization, 2013); and Amnesty International, Troubled Waters: Palestinians denied
fair access to water (London, Amnesty International, 2009).
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even greater.33 Furthermore, settlers in the West Bank confiscate, destroy and hinder
access to water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructures in their vicinity, including
water springs (see A/67/375 para. 21).
40. Before 1967, agriculture was the biggest employer of Palestinian labour.34
Confiscation of land and restrictions on access to land and to water are among the
main factors that have led to the decline of Palestinian agriculture. Cultivated areas
shrunk by 30 per cent from 1965 to 1994, and Palestinian agricultural production
amounts to 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 50 per
cent in 1968. The low quantity of water available has forced Palestinian farmers to
rely increasingly on rain-fed crops, which are less profitable than irrigated crops.
The cost of the forgone opportunity in irrigated agriculture is estimated to be as high
as 10 per cent of GDP and 110,000 jobs.35
41. Conversely, agriculture is the largest sector of the Israeli settlement economy
and Palestinian markets are flooded with agricultural settlement products.36 Settlers
in the Jordan Valley, an area largely off limits for Palestinians, cultivate large areas
of land and grow crops that require large amounts of water, using most of the water
resources in the area.
V. Failure to maintain public order, settler violence and lack
of accountability
42. As previously highlighted by the Secretary-General, Palestinians are often
victims of acts of violence by Israeli settlers and Israeli law enforcement forces
have in numerous cases failed to protect them against such attacks (see A/67/375,
para. 30). Israel has the legal obligation to protect the rights of Palestinians in
accordance with international human rights law. In addition, pursuant to article 43
of the Hague Regulations and articles 4 and 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention,
Israel, as the occupying Power, has the obligation to maintain the public order and
safety in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and has the obligation to provide
Palestinians with all guarantees accorded to protected persons under international
humanitarian law.
43. Palestinians continued to be the target of acts of violence by Israeli settlers in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, putting their security and livelihood at
risk. Such acts include physical attacks with different weapons, including batons,
knives and live ammunition, and the throwing of stones; destruction and denial of
access to property, in particular agricultural lands; and “price tag” incidents.37 Many
of the injuries to Palestinians occurred in the middle of clashes with settlers or were
attributable to stone-throwing by Israeli settlers. During the reporting period, 178
Palestinians were injured in acts of violence committed by settlers, out of which 16
were women and 34 were children. This is an increase compared with the period
__________________
33 Al Haq, 2013, see footnote 32 above.
34 Emergency Water and Sanitation/Hygiene (EWASH), Fact Sheet 14, 2013; and Palestinian
Central Bureau of Statistics, “Palestine in figures 2012”, March 2013.
35 World Bank, “The underpinnings of the future Palestinian State: sustainable growth and
institutions”, Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 2010.
36 EWASH, 2013, see footnote 34 above.
37 Strategy whereby Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and sometimes, IDF, in response to events
or actions affecting them, such as the evacuation of outposts or the killing of settlers.
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covered in the previous report, during which 147 injuries were reported. Incidents of
violence by Palestinians against Israeli settlers also increased; one killing and 80
injuries, including of 10 women and 7 children, were reported.
44. On 17 September 2012, in a case monitored by OHCHR, three Palestinian
farmers from Aqraba village were walking home from their olive groves south of
Itamar settlement (south of Nablus) when six settlers, masked and armed with rifles
and clubs, reportedly attacked them on an agricultural road leading to the village.
One farmer was beaten all over his body by two settlers. Another farmer was struck
on his left arm, right shoulder, legs and knees and was then hit with a stone in the
head. It was reported that the two farmers fell unconscious while settlers continued
to attack them. The third farmer managed to get up, run away and call his father for
help. When residents from the village arrived, the settlers allegedly had left the area.
One victim was hospitalized for two days and the other for three days.
45. During the reporting period, OHCHR monitored cases in which IDF failed to
protect Palestinians against settler violence, including cases in which IDF soldiers
were present. On 23 February 2013, clashes took place between settlers from the
outpost Esh Kodesh and Palestinians of the nearby village of Qusra. Settlers
allegedly used live ammunition against Palestinians, causing serious injury to a
man. IDF soldiers arrived to the site shortly after the clashes started but reportedly
intervened only after settlers started using live ammunition. The soldiers did not
detain any of the settlers using firearms; instead, they used tear gas to disperse the
Palestinians.
46. In another case monitored by OHCHR, settlers from Yitzhar settlement
attacked a neighbourhood of Burin village south of Nablus, on 2 February 2013.
Settlers were allegedly masked and had batons, plastic tubes, knives and saws.
When village residents gathered to help to protect the families under attack, one
settler reportedly shot and injured a 17-year-old boy in the right thigh. An IDF
military jeep later arrived on Road 60 and reportedly started firing tear gas at the
Palestinians who were clashing with settlers in the area. Clashes continued until IDF
allegedly raided the village and carried out security measures against the Palestinian
residents until late in the evening. Reportedly, IDF fired tens of tear gas canisters
among the houses, which forced some families to leave their homes.
47. Despite the fact that, as reported previously (see A/67/375), incidents of settler
violence often take place in Qusra and in villages surrounding the Yithzar
settlement, Israel has not taken sufficient effective measures to prevent settler
violence in these areas. Recently, the Israeli State Comptroller noted that IDF was
not fulfilling its responsibility to maintain public order and safety in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory. He indicated that the army’s order setting out the forces’
obligation to know its mission did not explicitly refer to law enforcement.
48. Settlers also frequently attack and destroy Palestinian property, including
homes, cars, olive trees and crops, seriously undermining the livelihoods of
Palestinians. In a case monitored by OHCHR in Zeef (Hebron Governorate), on
29 May 2013, settlers stopped their car and allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at
piles of recently harvested wheat, and fled the scene. The extent of the damage was
estimated at 13 dunums.
49. Palestinian farmers, whose agricultural lands are located inside or near
settlements, face regular restrictions on access and settler attacks against them and
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their properties. An estimated 90 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have
land within, or in the vicinity of, 55 Israeli settlements and settlement outposts.
Access by Palestinians to such land is subject to “prior coordination” with the
Israeli authorities, even in cases in which the fencing-off of the land was carried out
by settlers without authorization from the Israeli authorities. If “prior coordination”
is approved, access is generally granted for a limited number of days during the
annual olive harvest, and Israeli soldiers are deployed to protect their access during
these periods. In July 2013, approximately 1,000 olive trees were uprooted and
destroyed by settlers in Awarta village (Nablus Governorate), in an area where
Palestinian farmers are granted only few days of access a year subject to prior
coordination with the Civil Administration. During the reporting period, 9,375 trees
and saplings were damaged or destroyed by settlers. The monthly average of trees
and saplings damaged or destroyed in the first five months of 2013 increased by
51 per cent compared with 2012.
50. Settler violence curtails the right of Palestinian children to education.
According to information provided by UNICEF, during the reporting period, settlers
from Yitzhar repeatedly attacked schools in the Palestinian village of Urif, affecting
some 1,540 students. In addition, 17 incidents of settler violence hindered access to
education for more than 5,000 children, with the highest number of incidents
registered in Nablus Governorate, followed by those registered in Hebron. Incidents
included direct physical attacks against children on their way to school. In four
separate incidents, raw sewage from nearby Israeli settlements flooded Palestinian
school premises and impeded the normal delivery of the classes in Azzun Bait Amin
Secondary School (Qalqiliya).
Lack of accountability
51. The lack of accountability for crimes committed by Israeli settlers persists (see
A/66/364, paras. 22-23, and A/67/375, paras. 37-39). The challenge of
accountability is analysed in depth in the Secretary-General’s report requested by
the General Assembly in its resolution 67/121 (A/68/502).
52. An Israeli human rights organization that assists Palestinians in filing
complaints in cases of settler violence recently issued a report indicating that,
between 2005 and 2013, only 8.5 per cent of the investigations opened in relation to
settler violence incidents in the West Bank resulted in indictments. Some 84 per cent
of the investigations were closed, owing mainly to investigatory failures, including
the lack of identification of suspects and the inability to collect evidence for
prosecution.38 These findings are almost identical to those published since 2005
(see A/67/375, para. 38), indicating that the Israeli authorities have not taken
measures to effectively address impunity for settler violence, in spite of several
recommendations to that effect made by the Secretary-General (see A/63/519 and
A/64/516). The most recent report of the State Comptroller of Israel illustrates the
failure of the Israeli authorities to investigate settler violence. According to the
Comptroller, Israeli soldiers typically arrive to the crime scene before the police and
do not take appropriate action to protect Palestinians and preserve the crime scene.
The Comptroller also indicated that soldiers are not trained to handle crime scenes
__________________
38 Yesh Din Monitoring Update, data sheet, “Law enforcement on Israeli citizens in the West
Bank”, July 2013.
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and do not send evidence in time, if at all, to the police, thereby disrupting any
investigation and criminal procedures.
VI. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
53. The Government of Israel continues to occupy the Syrian Golan. It is
estimated that approximately 20,000 Israeli settlers live in 33 settlements in the
occupied Syrian Golan. Israel continues to encourage the growth of the settler
population in the Golan through socioeconomic incentives, in clear violation of the
Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel also controls scarce water resources in the Golan
and distributes a disproportionate share to Israeli settlements through Mekorot, the
Israeli national water company, and Mey Golan, a private Israeli company that
supplies water directly to Israeli settlers at preferential rates.39
54. The Secretary-General is particularly concerned about the exploitation by
Israel of natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan for its own benefit. In this
connection, the Secretary-General recalls that, in February 2013, the Israeli Ministry
of Energy and Water granted a local Israeli subsidiary of United States-based Genie
Oil and Gas a three-year exclusive petroleum exploration licence in the occupied
Syrian Golan. The Secretary-General is also concerned at reports of Governmentsponsored
investments in wind energy turbines. In this regard, regional Israeli
authorities granted a permit to a local company in February 2013 for 41 turbines to
be installed at Emek Habacha in the northern occupied Syrian Golan. The project is
expected to be operational by 2015.40
VII. Conclusion and recommendations
55. Despite past commitments to freeze settlement activity in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Israel has over the years been playing a leading role in,
and supporting and encouraging, the establishment and expansion of,
settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied
Syrian Golan through many different means. In contravention of its
international legal obligations, Israel has failed to ensure public order in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and to protect Palestinians against violent acts
committed by settlers. Israel has also failed to ensure accountability for settler
violence.
56. The Government of Israel must stop playing a leading role in, and
supporting and encouraging the establishment and expansion of settlements in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan. In
particular, it should stop using the requisition and expropriation of land and
the allocation of State land for the establishment and expansion of settlements
and should halt the granting of benefits and incentives to settlements and
settlers. Israel must enforce the existing applicable laws against settlers who
take over land, whether it is State land or privately owned. Israel must also
refrain from issuing permits and licences to private companies seeking to
__________________
39 Al-Marsad — Arab Human Rights Centre in the Golan Heights, “Water is life”, 2013.
40 Wind Power Monthly, “Israel approves 120 megawatts in the Golan Heights”, 5 February 2013.
A/68/513
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exploit and profit from the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.
57. Israel must bring its legislation, policies and practices into compliance
with its international legal obligations and its commitments set out in the road
map, including by immediately ceasing the transfer of its population to the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and by completely ending all settlement activity.
Israel must also implement relevant United Nations resolutions, including
Security Council resolution 497 (1981), and withdraw from territories occupied
in 1967.
58. Israel must cease its discriminatory policies and practices against
Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including by
amending the zoning and planning legislation and processes, in order to ensure
the full participation of Palestinians throughout the planning process, in
accordance with due process standards, and to ensure their right to an effective
remedy.
59. Israel, as the occupying Power, must take all necessary measures to ensure
the protection of Palestinians and their property from acts of violence,
including through preventive measures. All acts of violence committed by
Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property must be investigated
independently, impartially, thoroughly, promptly, effectively and in a
non-discriminatory manner. Transparency in investigations should also be
ensured. Individuals who are responsible for violations should be prosecuted
and victims should be provided with an effective remedy.
United Nations A/69/348
General Assembly
Distr.: General
25 August 2014
Original: English
14-59693 (E) 220914
*1459693*
Sixty-ninth session
Item 51 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report by the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report, which has been prepared by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to General Assembly
resolution 68/82, provides an update on Israel’s activities aimed at creating and
expanding settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the
occupied Syrian Golan. It focuses on both official and informal methods used by
Israel to control land, which is then allocated to settlements. It also provides an
update on settler violence and addresses the failure of Israel to maintain public order
and ensure accountability for settler violence.
* A/69/150.
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2/17 14-59693
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 68/82, the General Assembly, deploring “settlement activities
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied
Syrian Golan and any activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of
the livelihood of protected persons, the forced displacement of civilians and the de
facto annexation of land”, affirming that “the transfer by the occupying Power of
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a breach
of the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant provisions of customary law” and
expressing grave concern about the continuation of Israel ’s settlement activities, “in
violation of international humanitarian law, relevant United Nations resolutions, the
agreements reached between the parties and obligations under the Quartet road map,
and in defiance of the calls by the international community to cease all sett lement
activities”, reiterated its demand for the “immediate and complete cessation of all
Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan” and called for the prevention of and
accountability for illegal acts by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied
territory.
2. The present report, submitted pursuant to that resolution, covers the period
from 1 July 2013 to 15 May 2014, although important information about event s
taking place up until early June 2014 is included, where relevant. The information
contained in the report is based on monitoring and other information gathering
activities carried out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) and information provided by other United Nations entities
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report also contains information received
from Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media
sources. It should be read in conjunction with previous reports of the Secretary-
General on Israeli settlements (A/68/513 and A/67/375) and with other reports of the
Secretary-General submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session,
notably the report on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian
people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/69/355).
3. Previous reports highlighted different aspects of the impact of Israeli
settlements on the human rights of Palestinians, as well as Israel’s leading role in
the creation and expansion of settlements. The report provides an update on the
settlement activities of the Government of Israel during the reporting period and
analyses official and informal methods used by the Government to create and
expand settlements. The report also provides an update on settler violence and
examines the ongoing failure of Israel to maintain public order and establish
accountability for such violence.
II. Legal background
4. The legal framework applicable to Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian Golan is found in international
humanitarian law and international human rights law (see A/68/513, para. 4, and
A/67/375, para. 4). The General Assembly (resolution 68/82), the Security Council
(resolution 799 (1992)), the Human Rights Council (resolution 25/30) and the
International Court of Justice (A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 101) have all affirmed
that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
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War of 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention) applies to the Occupied Palestinian
Territory. Article 49 of that Convention, in absolute terms, prohibits the Occupying
Power from deporting or transferring parts of its own civilian population into the
territory it occupies. The Hague Regulations1 further prohibit an occupying power
from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless they are strictly for
military necessity or for the benefit of the local population (A/64/516, para. 8).
5. Moreover, the International Court of Justice (A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1,
paras. 102-113) and United Nations treaty bodies responsible for reviewing the
implementation of international human rights treaties have affirmed that Israel, as
the Occupying Power, is bound by the international human rights treaties it has
ratified (A/67/375, para. 5) and has the obligation to implement its human rights
obligations in the occupied territories.2 The recent accession by the State of
Palestine to several human rights treaties3 does not affect Israel’s obligations under
international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
III. Overview
6. During the reporting period, Israel continued to expand existing se ttlements in
occupied territory and to approve new settlements. According to Peace Now, an
Israeli NGO, between 1 July 2013 and 15 May 2014, tenders were announced for
6,013 housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and 9,712 housing units were “promoted”,4 including 7,290 in the West
Bank and 2,422 in East Jerusalem. In addition, on 4 June 2014, the Government of
Israel announced the issuance of tenders for over 1,400 new settlement units in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. According to the Office of the United Nations
Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Israeli authorities have also
advanced plans for around 1,000 settlement housing units, following the
Government’s decision to unfreeze planning processes for 1,800 settlements units.
According to Peace Now, Israeli official statistics show new construction and
building plans in Israeli settlements increased by over 150 per cent during 2013, and
construction began on 828 units in the latter half of 2013 in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory compared with 484 units during the same period in 2012.5
7. The Secretary-General further notes that the tender or promotion of a large
number of units occurred during the last round of Israeli -Palestinian peace talks,
held from 29 July 2013 to 29 April 2014, when at least 13,851 housing units were
reportedly tendered or promoted in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. This includes 4,868 tenders, of which 2,248 were in the
__________________
1 The Hague Regulations are annexed to the Hague Convention respecting the Laws and Customs
of War on Land of 18 October 1907 (Convention IV). According to the International Court of
Justice, while Israel is not a party to that Convention, the Hague Regulations are applicable to
Israel as part of customary law (A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 89-101).
2 CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 10, CRC/C/ISR/CO/2-4, para. 3, and A/HRC/25/38, para. 5.
3 In April 2014, the State of Palestine acceded to 20 international treaties, including eight human
rights treaties, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and First Additional Protocol and the
Hague Convention and Regulations.
4 The term “promote” is used by Peace Now to indicate support from the Government of Israel in
advancing new settlement units in the different stages of the planning process (A/HRC/25/38,
footnote 10).
5 See http://peacenow.org.il/eng/9Months.
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West Bank and 2,620 in East Jerusalem, and 8,983 promoted plans, including 6,561
in the West Bank and 2,422 in East Jerusalem.5
8. During the reporting period, Israel also undertook significant actions to allow
for further expansion of its settlements. As outlined in paragraphs 12 to 16 below,
this included advancing plans to transfer Palestinian Bedouin communiti es living in
the central West Bank, including the eastern Jerusalem periphery and the Jordan
Valley, to three centralized sites planned by the Israeli Civil Administration,
apparently in connection with plans to expand settlements in those areas.
9. In addition, Israel continued to support and contribute to the expansion of
settlements by providing funding. For instance, almost 600 million shekels
(approximately $172 million) were reportedly transferred to Israeli settlements
through budget adjustments requested by the Government from the Knesset between
October 2013 and March 2014.6 In line with past practice, these sums were not
included in the annual State budget (A/68/513, para. 9). In late March 2014, an
additional 177 million shekels (approximately $51 million) were reportedly
allocated to the Settlements Division of the World Zionist Organization,7 the official
role of which is to assist the Government in establishing or expanding settlements in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
10. Ten years after the International Court of Justice issued its 2004 Advisory
Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Israel continues to breach international human rights and
humanitarian law by building and expanding the wall and the settlements in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem.8 Since 2004, several new settlements have
been established, notably in East Jerusalem,9 and the settler population in the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, has increased from an estimated 415,000 settlers in
2004 to between 500,000 and 650,000 in 2012 (A/HRC/25/38, para. 8). This
represents an increase of at least 85,000 settlers since the issuance by the
International Court of Justice of its landmark opinion.
11. Israeli settlements continue to be at the centre of multiple violations of the
human rights of Palestinians, including their freedoms of non-discrimination,
liberty, security of person and fair trial, freedom of movement, adequate housing,
health, education, work and an adequate standard of living (see A/HRC/25/38 and
A/68/513). Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights establishes that
all peoples have the right to self-determination and that they may freely determine
their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development. The continuation of the transfer by Israel of its population into the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and the maintenance, creation and expansion of
Israeli settlements have severe negative impacts on the right to self-determination of
__________________
6 www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.581405.
7 www.haaretz.com/.premium-1.582875.
8 The Court indicated that the wall, along the route chosen, and its associated regime gravely
infringe a number of human rights of Palestinians residing in the territory occupied by Israel and
contravene international humanitarian law provisions, including article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, paras. 123-137).
9 Mostly in East Jerusalem: Nof Zion (2004); Mosrara East (2004); Hashalom Forest (2006); Beit
Hachoshen (2006); Beit Yonatan (2006); Kidmat Zion (2006); and Jabel Mukabber (2010).
Source: Peace Now.
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Palestinian people (A/67/375, para. 10). This right is generally understood as having
several elements, including the right to have a demographic and territorial presence
and the right to permanent sovereignty over natural resources. 10 Those elements are
affected not only by the expansion of Israeli settlements, but also by their mere
presence (A/67/375, para. 10) and by the phenomenon of settler violence. The
Secretary-General recalls that the realization of the right to self -determination is of
particular importance because it is an essential condition for the effective guarantee
and observance of human rights and for the promotion and strengthening of those
rights.10 In addition, articles 1(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to
which Israel is party, establish that States should promote and respect the right to
self-determination.
IV. Creation and expansion of settlements
A. Forcible transfer of Palestinian Bedouin and herder communities
12. During the reporting period, Israel took significant steps to facilitate the
expansion of its settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In
particular, it has taken measures aimed at transferring Palestinian Bedouin
communities living in the central West Bank, including the eastern Jerusalem
periphery and the Jordan Valley, to three centralized sites. On 27 April 2014, at a
meeting of a Knesset subcommittee, the Coordinator of Government Activities in
the Territories of the Ministry of Defense presented a comprehensive initiative to
transfer Palestinian Bedouin communities residing in rural areas within Area C of
the central West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, the so-called “E-1”11 area in the
Jerusalem periphery and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement area, to centralized sites
planned by the Israeli Civil Administration, namely Al-Jabal, Nweima and Fasayil.
It is reported that the Civil Administration is advancing the plans, currently in the
final stages of approval, to facilitate the transfer to these three sites. 12 It appears that
this initiative is connected with plans to expand settlements which would affect
thousands of Palestinian Bedouins and herders, including approximately 2,300
currently living in the eastern Jerusalem periphery. Such transfers would also
adversely affect the traditional economy of the affected communities and would
likely lead to the disintegration of their social fabric (A/HRC/24/30, para. 27).
13. According to the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace
Process, the Civil Administration has recently increased pressure on these Bedouin
communities to leave their places of residence by issuing and enforcing more
demolition orders, stop-work and seizure orders against residential and agricultural
structures. It is of concern that between January and May 2014, 13 demolitions have
been reported in the E-1 area, which is higher than the total number of demolitions
carried out between 2010 and 2013 (11). Moreover, according to the Norwegian
__________________
10 Human Rights Committee, general comment 12 (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. I), chap. I).
11 The area is within the municipal boundary of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, adjacent to East
Jerusalem. Plans to construct settlements in the E-1 area would create an urban block between
Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, exacerbate the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the
West Bank and interrupt the territorial contiguity of the West Bank (A/HRC/25/38, footnote 17).
12 According to Bimkom, an Israeli NGO, plans for Nweima and for Fasayil were approved for
publication on 15 June 2014 by the High Planning Council of Judea and Samaria.
A/69/348
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Refugee Council, during the reporting period more than 100 stop-work and
demolition orders have been issued by the Civil Administration targeting different
Bedouin communities in the E-1 area.
14. On 28 April 2014, as reported in an OHCHR press release, 40 members from
the Sateh Al-Bahr community received eviction orders and were given 48 hours to
leave their homes permanently or face eviction and confiscation of their livestock.
During a court hearing on this case and on a case relating to a school building in the
Khan al Ahmar community, the Israeli Government proposed to relocate both
communities to Nweima, one of the centralized sites referred to above. Other
communities have also been told informally by the Civil Administration that they
would be relocated to Nweima.
15. It is reported that the Israeli military is using military firing zones as a way to
push Palestinians out of certain areas.13 At the above-mentioned Knesset meeting,
an operations officer of the Central Command confirmed that the army has increased
the number of military exercises in the military firing zones in the Jordan Valley. It
is of serious concern that the implementation of recent demolitions, eviction and
seizure orders against Palestinian Bedouin communities appear to pave the way for
broader plans to relocate or transfer them outside their current locations and to
allow for further expansion of settlements.
16. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, there has been almost no consultation on the transfer plans with the affected
communities. Except where the affected persons provide their genuine and fully
informed consent, such transfer is forcible. Consent would not be genuine in an
environment marked by the use or threat of physical force, coercion, fear of
violence or duress (A/67/372, para. 37). The Office reports that a combination of
measures implemented by Israeli authorities have created a coercive environment
for the targeted communities, including restricted access to grazing lands and
markets for their products, which undermines their livelihoods, demolitions and
threat of demolitions, and restrictions to the obtaining of building permits. The
transfer, if implemented, may thus amount to individual and mass forcible transfer,
contrary to Israel’s obligations under article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
and international humanitarian law. Under article 147 of the Convention, the
unlawful transfer of protected persons constitutes a grave breach of its provisions,14
and such acts potentially incur the individual criminal responsibility of officials
engaged in forcible transfers. In addition, the transfer of these Palestinian Bedouin
communities would contravene Israel’s international human rights law obligations,
in particular regarding the right to adequate housing (A/HRC/25/38, paras. 15 and 16).
B. Creation and expansion of settlements through official methods
17. One of the methods used by Israel in the 1980s and 1990s to seize land for the
purpose of settlement construction and expansion was the declaration of State land.
Such declarations are based on civilian laws in place prior to the occupation, which
__________________
13 www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.591881.
14 The exception to this provision, in which the safety of the protected persons makes the forcible
transfer absolutely necessary, is not applicable in this case. International Committee of the Red
Cross, “Commentary, IV Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian person s in
time of war”.
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Israel interprets as allowing the occupying Power to take possession of uncultivated
land (A/63/519, para. 19). Currently, at least 16 per cent of the West Bank has been
declared State land and is used for settlements (A/68/513, para. 20).
18. Since 2013, a recurrence of the practice of claiming land as State land was
reported. The body responsible for this is the “Blue Line Task Force”, created in
1999 by the Civil Administration to re-examine land not clearly designated as State
land during the 1980s. The examination and endorsement conducted by this task
force is a precondition for any new settlement construction plan to be undertaken in
land designated as State land. The task force reportedly endorsed some 7,000 acres
(28,000 dunams) as State land in 2013, of which around 5,000 acres (22,058
dunams) are within settlement boundaries and could become sites for planned
construction. About 900 acres (3,700 dunams) are on land already developed, which
may indicate that the declaration as State land was used to retroactively legitimize
the settlement construction.15
19. In April 2014, the Blue Line Task Force endorsed the declaration of
approximately 250 acres (1,000 dunams) in the West Bank as State land. Some
Israeli media reported this as the largest appropriation of land in the West Bank in
many years.16 The land is located west of Bethlehem within the physical boundaries
of the villages of Al Khader, Nahhalin and Beit Ummar. According to the Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, several residents of these villages claim
ownership over parts of the land, but due to a range of mainly Israeli -imposed
constraints, they have not cultivated or otherwise used it, with the exception of
about five acres (20 dunams). Some of the plots have been taken over by Israeli
settlers in past years and the declaration of State land appears to be part of a process
towards the retroactive “legalization” under Israeli law of the takeovers, including
those in the outpost Nativ Ha’avot.17 Based on their ownership claims, residents of
the aforementioned villages were given 45 days to object to the declaration of their
property as State land before the Military Appeals Committee. This period was
further extended until 17 July 2014. If their objection is rejec ted, they can petition
the Supreme Court. However, concerns have been raised, notably by the NGOs
Diakonia and Action against Hunger, that the Supreme Court does not provide an
effective remedy for Palestinians whose private land has been declared State la nd, in
particular because the Court does not review the substance of the cases 18 and in the
majority of its rulings, it follows the Civil Administration policy on land requisition.
20. Previous practice indicates that once the declaration of State land is endorsed,
it is likely that the land is allocated to Israeli settlements for development.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, given the
spatial distribution of the affected parcels of land, their development will encircle a
__________________
15 www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.587901#.
16 www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.585377.
17 Reportedly, an official Israeli survey showed that 60 per cent of the outpost (established in
2001) was built on private Palestinian farmland.
18 The Court can exercise judicial review over decisions of the Military Commander, which,
according to the Court, must exercise careful consideration before requisitioning property of
civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. However, the Court has upheld decisions
regarding the issuance of requisition orders pertaining to Palestinians’ private property claiming
that there is “no cause to intervene in th e discretion of the Commander” (High Court of Justice
10356/02, Hass et al. v. IDF Commander in the West Bank et al.; and High Court of Justice
10497/02, The City of Hebron et al. v. IDF Commander in the West Bank et al.).
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large section of the Gush Etzion area, connecting and creating territorial contiguity
between the settlements of El’azar, Allon Shvut, Rosh Zurim, Neve Danyyel and
Efrata. It is expected that Palestinians would face increased restrictions to access
their farmlands located within the encircled area (A/67/375, paras. 20 and 21), even
if many plots cultivated by them are not covered by the declaration of State land.
Access by Palestinian farmers would be further restricted if the wall is completed as
planned, thereby separating these lands from the Bethlehem urban area, where some
of the landowners reside. In addition, it has been reported on the Business Insider
news website that on 28 May 2014 Palestinian residents in the surroundings of Kafr
Al-Deek in the northern West Bank were notified of the start of settlement
construction on lands they claim as their private property. It appears from
information gathered by the NGO Kerem Navot that this action follows the
declaration of State land of almost 120 acres (500 dunams) in the area, dating back
to 1985.
21. The resumption of the use of declarations of State land, coupled with the large
amount of land seized through this method, may be a sign of a broader policy
change. The Secretary-General reiterates that the process of declaring State land is
not compatible with international standards of due process and undermines the right
of Palestinians to an effective remedy. It also appears to be a measure by the
Government of Israel destined to favour the expansion of settlements or the creation
of new ones, which may amount to the transfer by Israel of its population into the
Occupied Territory in violation of international humanitarian law (A/67/375,
para. 10).
22. According to Peace Now, two new settlements were created in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory during the reporting period: the settlement of Leshem, near
Salfit in the central West Bank, where 60 families have recently moved to, and
another known as the Al-Rajabi house. The case of the Al-Rajabi house, a four-story
building capable of housing 40 families, is emblematic since it is located in a
strategic area between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Ibrahimi Mosque, also
known as Cave of Patriarchs, in the old city of Hebron. According to the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied
since 1967, this is the first time since the 1980s that a new settlement has been
created in the centre of Hebron.
23. In March 2014, as reported by OHCHR, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that
Israeli settlers were the legitimate owners of the Al-Rajabi house, after a long legal
dispute between the settlers and Palestinians who alleged being tricked by the
settlers because they sold the house without knowing that the settlers were the actual
buyers. The Court indicated that the settlers would be allowed to move to the house
only after the approval of the Minster of Defense. In April 2014, the Minister of
Defense granted the approval, and, since then, at least three families reportedly have
moved into the house, despite not having electricity or running water.19
24. According to Peace Now, at least seven new outposts were established during
the reporting period, including Givat Eitam, an agricultural outpost located south of
Bethlehem, and Brosh, an outpost situated in the Jordan Valley. Kerem Navot
reports that an abandoned military base east of Beit Sahur in the Bethlehem
Governorate is also undergoing renovation by Israeli settlers who have established a
__________________
19 www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Yaalon-Settlers-can-move-into-Hebron-house-348388.
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cultural centre there. From Peace Now there are reports that other outposts have
been “legalized” under Israeli law by promoting plans for them,5 including Nahlei
Tal and Zayit Ra’anan, near Ramallah; Givat Salit, in the Jordan Valley; and
Elmatan, near Qalqilya. Since January 2013, nine outposts20 have reportedly been
included in the mapping conducted by the Blue Line Task Force towards
endorsement of State land declarations. If the lands in which these outposts are
erected are confirmed as State land, the path towards their retroactive “legalization”
and future expansion as a fully-fledged settlement will be open.
25. With some exceptions, Israel continued to fail to implement demolition orders
against outposts, despite the fact that they are not officially recognized under Israeli
law. For example, in early January 2014, Peace Now called on the Government to
implement outstanding demolition orders against Esh Kodesh outpost, following an
incident in which settlers attacked the neighbouring Palestinian village of Qusra,
apparently as retaliation for the evacuation by the Israeli army of a plot of private
Palestinian land taken over by Esh Kodesh settlers.21 The residents of Esh Kodesh
often attack the Palestinian village, which frequently results in serious injuries to
Palestinians and damage to their property (A/68/513, para. 45). However, as of May
2014, most of the demolition orders against the outpost remained unimplemented.
26. In another case, the Government reportedly committed itself to demolishing
the entire Amona outpost by end 2012, and later postponed demolition to June
2013.22 At the end of the reporting period, according to the Yesh Din, a volunteer
organization working to defend the human rights of Palestinians, the demolition had
still not been implemented, despite an order of July 2013 by the President of the
Israeli Supreme Court for the evacuation of all the structures, except for the houses
built on plots for which the settlers made purchase claims. A few days before the
outpost was scheduled to be dismantled, a settler organization (Al -Watan) claimed
that it had purchased portions of land within its boundaries. The Government
reportedly decided to freeze the demolitions until an Israeli court passed judgement
on the status of the lands allegedly purchased by this settler organization, in
contradiction with its pledge to remove the outpost. In May 2014, Israeli media
reported that a police investigation found that the documents presented as proof of
purchase of the land in the Amona outpost by Al-Watan were forged. The
Government is considering how to proceed.23
27. In some cases, Israel has dismantled outpost structures, in line with legal
rulings on the matter. For example, on 14 May 2014, according to the United
Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, 10 structures in the
outpost of Ma’ale Rehavam were demolished after the Israeli Supreme Court
rejected claims by settlers that the land on which the structures were located was
purchased legally. This followed a decision of the Israeli Supreme Court on
18 November 2013 to demolish houses erected on private Palestinian property in
three outposts, Givat Assaf, Mizpe Yitzhar and Ma’aleh Rehavam, within six
__________________
20 Givat Harel, Elmatan, Elisha, Ibei Hanachal Alonei Shilo, Ma’ale Rehavam and three outposts
located east of Tekoa (source: Kerem Navot).
21 According to a report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, following
the attack, Palestinians apprehended and beat the settlers. Other Palestinians and human rights
activists intervened and handed the settlers over to the Israeli Security Forces.
22 The Government made these commitments before the Israeli Supreme Court, following a 2008
petition by the Palestinian owners of the land to evacuate the outpost.
23 www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.592768.
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months. In the same decision, the Court ordered the Government to show progress
towards “legalizing” structures allegedly on State land in five other outposts cited in
a petition filed by Peace Now, including Mitzpe Lachish, Ramat Gilad and
HaRoeh.24 It is expected that other buildings in Ma’ale Rehavam, which the Court
found had been built “legally”, will receive permits, thus endorsing the “legality” of
the outpost’s existence.25
C. Expansion of settlements through informal methods
Control of land through agriculture
28. Along with the official methods by which the Government of Israel seeks to
take control of land that is subsequently allocated to settlements (A/68/513,
paras. 17-22), it appears that the Government has also encouraged takeovers of land
by Israeli settlers through agricultural projects.26 A study commissioned in 2005 by
the Government of Israel on outposts in the West Bank indicated that one way that
settlers establish outposts is to falsely request the creation of an agricultural farm,
which is then transformed into an outpost. This is facilitated by the fact that
agricultural projects do not need political -level approval. It is reported by Kerem
Navot that, as of August 2013, Israeli settler agriculture in the West Bank covers
around 23,000 acres (93,000 dunams), more than the built -up area of settlements
and outposts, excluding those in East Jerusalem, constituting about 15,000 acres
(60,000 dunams). Most of this increase has occurred after the signing of the Oslo
Accords in September 1993. Between 1997 and 2012, land used by Israelis for
agriculture in the West Bank grew by 35 per cent.27
29. In addition, Israel continues to fail to protect Palestinians and Palestinian
property from criminal attacks by settlers (see paras. 36-44 below), including the
construction of physical obstacles impeding the access of Palestinians to their own
farmlands, intimidation and violence against Palestinian farmers (A/67/375,
para. 19), and destruction of trees and crops. According to the United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during the reporting period, there
were 217 incidents involving damage to Palestinian property by Israeli settlers,
including to 10,711 trees. The lack of enforcement and of accountability in relation
to such violent acts creates an atmosphere of impunity that facilitates the seizing of
land by settlers, which they can then cul tivate in order to expand the area effectively
occupied by settlements (see A/67/375, paras. 30-36, and A/68/513, paras. 42-49).
The Yesh Din volunteer organization reports that the vast majority of cases accusing
settlers of seizing Palestinian land, including by trespassing and unauthorized
cultivation, are closed without indictment.
__________________
24 www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.558882.
25 www.timesofisrael.com/amid-fears-of-violence-demolition-of-west-bank-outposts-begins.
26 Agriculture provides economic support to settlements and enables settlers to seize large portions
of land without undertaking costly infrastructure construction (see Kerem Navot, “Israeli
settlers’ agriculture”, 2013).
27 Israeli agriculture in the West Bank by 1997 covered around 69,000 dunams (see Kerem Navot,
“Israeli settlers’ agriculture”, 2013).
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30. The Israeli NGO Kerem Navot reports that the fastest growth of Israeli settler
agriculture is taking place in the West Bank Hill Country,28 and is linked to
numerous restrictions affecting Palestinian farmers’ access to agricultural fields,
(A/67/375, paras. 19-21). It argues that privately owned Palestinian land situated
around most settlements in these areas has been appropriated de facto by settlers for
agricultural use, with the support of the Israeli military present in the settlements.
Kerem Navot has reported that between 1997 and 2012, Israeli settler agriculture
increased in areas close to Ramallah (by 64 per cent), Hebron (by 61 per cent) and
Nablus (by 89 per cent).29
31. The situation is different in the Jordan Valley because a significant proportion
of the land there was already registered as State land under the Jordanian
administration, predating the occupation, and there was no extensive Palestinian
farming in the early days of the occupation. This enabled Israel to seize large
portions of land, which were then transferred for settlements.30 In addition, Israel
created an extended closed military zone along the border with Jordan, covering
approximately 41,000 acres (167,000 dunams) of land that was previously farmed
by Palestinians and now is off limits to them. 31 Currently, there are 37 settlements
in the Jordan Valley, with the settlement authorities (regional councils) controlling
86 per cent of the land.32 According to Kerem Navot, the Jordan Valley constitutes
85 per cent of the entire Israeli agricultural area in the West Bank.
32. In contrast, Palestinian agriculture is in decline. Cultivated areas in the West
Bank shrank by 30 per cent between the 1960s and the 1990s, mainly due to land
confiscation and restrictions on access to land and to water resources imposed by
Israel on the Palestinian population (A/68/513, paras. 36-41).33 This correlates to
figures showing that around 40 per cent of Israeli settler agriculture in the West
Bank is farmed on privately owned Palestinian land.28 The decline is further
reflected in figures on exports of agricultural products. Every year, Israeli settlers
export around $285 million worth of agricultural products, whereas Palestinians
only export $19 million. Approximately 28 per cent of the total Isr aeli agricultural
exports come from products grown in the West Bank and in the occupied Syrian
Golan.34
Archaeological excavations and parks
33. Archaeological excavations and parks are also used as a way to control land
for settlements, mainly through the funding, participation and endorsement by the
Government of Israel of archaeological projects led by settler organizations.
__________________
28 Kerem Navot uses the term West Bank Hill Country to designate the ridge running north-south
along highway 60 which connects the Northern and the Southern West Bank (see Kerem Navot,
“Israeli settlers’ agriculture”, 2013).
29 See Kerem Navot, “Israeli settlers’ agriculture”, 2013.
30 See B’tselem, Land Grab, Israel’s settlements policy in the West Bank , 2002.
31 Thousands of dunams within this area appear to have been transferred to settlements. Settlers
with special permits cultivate around 8,500 dunams (see Kerem Navot, “Israeli settlers’
agriculture”, 2013).
32 See OXFAM briefing paper, “On the Brink, Israeli settlements and their impact on Palestinians
in the Jordan Valley”, 2012.
33 See www.ewash.org/files/library/WBfactsheet fianl march9[1].pdf.
34 Who Profits from the Occupation, “Made in Israel: agricultural exports from the occupied
territories” (see http://www.whoprofits.org/sites/default/files/made_in_israel_web_final.pdf).
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Observer organizations report that several archaeological projects in the Old City of
Jerusalem are being used as a means to consolidate the presence of settlements and
settlers in the area.35 On 3 April 2014, despite several objections presented by
Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighbourhood, a Palestinian community with a
population of 45,000, located around the southern Old City wall in East Jerusalem,
the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a project known
as the Kedem Compound.36 The Kedem Compound includes a museum, a visitors
centre, and a parking lot covering around 16,000 square met res. The plan was
presented by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation, also
known as Elad, which works to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem,
notably the Silwan area.37 The Kedem Compound would constitute a gateway to the
City of David National Park, a touristic archaeological site controlled by the same
organization.38
34. Furthermore, Elad presented plans, covering an estimated area of 1,200 square
metres for the construction of another tourist compound above a site known as the
spring house in Silwan, an ancient structure built above the main spring. 39
Palestinians in the area have been prevented from accessing one of their main
sources of water, since Elad has blocked the entrance to the spring by walls and
fences.40 According to the Ir Amim archaeological organization, the plan was
submitted for objections in February 2014. According to Emek Shaveh, an
organization of archaeologists, an examination of the placement of the excavations
and the planned tourist centres (the Kedem Compound, the City of David Visitors
Centre, and the Spring House tourist centre) shows that a contiguous line of Israeli
settler presence along the entire northern boundary of the Silwan area is being
created.41
35. Archaeological excavations are also taking place in Hebron City in the
archaeological mound known as Tel Rumeida, located in the south-western edge of
the H-2 area.42 Israel’s Ministry of Culture and the Israel Civil Administration
finance them, with the participation of Israel’s Antiquities Authority and the
University of Ariel, located in one of the biggest Israeli settlements in the West
Bank. The works started in January 2014 and are reportedly planned to cover around
one acre and a half (six dunams).43 According to some observers, the archaeological
park would connect the excavations area with three Israeli settlements on
al-Shuhada Street44 in the H-2 area, to which Palestinians are denied access.45
Palestinians in and around the H-2 area have seen their freedom of movement
__________________
35 Source: Emek Shaveh and Ir Amim organizations.
36 http://www.civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/silwan_factsheet_2_2014.pdf.
37 www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.576207.
38 www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.583518 and www.haaretz.com/news/middleeast/
1.583763.
39 See http://alt-arch.org/en/press-release-tourist-center-at-the-spring-house-beit-hamaayan.
40 http://www.ewash.org/files/library/Through%20the%20camera%20lens.pdf .
41 http://alt-arch.org/en/press-release-tourist-center-at-the-spring-house-beit-hamaayan.
42 The H-2 area constitutes 20 per cent of Hebron City, which is fully controlled by Israel as a
result of the Oslo accords. The excavations are being carried out in the spaces between
Palestinian houses built at the top of the mound.
43 www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567694.
44 Beit Hadassah, Beit Romano and Avraham Avinu.
45 Emek Shaveh, “Archaeology in the shadow of the conflict” (http://alt-arch.org/en/tel-rumeidathe-
future-archaeological-park-of-hebron).
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severely restricted. This, compounded by the systematic harassment by Israeli
settlers and often by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has resulted, according to the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in the displacement of
thousands of Palestinians and the deterioration of living conditions of those who
have remained. There are concerns that this park would create a new settlement
enclave in the heart of Hebron, thereby increasing the Israeli settler presence inside
the city and negatively impacting the rights of Palestinians, with risks of increased
settler violence and heightened restrictions on their freedom of movement.
V. Settler violence, failure to maintain public order and lack
of accountability
36. Under article 43 of the Hague Convention and international human rights law,
Israel has the obligation to protect the rights of Palestinians and, as occupying
Power, the obligation to maintain public order and safety in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including by providing Palestinians with all guarantees
accorded to protected persons under international humanitarian law. 46
37. Acts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property
continue to take place on a regular basis. As in the past, most incidents appear to
aim at intimidating Palestinians in order to obtain control of certain geographic
locations (A/66/364, para. 21). During the reporting period, there were 271 incidents
reported, including 217 involving property damage (see paras. 28-35 above), and 61
involving attacks on Palestinians that resulted in the injury of 108 persons,
including 32 children and 11 women. This constitutes a decrease compared with the
same period between 2012 and 2013, when 357 incidents were recorded, including
270 involving damage to property and 87 attacks on Palestinians, resulting in the
injury of 171 persons, including 35 children. The number of attacks by Palestinians
against Israeli settlers also decreased. During the reporting period, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs lists 39 incidents, including 12 cases of
property damage and the injury of 48 Israeli settlers, including five children.
38. Attacks against Palestinians and their property were most frequent in the
Governorates of Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and in East Jerusalem. The Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that these locations also
registered a higher number of incidents of settler violence between July 2012 and
May 2013. Also according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the highest number of incidents was recorded in the Nablus Governorate,
where there were 70 incidents, 15 involving physical violence, resulting in the
injury of 20 Palestinians, and 55 involving attacks on Palestinian property, including
damage to 2,486 trees.
39. Cases monitored by OHCHR illustrate how settler violence, coupled with
actions by Israeli authorities, including harassment, violent search operations and
arbitrary detentions, have affected a range of human rights of Palestinians, including
the rights to private and family life, fair trial and adequate standard of living. One
such case involved a Palestinian man and his family living on their 5 acre
(22 dunams) farm on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Lubban ash-Sharqiya,
some 30 kilometres south of Nablus city near the Israeli settlements of Eli, Shilo
__________________
46 Fourth Geneva Convention, articles 4 and 27.
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and Ma’le Levona. The family has repeatedly been the target of attacks by settlers
leading to injuries and damage to their property. Also, the Palestinian man has been
arrested several times by the Israel Defense Forces. On 16 April 2014, 17 settlers,
led by a rabbi, tried to enter their home to pray in the “Jewish” building. When the
man denied them entry, the settlers tried, unsuccessfully, to knock down the farm
gate. They later returned to the farm and proceeded to throw stones at the house, in
which eight family members, including three children, were located. Shortly
thereafter, IDF soldiers arrived and asked the man about a knife which they claimed
he had used to attack a settler. One of the soldiers allegedly picked up a poleaxe
from the orchards and accused the man of attempting to attack the settlers with it.
Israeli police then arrived and arrested the Palestinian man, allegedly withou t
informing him of the reasons of his arrest. The man was brought before an Israeli
military court, accused of attacking a settler with a knife and a poleaxe and of
planning to kill a settler by pushing him into a well on the farm. He was released on
bail on 24 April. During his detention, his son was reportedly injured by IDF and on
26 April 2014, the same son was reportedly arrested by the Forces. At the time of
writing, OHCHR had not been able to establish the reasons for the arrest. On
27 April, citing a lack of a building permit, the Palestinian man received a
demolition order against the farm gate and some trees and stone walls that he had
built in an area between the farm gate and his house.
40. As previously reported, IDF often fails to take appropriate measures to protect
Palestinians against acts of violence perpetrated when soldiers are present
(A/67/375, paras. 30-32, and A/66/364, paras. 23-25). During the reporting period,
such incidents continued to be reported. For example, in a case monitored by
OHCHR, on 7 March 2014, four settlers reportedly from Bet El settlement hurled
stones at a car of a Palestinian photographer working for Agence France Press,
breaking the windshield. The photographer was on his way to cover the Friday
demonstrations in the Al-Jalazun refugee camp. IDF soldiers, present at the time,
did not intervene until the photographer left his car and started to hurl stones back at
the settlers. The photographer sustained light injuries to his arms while trying to
protect his face from the stones. Despite still being on site, none of the settlers were
arrested by the Israeli police. The photographer filed a complaint in the Israeli
police station in Benyamin settlement, and submitted photographs and videos taken
by fellow journalists showing the identity of his attackers.
41. The fact that Israeli authorities are able to take effective action against settler
violence is demonstrated in a case where, on 8 April 2014, Israeli settlers attacked
IDF soldiers and an IDF post following the demolition of some structures in Yitzhar
settlement. Media reported that five people were arrested47 and that the Israeli
Government announced a policy of “zero toleran ce” towards settlers attacking the
authorities.48 It was reported that IDF immediately decided to station a company of
border police at Yitzhar.49
__________________
47 www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4508832,00.html.
48 rt.com/news/israeli-settlers-attack-idf-297.
49 www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-responds-to-violence-at-Yitzhar-Deploys-Border-Police-unit-to-
West-Bank-settlement-348268. Reportedly, soldiers were stationed at the Yeshiva religious
school which settlers had used as a base to attack Palestinian villages, as well as Israeli security
forces.
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42. East Jerusalem is another area particularly affected by settler violence.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during the
reporting period, 50 incidents were recorded in East Jerusalem, including 16
physical attacks, resulting in 30 injuries, and 34 incidents of damage being done to
property. Incidents at two locations, namely the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and
the Old City, increased between 2012 and 2013.
43. Of particular concern is the increase in reported incidents of settler violence in
the Old City, which rose from 3 in 2012 to 17 in 2013. On 14 August 2013, OHCHR
monitored a case in which a Palestinian family was attacked by around 40 Israeli
religious students from a Talmudic school located near the family’s house in the
Al-Qerami neighbourhood of the Old City. The family, composed of the parents and
three children, were walking towards their house, when they were attacked by the
religious students with wooden and metal sticks and metal chains. As a result of the
attack, all members of the family were injured; the mother and one of the sons
suffered serious injuries and were hospitalized. The Israeli police intervened to stop
the attack and arrested seven people. That same evening, the police asked the eldest
son of the family to go to the police station to identify the attackers. Although he
reportedly recognized five of them, it appears that some may have been released.50
44. Even if attacks by settlers appear to occur consistently in the same areas, Israel
has not taken effective measures to prevent such attacks. This is compounded by the
persistent lack of accountability for attacks by settlers. Although some positive
measures have been taken, including the recent arrest of some Israeli citizens
suspected of committing so-called “price tag” attacks,51 the situation remains
largely unchanged since the last report of the Secretary-General to the General
Assembly (A/68/513), which indicated that between 2005 and 2013, only 8.5 per
cent of investigations on incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the
West Bank resulted in indictments.
VI. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
45. In the occupied Syrian Golan, Israeli authorities continued to consolidate the
presence of Israeli settlements during the reporting period. In January 2014, the
Government of Israel approved a five-year plan for the development of around
30,000 dunams of land near existing settlements. The development plan involves the
removal of mines and the improvement of water infrastructure systems in order to
grant agricultural plots of land for up to 750 settler families for farming.52 The
Government is reported to have set aside over 375 million shekels for this
purpose.53 This strategy of focusing on agricultural development of the occupied
Syrian Golan to control the land appears to be similar to the approach taken by
Israel in the West Bank.
__________________
50 The suspects were reportedly seen in the neighbourhood. As of mid-May 2014, no information
was available on the state of the investigation.
51 http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Police-Yitzhar-teens-arrested-for-price-tag-against-Israeli-
Arabs-to-face-indictment-353112.
52 The Israeli settler population in the occupied Syrian Golan is currently estimated to be around
20,000 (A/68/513, para. 53).
53 www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium.1568172.
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46. The Government-sponsored agricultural expansion has also been linked to
Israel’s efforts to increase the settler presence in the occupied Syrian Golan for the
purpose of further exploiting the natural resources of the territory for economic
gain.54 This is in violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian
law and numerous United Nations resolutions, notably Security Council resolution
497. In this connection, the Secretary-General has previously raised concerns
regarding Israeli Government-sponsored investments in the occupied Syrian Golan,
including licences granted for oil and gas exploration by multinational companies
(A/HRC/25/38, para. 48, and A/68/513, paras. 53 and 54). The Secretary-General
notes that the Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have all recently issued warnings to
their citizens outlining the legal and financial risks of doing business with Israeli
settlements, including in the occupied Syrian Golan.55
VII. Conclusions and recommendations
47. Israel continues to violate its international legal obligations and
commitments under the road map, and fails to heed the repeated calls from the
international community to cease transferring its civilian population into
occupied territory.
48. Israel plays a leading role in the establishment and expansion of Israeli
settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied
Syrian Golan, including by using its legal system to seize land, which is later
allocated to settlements, and by expanding the area effectively occupied by
settlements. Israel must implement relevant United Nations resolutions,
including Security Council resolution 497 (1981), and withdraw from territories
occupied in 1967.
49. Israel continues to fail to protect Palestinians from violent acts committed
by Israeli settlers, in contravention of its international obligation as the
occupying Power to maintain public order and safety in the occupied territory.
Israel continues to fail to ensure accountability for settler violence.
50. Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem lead to
multiple violations of the human rights of Palestinians. Israel must abide by its
international obligations by respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of
Palestinians, as contained in international human rights law. In addition,
Israel, as the occupying Power, must ensure that Palestinians are afforded the
protection provided under international humanitarian law for protected
persons.
51. Israel is called on to put an end to the creation and expansion of
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian
Golan. In particular, it should cease using its legal system to control land which
is then allocated to settlements, specifically through declarations and
endorsements of State land. In addition, the Secretary-General calls on Israel to
immediately stop using informal land control methods, such as agriculture and
__________________
54 http://golan-marsad.org/wp-content/uploads/Settlement-Agricultural-Expansion-in-the-Golan-
Final-editedCrystal.pdf.
55 www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1601631.
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archaeological parks, aimed at expanding the area effectively occupied by
settlements. In this regard, Israel must take action against settlers who take
over land, including by agricultural activities.
52. Moreover, Israel must stop the funding, support and participation in
archaeological projects, often managed by settler organizations, which
contribute to the consolidation of settler presence in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and could result in several violations of the rights of Palestinians,
including their right to freedom of movement.
53. The forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, including the Bedouin
communities and herders currently residing in the central West Bank and the
eastern Jerusalem periphery, violates Israel’s obligations under international
humanitarian and international human rights law. Therefore, plans that would
result in the forcible transfer of such communities should be halted
immediately.
54. Israel also has an obligation under international law to provide
Palestinian communities in Area C, including the Bedouin communities and
herders at risk of forcible transfer, with adequate housing, security of tenure
and access to water and services, including health and education, in their
current locations.
55. Israel, as the occupying Power, is obliged to prevent violent attacks by
Israeli settlers against Palestinians, in particular in geographic locations where
such acts are known to occur persistently. Israel must take all measures to
ensure that all acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians
and their property are investigated independently, impartially, thoroughly,
promptly, effectively and in a non-discriminatory manner. Investigations
should allow for public scrutiny and the participation of victims. Individuals
responsible for violations should be prosecuted and victims should be granted
effective remedies.
United Nations A/70/351
General Assembly
Distr.: General
31 August 2015
Original: English
15-14623 (E) 180915
*1514623*
Seventieth session
Item 55 of the provisional agenda *
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General**
Summary
The present report has been prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution
69/92. It provides an update on Israeli authorities’ de cisions and activities aimed at
creating or expanding settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in
the occupied Syrian Golan. It examines human rights violations linked to
settlements, including in the context of two case studies, and the detrimental impact
of settlements on efforts towards sustainable peace on the basis of a two -State
solution.
__________________
* A/70/150.
** Late submission: clearance of the report took longer than expected.
A/70/351
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I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 69/92
and covers the period from 16 May 2014 to 15 May 2015.
2. The information presented in the report is based on monitoring and other
information-gathering activities conducted by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and on information provided by other
United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report also
contains information received from Israeli an d Palestinian non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). The report should be read in conjunction with previous
reports of the Secretary-General on Israeli settlements to the Human Rights Council
and the General Assembly, particularly A/HRC/20/13, A/HRC/25/38, A/HRC/28/44,
A/63/519, A/64/516, A/65/365, A/66/364, A/67/375, A/68/513 and A/69/348.
3. The report provides an update on Israeli authorities’ decisions and activities
aimed at creating or expanding settlements in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, including through retroactive
legalization of outposts under Israeli law. The report also examines the human rights
violations linked to settlements, including in the context of two case studies, and the
detrimental impact of settlements on efforts towards sustainable peace on the basis
of a two-State solution.
4. In accordance with paragraph 9 of resolution 69/92, it is noted that the United
Nations country team has embarked on a review of existing procurement policies to
ensure full respect for and compliance with Human Rights Council resolu tion 17/4
and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
II. Legal background
5. Analysis of the applicable framework and the basis for Israel’s obligations in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory and occupied Syrian Golan can be found in
previous reports of the Secretary-General (A/69/348, paras. 4-5, and A/HRC/25/38,
paras. 4-5).
III. Update on settlements during the reporting period
A. Construction, tenders, plans and expansion
6. Tenders and plans for settlements as well as the construction of settlements
increased in 2014. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, the construction of
3,100 residential units, 2,671 permanent structures and 429 caravans and light
construction structures started in the period from June 2013 to September 2014. 1
__________________
1 Some discrepancy between figures from Peace Now and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics,
table N/4, “Dwellings by Stage of Construction, Initiator and District” available from:
http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications15/yarhon0415/pdf/n4.pdf. The Bureau reports that
construction of fewer dwelling units had begun in the West Bank in 2014 (1,344) as compared to
2013 (2,829). Peace Now figures are used in this report as they are “based on all visible
construction starts on the date the aerial photos are taken”. Bureau figures are based on “the date
a construction permit is issued”. See http://peacenow.org.il/eng/CBS_PN_Data .
A/70/351
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Overall, the construction of settlements increased by 40 per cent compared to the
period from March 2012-May 2013.2
7. A record 4,485 tenders were issued from January to December 2014, the highest
number in a decade. A further 450 tenders were issued at the end of January 2015,
including 102 in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron. Between 18 March 2013 and January
2015, the Government of Israel promoted at least 66 plans comprising 10,113
residential units in 41 settlements, a significant increase compared to previous years .3
8. A pause in settlement advancement in East Jerusalem, which started in
November 2014, ended on 27 April 2015 when tenders were issued for 7 7 residential
units in the settlements of Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov. Settlement activities
were advanced in early May 2015, building on significant developments in relation
to Ramat Shlomo, Har Homa and Givat Hamatos, reported previously, and
significantly affecting the makeup of East Jerusalem (A/HRC/28/44, paras. 7-10).4
Settlers continued to push into Silwan, taking over several Palestinian properties in
March 2015, compounding similar developments in Sep tember 2014, when Israeli
settlers moved into six buildings in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in East
Jerusalem. (A/HRC/28/44, para. 11).5
9. In a significant and unprecedented positive development in March 2015,
2,200 new homes for Palestinians in Jabal al-Mukabber were approved by the
Jerusalem District Planning Committee, and 300 existing homes were retroactively
legalized.6 There were also reports that construction of 1,500 homes in Har Homa
settlement was frozen by the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel in March 2015. 7
B. “Legalization” of unauthorized outposts
10. During the reporting period, new outposts were established (see A/HRC/28/44,
para. 9). Although often established with a certain level of government support,
including security and basic infrastructure, such settlements are not officially
recognized under Israeli law, at least at their inception. Therefore, in addition to
being illegal under international law — like all settlements — outposts are
considered unauthorized under Israeli law.
11. In February 2015, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the demolition, by
2017, of nine unauthorized settler structures built on privately owned Palestinian
__________________
2 Peace Now, “3rd Netanyahu Government: 40% increase in construction”, February 2015,
available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/sites/default/files/ConstructionReport2014Eng_0.pdf .
3 Ibid.
4 Peace Now, “The Ramat Shlomo Plan is to get the Final Green Light”, 4.05.2015, available from:
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/RamatShlomo, see also A/HRC/28/44, para. 10; Peace Now,
“Government Issues Tenders for 85 Housing Units at Givat Ze’ev Settlement”, 14.05. 2015.
5 Peace Now, “The Government Helps the Settlers Tak e Over a Home in Silwan”, 10.03.2015
available from:: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/RuweidiHouse; Peace Now, “Settlers Entered New
Properties in Silwan”, 22.03.2015, available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/NewHousesSilwan.
6 Daniel K. Eisenbud, “In ‘major victory to Arab residents’ 2,200 homes approved in east
Jerusalem”, Jerusalem Post, 31.03.2015.
7 Stuart Winer, “Plan for 1,500 homes in East Jerusalem reportedly frozen”, The Times of Israel,
25.03.2015: http://www.timesofisrael.com/plan-for-1500-homes-in-east-jerusalem-reportedlyfrozen/.
A/70/351
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land in the West Bank settlement outpost of Ofra. 8 The Court stated that not
ordering the demolition “would have sanctioned severe harm to Palestinian rights
and the rule of law”.9 In another important ruling on 25 December 2014, the High
Court of Justice ordered the outpost of Amona to be evacuated within two years. 10
However, the orders have not been implemented yet and such demolitions of settler
structures are frequently not carried out.
12. However, in other cases, Israeli courts, including the High Court, have
refrained from intervening with respect to outposts. An example is the “Six
Outposts” petition submitted by Peace Now in 2007 to the High Court for the Israeli
authorities to evacuate and demolish six outposts in the West Bank. On 7 December
2014, the Court issued a verdict that did not oblige the authorities to evacuate the
outposts apart from one plot and an access road. 11 The Court argued that one of the
main reasons for this decision was the fact that the Israeli authorities had indicated
they would be taking steps to legalize the outposts under Israeli law.
13. Although Israel has made a number of commitments to dismantle the outposts
in the past,12 for the most part this has not happened.
14. During the reporting period, NGOs documented a worrying policy shift which
furthers Israeli authorities’ support to settlement expansion. Accord ing to Yesh Din,
since May 2011, “approximately a quarter of the 100 unauthorized outposts in the
West Bank have either been retroactively approved” or are in the process of
retroactive approval by the Civil Administration’s Supreme Planning Committee. 13
This trend was also apparent following the Israeli elections in March 2015, with the
new coalition Government committed to establishing an inter -ministerial committee
tasked with proposing a framework to promote the legalization of outposts. 14
15. The retroactive legalization under Israeli law is considered as another arm of
settlement expansion, alongside the planning, tendering and construction process,
and the support given to outposts at their outset, such as the security provided by
__________________
8 Ofra is not a typical small outpost, but a large settlement entirely built on private Palestinian
land with the support of the Government of Israel. The court has rejected all petitions to remove
it except for these nine recent structures. For more information, se e B’tselem, “The Ofra
Settlement: An Unauthorized Outpost”, December 2008, available from: www.btselem.org/
download/200812_ofra_eng.pdf.
9 B’tselem, Press release, “HCJ to State: Demolish nine structures in the settlement of Ofra”,
9.02.2015.
10 Yesh Din, “Historic ruling on Amona: Unauthorized outpost of Amona to be evacuated within
two years; HCJ charges State NIS 20,000 for petitioners’ legal fees”, 25.12.2014 ; see
http://www.yesh-din.org/infoitem.asp?infocatid=650; see also Tovah Lazaroff, “High cou rt
orders razing of last 7 homes in West Bank Migron outpost”, Jerusalem Post, 6.01.2015,
available from: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/High-court-ordersraising-
of-last-7-homes-in-West-Bank-Migron-outpost-386907.
11 Peace Now, ”Shalom Achshav Press Release: Israeli High Court Verdict on Peace Now’s Six
Outposts Petition”, 11.12.2014, available from: https://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=9668#.VVXs
WPAVK8g.
12 For example, under the April 2003 Road Map for Peace.
13 The Rights Forum and Yesh Din, “Under the Radar: Israel’s silent policy of transforming
unauthorized outposts into official settlements”, March 2015, available from:
http://www.rightsforum.org/sites/default/files/bestanden/report_under_the_radar_ -
_by_yesh_din_and_the_rights_forum.pdf.
14 Peace Now, 10.05.2015, see: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/sites/default/files/JewishHome
Agreement100515.pdf.
A/70/351
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Israel Defense Forces soldiers upon establishment of an outpost. 15 This policy
effectively rewards settlers for grabbing land in the West Bank in a process that
“frequently involves violations of the rights of Palestinians”. 16 The lack of
enforcement of the rule of law, and the rewarding of illegal activity, serves to
further encourage settlement expansion — creating additional obstacles to the
objective of a negotiated two -State solution, and the right of Palestinians to self -
determination and thereby undermining possibilities o f peace.17
IV. Settlements as a driver of violations of international human
rights and humanitarian law and an obstacle to peace
A. Human rights violations linked to settlements
16. Settlements are at the centre of many of the ongoing human right s violations in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem ( A/HRC/28/45, para. 45). The far-reaching
impact of settlements on the full range of Palestinian rights was analysed in detail
by an independent international fact-finding mission which found in February 2013
that the “existence of the settlements has had a heavy toll on the rights of the
Palestinians”, with multiple rights “being violated consistently and on a daily basis”
(A/HRC/22/63, para. 105).
17. At the core of these violations is Palestinians’ right to self -determination.
Occupation is supposed to be temporary18 because the annexation or acquisition of
territory by force is strictly prohibited under international law. 19 The specific
prohibition of transferring the population of the occupying Power into occupied
territory aims at countering attempts at de facto ann exation.20 In the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, the establishment and maintenance of the settlements
amount to a slow, but steady annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory. This
deprives Palestinians of their right to self-determination and is an obstacle to the
two-State solution (A/67/375, paras. 10-12).
18. In the case of East Jerusalem, the continued settlement advances in Jerusalem
and around the Jerusalem periphery, appears to have been intended to alter the
demographic composition there (A/HRC/22/63, para. 25), in the context of an
illegal annexation condemned by the Security Council. 21 The impact of settlement
expansion on Palestinian self-determination in the E1 area east of Jerusalem is well
__________________
15 The Rights Forum and Yesh Din, “Under the Radar”, p. 12.
16 Ibid., p. 16.
17 A/67/375, paras. 10-11; A/68/502, paras. 5-6.
18 https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/634kfc.htm.; International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, The Prosecutor v Mladen Naletilic and Vinko Martinovic, Case
No. IT-98-34-T, Judgment (Trial Chamber, 31 March 2003, para. 214).
19 See Charter of the United Nations, Article 2(4), and General Assembly resolution 2625 (1970).
20 International Committee of the Red Cross, Comment ary to article 49, Geneva Convention IV,
available from https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Comment.xsp?action=openDocument&
documentId=523BA38706C71588C12563CD0042C407.
21 See e.g., Security Council resolution 478 (1980).
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documented (A/HRC/22/63, para. 34).22 If fully implemented as planned, it would
almost completely cut the West Bank in two at the expense of territorial contiguity.
19. Recent plans and expansions in other areas compound the fragmentation of
Palestinian communities. The plan to build in Givat Hamatos threatens to cut
Palestinian neighbourhoods off from each other ( A/HRC/28/44, para. 7).23
Meanwhile, the promotion of the settlement Givat Eitam in A -Nahla, near
Bethlehem, threatens to carve up the West Bank, directly impacting Palestinian
rights and the viability of the two -State solution.24
20. The settlements also have a bro ad impact on the rights of Palestinians, setting
off a chain of human rights violations throughout the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem. These violations drive the conflict and, in that respect, the Israeli
authorities support for the settlements undermines prospects for peace. The
settlements are indeed at the heart of a vicious cycle of land takeovers, friction
between the settler and Palestinian population, increased Israeli security force
presence, restrictions on freedom of movement of Palestinians, and discriminatory
measures entailing multiple violations of Palestinians’ rights ( A/HRC/28/45;
A/HRC/22/63). There also remain serious concerns regarding the lin kage between
the risk of forcible transfer facing Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities and
settlement expansion.
21. The Secretary-General continues to be concerned about the Israeli authorities
denying Palestinians access to agricultural land for reasons related to settlements,
and about the huge discrepancies in water allocation between settlements and
Palestinians in the West Bank.25 At the same time demolition orders are stringently
enforced against Palestinians but to a much lesser extent agains t settlers.26
22. Settler violence against Palestinians continues largely unchecked and without
adequate protection or accountability on the part of the Israeli authorities. Between
16 May 2014 and 30 April 2015, Office CHA recorded 256 settler -related violence
incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, leading to injuries to
95 Palestinians. This compares to 278 incidents resulting in 61 injuries between July
2013 and 15 May 2014.27
23. Adequate protection or accountability on the part of the Is raeli authorities with
regard to settler-related violence remains lacking ( A/HRC/28/44, paras. 39-51).
These issues were brought to the fore again when the Israeli organization Yesh Din
found that the success rate of investigations into offences against Palestinians had
actually worsened, despite the creation of the “nationalistic crimes unit” in the
“Samaria and Judea” District Police. In 2013 -2014, suspects of settler violence
__________________
22 See also Secretary-General’s message to the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the
Palestinian People, 27.02.2013, available from: http://www.un.org/sg/STATEMENTS/
index.asp?nid=6626.
23 Peace Now, 2.10.2014, available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/NetanyahusFalseClaims
GivatHamatos.
24 Peace Now, “The New Settlement in E2 (Nahla) — A Significant Threat to the Two States
Solution”, September 2014, available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/E2 -Nahla.
25 A/HRC/28/44, paras. 17-38, and A/HRC/22/63, paras. 80-88.
26 Association for Civil Rights in Israel, October 2014, p. 102, available from:
http://www.acri.org.il/en/wp -content/uploads/2015/02/Two-Systems-of-Law-English-FINAL.pdf.
27 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, unpublished data.
A/70/351
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against Palestinians were charged in just 1.9 per cent of cases. Between 2005 and
2014, there were indictments in 7.4 per cent of cases, according to Yesh Din. 28
24. The linkages between settlement expansion, including retroactive legalization
of outposts under Israeli law and informal me ans of settlement expansion, and
violations of Palestinians’ rights is illustrated in the following case studies,
examining the situation in Silwan and around Shiloh settlement and Qaryut village
in the northern West Bank.
B. Case study: Silwan in East Jerusalem
25. Silwan is a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, just south of the Old
City, with a population of 45,000 Palestinians. 29 Like other Palestinians in East
Jerusalem, its residents have the status of permanent residents, rather than citizens.
Silwan has sites of particular archaeological significance concentrated mainly in its
northernmost neighbourhood of Wadi Hilweh.
26. It is the strategic location of Silwan, bordering the Haram Ash -Sharif/Temple
Mount, which has made it a target for settlement activities, resulting in tremendous
adverse impact on the rights and daily lives of local residents. A few hundred
settlers live in various locations in the heart of Silwan . Silwan is also part of the
so-called Holy Basin in East Jerusalem, to which millions of shekels have been
allocated for settlement activities through archaeology and tourism schemes. 30
27. Since 2005, successive Israeli Governments and the Jerusalem Municipality
have allocated significant budgets — totalling 974 million shekels between 2006
and 2009 — to plans that ostensibly aim at promoting tourism development in the
Old City and its environs.31 These plans involve a variety of activities, including
creation of gardens and national parks, tourist facilities and information centres.
28. While these activities appear to be part of the regular public works and tourist
operations of a municipal authority, they must be understood in the very specific
context of East Jerusalem. They are being carried out in cooperation with private
settler organizations active in the Old City and its environs. They are therefore
rooted in the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and ongo ing settlement expansion
in and around Palestinian neighbourhoods there, and serve to continue changing the
status quo in East Jerusalem.
__________________
28 Yesh Din, “Law Enforcement on Israeli Civilians in the West Bank”, November 2014,
http://www.yesh-din.org/infoitem.asp?infocatid=636.
29 Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Je rusalem, “Factsheet on Silwan — Destruction of
Palestinian Homes and Heritage in occupied East Jerusalem”, October 2014.
30 The “Holy Basin” is a contested term for an area comprising the Muslim and Christian quarters
of the Old City, Silwan, Sheikh Jarra h, At-Tur (Mount of Olives), Wadi Joz, Ras al-‘Amud, and
Jabal Al Mukabbir. This report refers to this area as the Old City and its environs.
31 Amounting to $253 million. Peace Now, “Government’s Plan to deepen hold over Jerusalem”,
May 2009, http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/government%25E2%2580%2599s -plans-deepenhold-
over-jerusalem; Emek Shaveh, “From Silwan to The Temple Mount: Archaeological
Excavations as a Means of Control in the Village of Silwan and in Jerusalem’s Old City —
Developments in 2012”, February 2013, available from: http://alt-arch.org/en/from-silwan-totemple-
mount/.
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Increased settler presence and expansions
29. There are two main settler organizations active in Silwan: Elad an d Ateret
Cohanim. Established in 1986, Elad on its City of David website states that it is
“committed to continuing King David’s legacy”, including through “archaeological
excavation, tourism, development, educational programming and residential
revitalization”.32 In practice, Elad uses these activities to promote settler expansion
into East Jerusalem, and Silwan in particular. According to the Israeli organization
Emek Shaveh, the guided tours offered by the City of David associated with Elad
push a “one-dimensional and limited story of the place”, focusing on “the 2nd
Temple period and the renewal of the Jewish presence today.” 33
30. Settler organizations have used different means to take over Palestinian
property, including through the application of the 1 950 Absentee Property Law. 34
The first permanent settlers’ presence in Silwan started in 1991 when Elad took over
two houses belonging to Palestinians in Wadi Hilweh, using the law. 35 It is estimated
that at least 23 properties in Silwan were transferred to Elad’s control in this way.36
31. Other claims have been made on the basis of the alleged ownership of the
pre-1948 Yemenite Jewish community that lived in Silwan from the 1880s until
1936.37 Some transactions appear to have been conducted with the consent of the
owner, although in other cases documents were reportedly forged. 38 Settlers have
also reportedly used Palestinian middlemen to purchase property on their behalf
without the owner knowing who the actual buyer was. 39
32. By September 2011, there were 380 settlers in 34 settlement outposts in
Silwan, most of them affiliated with Elad and Ateret Cohanim. 40 Towards the end of
2014, the number of outposts in Silwan almost doubled. On 30 September 2014,
settlers took over six large buildings consisting of 26 housing units, most of them
located in Wadi Hilweh (A/HRC/28/44, para. 11). Elad was reportedly behind the
takeover working through a company registered abroad and a Palestinian
__________________
32 The Ir David Foundation, available from: http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/en/The -Ir-David-
Foundation.
33 Emek Shaveh, “Elad’s Settlement in Silwan”, available from: http://alt-arch.org/en/settlers/.
34 The 1950 Absentee Property Law provides that any person who lived between 27 November
1947 and 1 September 1948 outside the boundaries of the Israeli State, his or her property
automatically will be transferred to the te nure of the Israeli Custodian for Absentee Property,
without any compensation.
35 Emek Shaveh, “Elad’s Settlement in Silwan”; M. Margalit, “Seizing Control of Space in East
Jerusalem”, May 2010. p. 69.
36 The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) , “Unsafe Space — The Israeli Authorities’
Failure to Protect Human Rights amid Settlements in East Jerusalem”, September 2010, p. 36.
37 Emek Shaveh, “Elad’s Settlement in Silwan”.
38 Margalit, “Seizing Control of Space in East Jerusalem”, p. 85.
39 Ibid., pp. 84-85.
40 Peace Now, “Settlements in Palestinian Neighborhoods in East Jerusalem”, September 2011,
available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/settlements -palestinian-neighborhoods-eastjerusalem;
in April 2012 the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 2,000
settlers lived in Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, mostly in the “Holy Basin” . See
Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Settlements in Palestinian Residential Areas in
East Jerusalem”, April 2012, available from: https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_ej_
settlements_factsheet_april_2012_english.pdf.
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intermediary.41 On 20 October 2014, another two Palestinian residential structures
were taken over by settlers said to be associated with Ateret Cohanim in Baten
el-Hawa/Yemenite neighbourhood.42 On 18 March 2015, Elad took over three
housing units in a building consisting of four units in Wadi Hilweh.43 Elad and
Ateret Cohanim claim that they purchased the houses although this is disputed by
some of the families (A/HRC/28/44, para. 11). Settlers took over another house in
Silwan in early May 2015.44
Archaeological excavations
33. There were sporadic archaeological excavations around the Old City and
Silwan at the end of the nineteenth century. 45 However, following the occupation of
East Jerusalem, they have become intensely politicized and linked to the settlements
in East Jerusalem.
34. Many current archaeological excavations in Wadi Hilweh are managed by
Elad.46 As Elad faced legal challenges to its takeover of property through the
Absentee Property Law, it turned its focus to archaeology as a means of
appropriating Palestinian property.47
35. In a 2005 agreement, the Israeli National Parks Authority transferred the
responsibility of managing the City of David National Park to Elad. The park
includes property that was previously confiscated from Palestinians because of its
archaeological importance. While Elad then sub -contracted the Israel Antiquities
Authority to conduct excavations, it retained control over the management of the
archaeological findings.48 Currently, excavations are ongoing in 15 different
locations in Wadi Hilweh/City of David National Park. 49
36. Elad projects in Silwan have been harmonized with plans promoted by the
Government of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality. A key example is the joint
Elad and Israeli National Parks Authority project for the construction of a
multi-purpose tourist centre, known as the “Kedem Compound” , located over an
__________________
41 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian Bulletin, September 2014, p. 7,
https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2014_10_27_
english.pdf; N. Hasson, “Settlers move into 25 East Jerusalem homes, marking biggest influx in
decades”, Haaretz, 30.09.2014, available from: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium -
1.618470.
42 N. Hasson, “Number of Jewish Silwan residents doubles in overnight mission”, Haaretz,
20.10.2014, http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium -1.621688.
43 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Protection of Civilians”, 17 -23.03.2015,
available from: http://www.ochaopt.org/poc17march-23march.aspx.
44 Peace Now, “Settlers Take Over Another House in Silwan”, 6 May 2015, available from:
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/AbuNab.
45 “The Case of Silwan/City of David”, Public Archeology, Vol. 8, No. 1, February 2009, pp. 35-50,
available from: http://www.uhasselt.be/Documents/UHasselt_EN/International/
Lezing%20NZ%202011/Towards%20an%20inclusive%20archeology%20in%20Jerusalem.pdf.
46 Elad is an acronym of the Hebrew “El Ir David” meaning “To the city of David”.
47 Emek Shaveh, “Elad’s Settlement in Silwan”.
48 Greenberg, “Towards an Inclusive Archeology in Jerusalem”, p. 42.
49 Emek Shaveh, “From Silwan to the Temple Mount”, p. 8.
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archaeological site currently under excavation at the northern part of Wadi Hilweh. 50
The proposed compound includes a museum, a visitors’ centre and a parking lot with
an expected accumulative area of 16,000 square metres (see A/69/348, para. 33).51
The plan has advanced significantly in the planning process and risks ex tending the
ongoing settlement expansion52 in Silwan, as part of broader efforts to change the
status quo in East Jerusalem.
Clashes in Silwan
37. Clashes between Palestinian residents of Silwan and Israeli security forces
have been routine for years. The tension is usually directly related to the presence of
settlers or plans for Israeli development in Silwan ( A/HRC/16/71, paras. 20-22).
38. Tension increased after June 2014 owing to three key development s: the June-
August military operation in Gaza, the kidnapping and killing of a 16 -year-old
youth from Shu’fat on 2 July 2014, and the tension around Al Aqsa Mosque
Compound during October-November 2014.53
39. Between 1 July and 18 November 2014, the Office for Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs recorded 58 clashes between Israeli security forces and
Palestinians in Silwan, which was the third most volatile neighbourhood in East
Jerusalem after At Tur (60 clashes) and the Old City (80). 54 A total of 119
Palestinians were injured in Silwan during clashes in 2014, including 118 between
July and November. Between 1 January and 30 April 2015, eight Palestinians had
been injured in Silwan during clashes with Israeli security forces. 55 While the
increased tension in Silwan during the second half of 2014 was the result mainly of
developments not specific to Silwan, the notable increase of security forces -
exacerbated tensions.
40. Settlers in Silwan are protected by hundreds of armed private guards who fall
under the authority of the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing —
illustrating the direct involvement of the Government in the Silwan settlement
enterprise.56
41. In previous years, these guards were involved in serious human rights abuses
in Silwan. In October 2010, Samer Sarhan was killed after he was shot by a private
__________________
50 N. Hasson, “Israel approves new East Jerusalem visitors’ compound, razes Palestinian
community center”, Haaretz, 13.02.2012, available from: http://www.haaretz.com/news/
diplomacy-defense/israel-approves-new-east-jerusalem-visitors-compound-razes-palestiniancommunity-
center-1.412700.
51 Ibid., p. 24.
52 See Section IV.A. on human rights violations linked to settlements.
53 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian Bulletin, June-August 2014 and
October 2014, available from: https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_
monitor_2014_10_03_english.pdf and https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_
humanitarian_monitor_2014_11_26_english.pdf .
54 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, unpublished data.
55 Idem.
56 ACRI, Unsafe Space, p. 16; ACRI, High Court to State: Explain Use of Private Guards in
E. Jerusalem, 13.12.2012, available from: http://www.acri.org.il/en/2012/12/13/hcj -securityguards-
jerusalem/.
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guard.57 On 13 May 2011, a 17-year-old boy, Milad Ayyash, was shot and killed,
allegedly by a private guard during clashes around the Beit Yehonatan outpost. 58
Both incidents provoked a series of clashes and violence in Silwan that lasted for
weeks.59 In May 2015, the Israeli NGO B’tselem appealed the decision by the
Department for the Investigation of Police and by the Israel Police to close the
investigations into the killing of Ayyash. 60 According to the Israeli organization, the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel, an investigation into the killing of Sarhan was
closed in September 2013 and a subsequent appeal rejected in April 2015.
Demolitions
42. Silwan is no exception to the discr iminatory planning system in East
Jerusalem, which the Secretary-General and others previously noted (A/HRC/25/38,
paras. 11-14; CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 25). The existing plans allocated for
Silwan are from 1974-1976 and allow for limited construction only. The takeover of
land by settler groups or inclusion within national parks further limits possibilities for
Palestinian development in Silwan. In the limit ed areas where building is permitted,
the residents face bureaucratic, administrative and financial challenges that make
the process of obtaining a building permit close to impossible. 61 As a result, a wide
range of unauthorized construction has been carrie d out in both areas where building
is prohibited or not allowed. Many buildings therefore become subject to demolition.
43. In 2014, the Israeli Jerusalem municipality demolished eight structures in
occupied East Jerusalem, displacing five families consis ting of 29 individuals,
including 17 children. The municipality delivered 27 demolition orders in 2014 and
five stop-work/demolition orders concerning residential structures as of May 2015. 62
44. Despite this strict policy on demolishing houses without a p ermit owned by
Palestinians, the municipality has shown a different practice when enforcing such
orders against settlers. The most obvious example is the settlers’ outpost of seven
storeys known as Beit Yehonatan, built during the period 2002 -2003 in Silwan.
Despite court orders to evacuate Beit Yehonatan, the authorities have not
implemented them.63
45. Some demolition orders of Palestinian houses are directly linked to municipal
takeover of land aimed at creating a contiguity of tourist sites changing the status
__________________
57 B’tselem, Caution: Children Ahead: The Illegal Behavior of the Police towards Minors in Silwan
Suspected of Stone Throwing, Decemb er 2010, p. 5, available from: http://www.btselem.org/
download/201012_caution_children_ahead_eng.pdf.
58 DCI-Palestine, “17 year old boy killed during protest in Silwan”, 2.06.2011, available from:
http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/17-year-old-boy-killed-during-protests-silwan.
59 See, for example, B’tselem, “Caution: Children Ahead”.
60 B’tselem, “B’Tselem appeals to State Attorney’s Office against closing investigative files in case
of Milad ‘Ayash, 17, killed by gunfire from East Jerusalem settlement”, 3.05.2015, available from:
http://www.btselem.org/firearms/20150 503_btselem_appeals_closing_%20 of_milad_ayash_case.
61 Ir Amim, “The Giant’s Garden: The ‘King’s Garden’ Plan in Al-Bustan”, p. 7, available from:
http://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/al%20bustan%20ENG.pdf .
62 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, unpublished data.
63 Peace Now, “Settlers Take Over Another House in Silwan”, 6.05.2015, available from:
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/AbuNab.
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quo in East Jerusalem.64 In 2005, the Jerusalem municipality delivered demolition
orders to houses in the Al Bustan neighbourhood, in the centre of Silwan, because
they lacked a building permit.65 These orders put at risk approximately 90 houses
and threaten to displace more than 1,000 people. 66 Under a 1976 city master plan,
listing only the few houses existing at that time, Al Bustan is marked as a green
space and linked to plans to turn the area into a park replicating the garden of
biblical King Solomon.67
46. There has been significant international pressure to stop implementation of the
plan, and while so far none of the houses in Al Bustan have been demolished, all
remain under threat. Residents of the neighbourhood provided alternative
development plans prepared by professional planners, but these were rejected by the
municipality.68
47. The latest municipality version of the plan divides the land into three parts: a
residential area in the East, the park in the West and hotels in the South. 69 All houses
in the western side are to be demolished for the planned biblical garden, those in the
eastern side will be legalized and some additional construction will be allowed to
accommodate residents of the western side whose houses will be demolished. 70
Israeli security forces’ presence and child detention
48. Human rights organizations have raised concerns regarding the detention of
children in Silwan in recent years. 71 This has included the case of a 7-year-old boy
from Silwan — the youngest of 700 children arrested in East Jerusalem in 2014. 72
Most of these cases in Silwan relate to stone throwing at settlers, private guards or
ISF, and are linked to the friction between settlers and the local population. NGOs
have also raised concerns regarding ill-treatment of child detainees in Silwan. 73
__________________
64 Emek Shaveh, “From Territorial Contiguity to Historical Continuity: Asserting Israeli Control
through National Parks in East Jerusalem — Update 2014”, available from: http://alt-arch.org/
en/national-parks-in-east-jerusalem-update-2014/.
65 Margalit, “Seizing Control of Space in East Jerusalem”, p. 5.
66 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “East Jerusalem — Key Humanitarian
Concerns”, p. 34.
67 B’tselem, “Al-Bustan Neighbourhood — Garden of the King”, 16.09.2014, available from:
http://www.btselem.org/jerusalem/national_parks_al_bustan_garden_of_the_king; Ir Amim, “The
Giant’s Garden”, p. 5; H. Ofran, “Invisible Settlements in Jerusalem”, Palestine-Israel Journal,
Vol. 17, No. 12, 2011, available from: http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=1283 .
68 Ir Amim, “Shady Dealings in Silwan”, May 2009, p. 33, available from: http://www.iramim.
org.il/sites/default/files/Silwanreporteng.pdf .
69 Bimkom, “From Public to National: National Parks in East Jerusalem”, 2012, p. 27, available
from: http://bimkom.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/From-Public-to-National_English_
FINAL2012_withMAPS_lowres1.pdf.
70 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “East Jerusalem — Key Humanitarian
Concerns”, pp. 34-35.
71 DCI-Palestine, “Arrest and abuse by Israeli police pa rt of life for children in Silwan”,
22.02.2014, available from: http://www.dci -palestine.org/arrest_and_abuse_by_israeli_
police_part_of_life_for_children_in_silwan; B’tselem, “Caution: Children Ahead”.
72 A total of 70 of the children were under the age of 13. Wadi Hilweh Information Center —
Silwan, Annual Report 2014, 8.01.2015, available from: http://silwanic.net/?p=55921.
73 Madaa Creative Center, Silwan, “The Impact of Child Arrest and Detention”, 2012, pp. 14 -16,
available from: http://www.roomno4. org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2012-Madaa-Report-on-
Child-arrest-and-Detention-in-Silwan.pdf. See also B’tselem, “Caution: Children Ahead”.
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Conclusion
49. Settlement activities in Silwan have been supported by different governmental
bodies, the Jerusalem municipality and private settlers’ organizations.
50. The impact of these activities on the rights and daily lives of Palestinians in
Silwan is multifaceted and the situation as of May 2015 remains tense. Clashes
sparked by the presence of settlers have resulted in injuries. Security forces in Silwan
regularly detain children, mainly for stone throwing. Meanwhile, the local inhabitants
are running out of space to live, with many at risk of their houses being demolished,
while plans are made to build hotels and national parks in the limited space.
51. Settlement expansion in Silwan and around the Old City is changing the status
quo and the character of East Jerusalem, and creating a physical separation between
the Palestinian neighbourhoods and the Old City. Frequently expressed Palestinian
aspirations remain to see East Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the future
capital of the Palestinian State. The continuation of such settlement activities in
East Jerusalem place significant obstacles to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
C. Case study: settlement corridor in the northern West Bank around
Shiloh settlement and Qaryut
Overview
52. In the northern West Bank, a cluster of settlements and outposts, with Shiloh at
its centre, forms a near contiguous line of settlement -controlled land, stretching
from the Green Line (1949 Armistice demarcation line) in the West, to the Jordan
Valley in the East, effectively linking isolated outposts in the heart of the West Bank
to the settlement of Ariel. The gradual growth of this settlement corridor is taking
place to the detriment of the political, economic, social and cultural rights of over
35,000 Palestinians living in 10 nearby rural villages. 74
53. The death of Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein in December 2014 brings to
the fore these intersecting concerns. Mr. Abu Ein was with protesters on Human
Rights Day, peacefully demonstrating against the settlement of Adei Ad, residents of
which have repeatedly attacked Palestinians and prevented them from cultivating
their own land. The Israeli High Court has also called for dis mantling the
settlement, which is considered illegal under Israeli law. Ziad Abu Ein died
following an assault by an Israeli soldier during a scuffle at the protest. 75
54. The Shiloh settlement corridor, consisting of four settlements (Shiloh,
Rechelim, Ma’ale Levona and Eli) and some 14 outposts, with a total estimated
__________________
74 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_Rainbow/Documents/
nabls.htm. The following Palestinian villages and towns have been identified as directly affected
by settlement expansion in the area: Al Lubban ash Sharqiya, Al Mughayyir, As Sawiya, Jalud,
Qaryut, Qusra, Sinjil, Talfit, Turmus’ayya, Yasuf and Yatma.
75 “Zeid says Israel must take action to curb rise in protest fatalities in Occupied Palestinian
Territory”, Geneva, 12.12.2014, available from: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/
DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15416&LangID=E#sthash.OTVoun3q.dpuf. A joint Israeli -
Palestinian autopsy could not agree on the exact cause of death, see http://www.aljazeera.com/
news/middleeast/2014/12/palestine -minister-autopsy-results-disputed-2014121161857
231665.html.
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population of 8,747,76 has been established and grown through a combination of
measures, which typify modalities of informal settlement expansion documented
throughout the West Bank. Largely based on restricting or discouraging Palestinian
movement and access, these practices lead to the de facto appropriation of land by
settler groups.77 In the corridor, informal measures primarily implemented by
settlers in the area, include the erection of u nauthorized residential outposts, illegal
takeover and cultivation of Palestinian farmland, and the establishment of
archaeological excavation and touristic sites. Such practices facilitate the exertion
of control over lands that are often well beyond the built-up areas or even the outer
security perimeter of the settlements. In the area around Qaryut in particular, these
settlement expansion tactics have frequently been enabled by acts of violence and
intimidation targeting Palestinian residents of the are a.
55. Illegal activity originating from the Shiloh settlement corridor is facilitated by
both passive and proactive measures by Israeli authorities. These range from the
absence of law enforcement towards settlers — for criminal as well as civil offences
including unauthorized construction — to steps taken by the Israel Defense Forces
towards the formalization and implementation of movement and access restrictions.
In addition, the Israeli authorities have allocated land and resources for the erection
of unauthorized outposts, and have been engaged in their retroactive formalization.
Finally, large-scale public investment in tourism sites managed by settlers is further
cementing the presence and expansion of settler -controlled lands in this area.
Settler violence and restrictions on access to land and resources
56. Settler violence and other criminal offences committed by Israeli civilians in
the area against Palestinian residents have been met with a near absence of law
enforcement by the Israeli authorities. Of a sample of 116 police investigations into
alleged settler offences monitored by Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din
from 2005 to 2015 in the Shiloh settlement corridor, 95 per cent ended without
prosecutions.78
57. Between January 2012 and May 2015, the Office for Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs recorded a total of 103 settler -related incidents perpetrated
against Palestinians in the communities identified above. Of these, 22 resulted in
Palestinian casualties and the remainde r involved damage to Palestinian property,
including to at least 13,000 olive trees, a main source of income for Palestinian
communities in the area.
58. Illegal settler activity, often enabled by policies and practices of the Israeli
authorities, must be understood in the context of the systematic violations of the
rights of Palestinians. Intimidation and violence against Palestinian farmers,
landowners and herders serves to establish de facto no -go zones, and results in the
gradual dispossession of Palestinian rural communities, while clearing a path for the
expansion of the areas under effective settler control. Further compounding this
__________________
76 Population data for settlements and outposts based on Peace Now estimates fo r 2011 except
Shvut Rachel, HaBait Ha’adom and Rechalim, 2008, available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/
content/settlements-and-outposts.
77 Forthcoming publication, Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, The humanitarian
impact of informal settlement expansion, 2015.
78 The sample represents results of police investigation files monitored in Al Mughayyir, Jalud,
Qaryut, Sinjil and Turmus’ayya. Yesh Din, unpublished data.
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cycle, the culture of impunity enjoyed by settlers reinforces the boldness of
attacks,79 in turn causing Palestinian farmers and landowners to further restrict their
movements out of fear of violence and harassment. 80
59. A range of Israel Defense Forces practices contribute to the cycle. These
include the frequent failure of Israel Defense Forces units to provide adequate
protection to Palestinian residents from settler attacks, the declaration of no -go
zones for Palestinians, and the institution of a permit regime by which Palestinian
landowners are granted rare access to their land after coordination with the Israel
Defense Forces to ensure safety of movement ( A/HRC/22/63).81 Towards the
easternmost end of the Shiloh corridor, in the areas adjacent to the outposts of Adei
Ad, Ahiya, Esh Kodesh, HaBait HaAdom and Kida, Palestinian landowners’ access
to land is almost entirely blocked, barring a few days for the ploughing and
harvesting season under the coordination regime. 82
60. The erection of roadblocks, checkpoints and road gates by Israel Defense
Forces further restricts Palestinians’ movement and access to land. 98.5 km of roads in
the area around Qaryut are prohibited for Palestinian vehicular use (of which 77.5 km
are inside settlements and settlement outer limits, or connecting settlements). 83
According to the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the 14 settlement
outposts located in the Shiloh settlement corridor e xert control over more than
150 hectares of Palestinian privately owned land.84 The failure of Israeli authorities
to protect the private property and freedom of movement of Palestinian residents of
the area, not only runs counter to Israel’s obligations under international
humanitarian law to ensure the protection of the Palestinian population under its
occupation, but further constitutes a violation of a range of human rights, including
the right to an adequate standard of living.
Retroactive formalization of outposts
61. The Government of Israel has also taken deliberate, formal steps towards
consolidating the presence of settlers and settlements in this part of the West Bank,
including by way of a ”silent policy” of retroactive formalization of unauthorized
outposts noted above.85
62. In the Shiloh settlement corridor, this has become apparent with the approval
of Rehelim and Nofei Nehemia as new settlements to the east of Ariel, effectively
__________________
79 According to Yesh Din data, in 2013 -2014, 28.3 per cent of police i nvestigations into alleged
offences by Israeli civilians in the West Bank took place inside villages, including attacks on
Palestinian homes. Yesh Din, “Law Enforcement on Israeli Civilians in the West Bank”,
November 2014, available from: http://www.yesh-din.org/infoitem.asp?infocatid=636.
80 Yesh Din, “The Road to Dispossession”, March 2013, pp. 74 -143 and map on p. 124, available
from: http://www.yesh-din.org/infoitem.asp?infocatid=324 .
81 Ibid; A Hass, Israeli soldiers are licensed thugs applying state violence in the West Bank, Amira
Hass, Haaretz, 15.12.2014, available from: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacydefense/.
premium-1.631735.
82 Kerem Navot, “Israeli Settler Agriculture as a Means of Land Takeover in the West Bank”,
August 2013, p. 93, available from: http://rhr.org.il/heb/wp-content/uploads/Kerem-Navot.pdf.
83 Access restrictions include 13 earth mounds, 6 roadblocks, 1 checkpoint and 5 road gates, 2 earth
walls, and 4 road barriers with a total length of 2.2 km.
84 Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, unpublished data.
85 Peace Now, “Netanyahu Established 20 New Settlements for Tens of Thousands of Settlers”,
12.03.2015, available from: http://peacenow.org.il/eng/OutpostsLegalized.
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expanding the reach of this settlement bloc. In addition, Israeli authorities have
initiated procedures to allow for the retroactive approval of Haroeh, HaYovel and
Shvut Rachel outposts, which will result in the further eastward consolidation of
settlement control over land. Thousands of settlers who engaged in the unauthorized
establishment of settlement outposts and illegal construction inside them, already
protected by the Israel Defense Forces,86 are “rewarded” with the retroactive
formalization of these settlements.87
Archaeology and tourism
63. As in Silwan and other parts of the West Bank, Israel’s pol icies and practices
to promote tourism and archaeology sites in the areas around Qaryut consolidate
settler presence there while excluding Palestinians from the right to participate in
and enjoy the area’s cultural life and heritage.
64. Shiloh and its satellite settlements and outposts have seen extensive private
and public investments in tourism in recent years. The area is promoted by the
regional settlement council (Binyamin Regional Council) as “the land of biblical
heroes”, targeting a broad Israeli and international public88 with attractions and
activities ranging from expansive archaeological excavations to wine tasting,
cycling routes and picnic sites.89 Several of the advertised tourism destinations are
located inside unauthorized settlement outposts and known hotspots for settler
violence against Palestinian residents.
65. Khirbet Seilun (promoted by Israeli authorities and settler bodies as Tel Shiloh ),
located on the land of the Palestinian village of Qaryut, and within the boundaries of
the settlement of Shilo, is one of the most well -funded Israeli archaeological tourist
sites90 in the West Bank.91 It is administered by the Binyamin Regional Council a nd
a private settler organization, and features a watchtower, a visitors’ centre and event
facilities, offering educational activities, biblical arts and crafts workshops and
guided tours. In 2012, ”Tel Shiloh”’ was incorporated into a national heritage
development programme by a Government Decision, with an initial 5 million
shekels in public funds allocated towards its development .92 In 2014, further
attesting to its significance to the consolidation of the settler presence in the area, 93
the Binyamin Regional Council submitted master plans for the site to the Civil
__________________
86 The Rights Forum and Yesh Din, “Under the Radar”, p. 12.
87 Ibid.
88 Y Avivi, “Israel’s settlement tourism”, 13.06.2014, available from: http://www.almonitor.
com/pulse/originals/2014/06/tourism-west-bank-settlements-green-line.html#.
89 See Binyamin Regional Council website at: http://www.binyamin.org.il/?CategoryID=704 .
90 The Israeli Ministry of Tourism refers to the site as “one of the most dramatic in the country”,
see: http://www.goisrael.com/tourism_eng/tourist%20information/jewish%20themes/
jewish_sites/pages/tel%20shiloh%20jew.aspx .
91 Emek Shaveh, “Interim conclusions from the discussion of the objections to the development
plans of Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) ”, 12.08.2014, available from: http://alt-arch.org/en/pressrelease-
tel-shiloh/.
92 $1.3 million, see: http://www.pmo.gov.il/mediacenter/spokesman/pages/spokemoreshet
140212.aspx (Hebrew).
93 “Tel Shiloh” has also been the site of numerous ministerial visits. Most recently, Israeli Mi nister
of Education (at the time, Minister of Housing) Naftali Bennet, can be seen in December 2014
encouraging the revival of an ancient tradition to visit the site during Jewish High Holidays:
available from: https://www.facebook.com/AncientShilo/videos/ vb.290996024346212/
662677760511368/?type=1&theater (Hebrew) .
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Administration, proposing its further development to include over 300,000 square
metres of land, including the construction of an amphitheatre, a commercial tourism
centre, a hotel and parking lots to accommodate 5,000 visitors per day. 94
66. According to archaeologists with the Israeli organization Emek Shaveh, the
narrative presented by tour guides, audiovisual presentations and signage at “Tel
Shiloh” emphasizes biblical events, with Jewish -Christian faith and tradition
determining the content of the antiquities site to the exclusion of a full
archaeological accounting of the range of artefacts that have in fact been found at
the site. There is a disregard for the Muslim and Palestinian history of the site,
including the ruins of a mosque.95 Exacerbating the exclusion of the area’s residents
and their ties to the site in the narrative chosen by the site’s administrators,
Palestinians, until recently, were prohibited from accessing Khirbet Siloun o r the
entire “Tel Shiloh” complex, owing to security restrictions imposed by Israel. 96
Conclusion
67. The gradual expansion of lands under settlement control in the area around
Qaryut has resulted in the consolidation of settler control over a corrido r of Area C
land stretching from the Green Line to the Jordan Valley. This “corridor” is further
fragmenting the West Bank, with direct detrimental consequences for Palestinians’
right to self-determination.
68. Israel’s policy of retroactive formalizatio n of outposts in the area sets a
dangerous precedent by effectively rewarding unlawful behaviour, and thereby
potentially further entrenching the cycle of violence in the area, as well as more
broadly throughout the West Bank.
69. The creation and consolidation of unauthorized outposts in the “Shiloh
corridor” was brought about through violence, intimidation and unlawful activity
that have resulted in violations of the rights of Palestinian residents of the area.
D. Settlement expansion and the viability of the two-State solution
70. As the outgoing United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace
Process noted in his final briefing to the Security Council, “Illegal settlement
activity simply cannot be reconciled with the objective of a negotiated two-State
solution and may kill the very possibility of reaching peace on the paradigm of two
States for two peoples.” He warned that “the minimum conditions of trust cannot be
restored without the new Israeli government taking credible st eps to freeze
settlement activity.”97
__________________
94 Emek Shaveh, “Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) — Archaeological settlement in the political struggle
over Samaria”, November 2014.
95 Ibid., p. 22.
96 See “Archaeological Dig Inside Settlement Must Be Open to Palestinians, Civil Administration
Decides”, Haaretz, Friday, 12 August 2015, where the Israeli Civil Administration in a recent
decision insists that the site should be made available to all, including Palestinian visitors.
97 Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Briefing to the Security
Council on the Situation in the Middle East, 26.03.2015, available from: http://www.unsco.org/
Documents/Statements/MSCB/2008/Security%20Council%20Briefing%20 -%2026%20March
%202015.pdf.
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71. The Secretary-General has called on the Government of Israel on a number of
occasions “to halt and reverse such decisions in the interest of peace and a just final
status agreement,” most recently following a flurr y of settlement activity in early
May 2015.98
72. Just before the March 2015 elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly
committed to continued building in East Jerusalem during a tour of Har Homa
settlement, promising that “we will continue to build in Jerusalem; we will add
thousands of housing units.”99
73. This follows a series of declarations and actions in recent years by various
Israeli politicians aimed at obtaining a formal endorsement by the State of the 2012
”Report on the Legal Status of Buil ding in Judea and Samaria” (the Levy Report).
The Levy Report contains a legal analysis of the settlements that has been
challenged as flawed, and, if its recommendations were to be implemented, would
clear the way for large-scale settlement expansion.100 The legalization of outposts is
a stated political objective of HaBayit HaYehudi — one of the parties of the
governing coalition Government.
74. The continued existence of the settlements drives violations of human rights in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory and challenges the viability of the two -State
solution. The Secretary-General reiterates his call on Israel to demonstrate its stated
commitment to peace with the Palestinians by ceasing and reversing settlement
activity (A/HRC/28/45, paras. 43-45).
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
75. In the occupied Syrian Golan, about 21,000 settlers continue to live in
33 Israeli settlements.101 In line with previous measures to consolidate the presence
of settlements and settlers, reportedly, in July 2014, an Israeli college in the
occupied Syrian Golan offered a wide range of financial incentives to prospective
students in order to increase its enrolment into the college. The college, located in
Katzrin settlement, seeks to double its enrolment to 2,500 students over the next
seven years. It is reported that in order to do so, Israeli authorities will invest
__________________
98 Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary -General on Israeli settlements in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, 15.05.2015, available from: http://www.un.org/
sg/statements/index.asp?nid=8632.
99 Agence France Press,” If reelected, Netanyahu vows wave of E. Jerusalem building”,
16.03.2015, available from: http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-attacks-rivals-jerusalem-lastpitch-
voters-110810742.html.
100 “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human ri ghts in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967, Richard Falk” (A/HRC/25/67), 13.01.2014. For detailed critiques of the
analysis of the Levy Report, see, for example: Yesh Din, “Unprecedented: A Legal A nalysis of
the Report of the Committee to Examine the Status of Construction in Judea and Samaria”, May
2014, available from: http://www.yesh -din.org/infoitem.asp?infocatid=580; I. Scobbie, “Justice
Levy’s Legal Tinsel: The Recent Israeli Report on the Sta tus of the West Bank and Legality of
the Settlements”, 6.09.2012, available from: http://www.ejiltalk.org/justice-levys-legal-tinselthe-
recent-israeli-report-on-the-status-of-the-west-bank-and-legality-of-the-settlements/.
101 A/68/513, para.53, and “Residents in the Occupied Golan Heights Fear Creeping Israeli
Presence”, Middle East Eye, 2.09.2014. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/golan -heightsresidents-
fear-creeping-israeli-presence-587458799.
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millions in the settlement, including building new student accommodation, and
provide monthly stipends of up to 75 per cent for rent fees.102
76. The government-sponsored agricultural expansion has also been linked to
Israel’s efforts to increase the settler presence in the occupied Syrian Gol an for the
purpose of further exploiting the natural resources of the territory for economic
gain.103 Reportedly, on 11 September 2014, an Israeli company was granted
exclusive licence to conduct exploratory drilling for oil in 10 possible locations in
the occupied Syrian Golan.104 Shortly thereafter, the Israeli High Court reportedly
froze the company’s efforts to proceed with exploratory drilling, owing to a petition
submitted by environmental activists. The petition remains undecided. In this
connection, the Secretary-General previously raised concerns regarding Israeli
Government-sponsored investments in the occupied Syrian Golan, including licences
granted for oil and gas exploration by multinational companies ( A/68/513, para. 54).
VI. Conclusions and recommendations
77. Israeli settlement-related activities and settler violence are at the core of
many of the violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem.
78. Israel must halt the creation and expansion of settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian Golan. In addition, the
Secretary-General calls on Israel to immediately stop using land control
methods, such as agriculture, archaeological parks and educational centres,
aimed at expanding the area effectively occupied by settlements.
79. Settlement expansion, including in areas such as Silwan and around
Qaryut in the northern West Bank, takes multiple forms and is supported and
encouraged by the Israeli authorities in stark contravention of international
law, including through retroactive legalization of outposts under Israeli law.
The result is a significant obstacle to the exercise of Palestinians’ right to self -
determination.
80. The existence and growth of the settlements is closely linked to the
deprivation of the rights of Palestinians. Touristic and archaeological
developments deprive Palestinians of access to land as well as their cultural
rights. At the same time, settlers’ presence in these areas increases tension. The
Israel Defense Forces is deployed to defend settlements established in
contravention of Israeli law. The security of Israeli settlers outplays that of
Palestinians, undermining the equal application of the law. As the occupying
Power, Israel is responsible for the protection and welfare of Palestinians in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory.
81. As settlements expand, Palestinians face an array of obstacles in terms of
building their own homes, including the threat of demolition.
__________________
102 “As world watched Gaza, Israel announced 1472 new settlements in the West Bank”,
Mondoweiss blog, 30.08.2014.
103 http://golan-marsad.org/wp-content/uploads/Settlement-Agricultural-Expansion-in-the-Golan-
Final-editedCrystal.pdf.
104 “Israel’s oil drilling in Golan criticised“, 30.12.2014, Al-Jazeera.
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82. The Government of Israel must stop funding and supporting touristic and
archaeological projects, often managed by settler organizations, which
contribute to the consolidation of settler presence in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and result in violations of the rights of Palestinians, including their
rights to self-determination and freedom of movement.
83. Continued settlement expansion and related violations of the Palestinians’
rights run counter to the objective of a negot iated two-State solution. The
Government of Israel must fulfil its obligations under international
humanitarian law to cease the transfer of its civilian population into occupied
territory and must immediately freeze and reverse all settlement activity.
84. The Government of Israel must implement relevant United Nations
resolutions, including Security Council resolutions pertaining to territories
occupied since 1967.
United Nations A/71/355
General Assembly
Distr.: General
24 August 2016
Original: English
16-14675 (E) 130916
*1614675*
Seventy-first session
Item 50 of the provisional agenda*
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General**
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/89 and
provides an update on Israel’s activities aimed at creating and expanding settlements
in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan. It
includes a case study on the impact of the settlements on the human rights situation
in Hebron.
* A/71/150.
** The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent
developments.
A/71/355
2/19 16-14675
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/89
and provides an update on its implementation for the period from 16 May 2015 to
31 May 2016. It should be read in conjunction with previous reports of the
Secretary-General on Israeli settlements to the Assembly and to the Human Rights
Council.1
2. The report shows how settlement expansion activities continued unabated
within the Occupied Palestinian Territory and that instances of settler violence
remained a concern, notwithstanding a decline in incidence. It also features a case
study on the impact of the settlements on the human rights situation in the West
Bank city of Hebron.
II. Legal background
3. In its resolution 70/89, the General Assembly reaffirmed the illegality of the
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and in the occupied Syrian Golan, as ruled by the International Court of Justice, and
reiterated by the Security Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
These settlements amount to the transfer of a State ’s population to the territory it
occupies, which is prohibited by international h umanitarian law.2 To meet its
international legal obligations, Israel must stop building settlements, reverse any
settlement development activity and make full reparations, which include the
obligation to re-establish the situation affected by the violatio n.3 The transfer of the
occupying Power ’s population to the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime
that may lead to the individual criminal responsibility of the officials involved. 4
III. Update on settlement-related activities
A. Settlement expansion
4. Previous reports of the Secretary-General have clarified the role of Israel in
the construction and expansion of settlements. 5 Besides the allocation of land for the
purposes of constructing settlement homes and infrastructure, Israel also supports
settlements through the delivery of public services, the encouragement of economic
activities, including agriculture and industries around the settlements, the
development of national parks and tourist sites, support for private initiatives and
the retroactive approval of unauthorized constructions. Population growth in Israeli
__________________
1 See A/HRC/28/44 and, in particular, A/HRC/31/43, which cover the first months of the period
under review. See also A/69/348 and A/70/351.
2 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August
1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention), art. 49 (6). See also A/69/348, paras. 4 and 5, and
A/HRC/25/38, paras. 4 and 5.
3 International Law Commission, draft articles for the responsibility of States for internationally
wrongful acts, 2001, arts. 30 and 31.
4 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, art. 8 (2) (b) (viii).
5 A/68/513, paras. 23-29, A/69/348, paras. 33-35, and A/70/351, paras. 33-36.
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settlements is also encouraged by providing benefits and incentives in the areas of
housing, education and taxes.
B. Constructions, tenders and plans
5. Steps by Israel to expand settlements in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, continued. In March 2016, Israeli media reported that Israel had declared
234 hectares of land south of Jericho, the largest appropriation of land since August
2014, as “State land”.6 Overall trends point to a slowdown in the issuance of
planning approvals and tenders in 2015, with 1,143 housing units tendered,
returning to pre-2012 figures.7 However, this has been offset by support for private
initiatives and steps to gain the retroactive approval of unauthorized construction
during the same period.
6. By contrast, construction rates remained high, in particular for Area C, with
1,806 construction starts recorded by Israel ’s Central Bureau of Statistics for 2015,
compared with 1,556 construction starts in 2014. This likely reflects the significant
number of units that had already been cleared for construction in previous years.
East Jerusalem saw a drop in construction starts in 2015 (429 starts), after a year of
intensive building in 2014.
C. Privately led initiatives supported by Israel
7. An unprecedented wave of seizures of Palestinian properties by private settler
associations in the Old City of Jerusalem and adjacent neighbourhoods has been
reported by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Ir Amim since mid -2015.8
This trend includes the forced evictions of Palestinian families from their homes.
These seizures and evictions are attributable mainly to the settler -affiliated
organization Ateret Cohanim (A/70/351, paras. 29-32), which has been purchasing
East Jerusalem houses or filing successful pre -1948 ownership claims,9 with the
apparent support of the Israeli Ministry of Justice. 10 Various State authorities have
also aided in or coordinated the transfer of property and the eviction of Palestinians.
8. Of particular concern are ongoing developments within the Batan al -Hawa
neighbourhood of Silwan, which is likely to feature the largest settlement near the
Old City and adjacent neighbourhoods. On 26 August and 1 September 2015, Israeli
settlers escorted by police moved into two residential buildings. On 19 October
2015, two Palestinian families were forcibly evicted, as police officers were
deployed and the entire area placed under curfew. While 17 Palestinian families had
__________________
6 “Israel seizes large tracts of land in West Bank, report says ”, Haaretz, 15 March 2016.
7 From July 2014 to May 2016, 330 units were validated for construction in Area C settlements,
compared with 1,035 during the first half of 2014 alone.
8 Ir Amim, “Planning, building, and settlements in East Jerusalem: 2015 year -end review”, January
2016.
9 Under Israeli law, Israeli citizens may submit claims regarding land or property allegedly owned
by Jews in East Jerusalem prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. The reciprocal right is
not granted to Palestinians, who are not entitled to reclaim land and property in Israel.
10 Ir Amim, “Planning, building and settlements in East Je rusalem: 2015 year-end review”, and Nir
Hasson, “How Israel helps settler group move Jews into East Jerusalem’s Silwan”, Haaretz,
6 January 2016.
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already been evicted during 2015, eviction demands were pending against 15
additional families and 70 additional families were currently facing the same risk at
the time of writing the present report. 8 According to Ir Amim, “these collective and
fast unfolding developments signify a steep increase over the last year and a clear
pattern of using demolitions and evictions to displace Palestinians from the city ”.11
In addition, a building permit request for a larg e three-story building that would add
to an existing settlement is awaiting approval. 12 The development of settlements and
the potential arrival of hundreds of settlers in the densely populated area of Batan
al-Hawa further exacerbate friction between Palestinian residents, settlers and the
Israeli security forces.
9. Palestinian residents of the Old City are also facing evictions. Settlers seized a
living space in the Muslim Quarter and evicted its Palestinian resident. Two
Palestinian families received eviction orders and claims were submitted aga inst four
additional families.8
D. “Legalization” of outposts and other unauthorized construction
10. Unauthorized settlement construction in the West Bank remains widespread.
More than 100 unauthorized outposts and thousands of housing units in existing
settlements have been erected over the years without the formal approval of the
Israeli authorities. A recent report of the Israeli State Comptroller 13 concluded that
there were substantial flaws in law enforcement mechanisms under the Israeli Civil
Administration with regard to the ongoing phenomenon of unauthorized Israeli
construction in the West Bank. Those flaws would result in the inadequate
monitoring of illegal construction and a lack of enforcement of demolition orders,
even in areas designated as high prior ity.13
11. Israel continued to promote settlements in the West Bank through the
retroactive approval of illegal constructions. 14 Since May 2011, Israeli authorities
have either completed or initiated steps for the retroactive “legalization”, under
Israeli law,15 of at least one quarter of the outposts in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and there are indications that those processes are still being advanced. 16 In
addition, steps were taken to retroactively approve housing units built without the
__________________
11 Ir Amim, “Mounting uptick in eviction and demolition orders in Old City and historic basin
cause for heightened attention”.
12 The Jerusalem Local Planning Committee approved the construction on 15 June 2016. See
https://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/batan -al-hawa-new-building/.
13 State Comptroller, “Judea and Samaria area: activities of the Unit for Inspection and
Enforcement and Land Regulation Aspects”, (annual report No. 66B), 2016.
14 Ziv Stahl, “From occupation to annexation: the silent adoption of the Levy report on retroactive
authorization of illegal construction in the West Bank”, position paper (Yesh Din-Volunteers for
Human Rights, 2016).
15 Construction of unauthorized outposts deemed to be illegal under Israeli law. All settlements in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law.
16 Nineteen outposts have undergone “legalization” and in at least 13 more the Government of
Israel has indicated its intentions or initiated the process of “legalization”. See Yesh Din-
Volunteers for Human Rights, “Under the radar: Israel’s silent policy of transforming
unauthorized outposts into official settlements ”, 17 May 2015. During the period under review,
the Government conveyed its intentions to the High Court of Justice to retroactively approve
outposts in the southern Nablus and eastern Ramallah dis tricts.
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prior authorization of the relevant planning authorities. 17 Retroactive legalization
typically involves the expansion of the jurisdiction of existing settlements to
encompass outposts as nearby “neighbourhoods”. While these measures allow Israel
to circumvent the formal establishment of new settlements, possibly avoiding
international scrutiny, the net effect of these efforts is the entrenchment of otherwise
isolated settlement points and their connection wit h so-called settlement blocs.
Joining the dots gradually paves the way for new contiguous areas of settlement
control over land. These steps also have the effect of sanctioning illegal activity by
settler groups in an environment that has been characterize d by a culture of
impunity.
12. As previously reported by the Secretary-General, this process marks a
significant departure from previous Israeli policy 18 and is reinforced by efforts to
adopt the recommendations of the government -appointed committee to examine the
status of construction, known as the “Levy committee”, which proposed concrete
measures for the so-called “regulation”, amounting to the retroactive approval of
unauthorized settlement construction in the West Bank.14
13. Given that 80 per cent of unauthorized outposts were constructed partially or
entirely on privately owned Palestinian land, 19 several administrative measures
taken in the context of facilitating outpost legalization are aimed at resolving the
issue of proprietary status. This inc ludes the appointment, in July 2015, by the
Prime Minister of Israel of a professional committee tasked with formulating
recommendations to advance retroactive authorizations on privately owned
Palestinian land20 and the work of the Israeli Civil Administration’s task force for
the survey of State land boundaries, also known as the Blue Line task force,
assigned with inspecting and defining the boundaries of land designated as State
property, or so-called “State land”, by Israeli authorities since 1970 (A/HRC/22/63,
para. 63). The task force significantly accelerated its work during the period under
review. In 2015 alone, it ratified more than 6,300 hectares of Area C land as “State
land”, almost as much as during the three previous years.21
14. Legislative measures aimed at easing the process of the retroactive
authorization of outposts were also introduced. These include the land regulation
bill of October 2015, which is currently stalled ( A/HRC/31/43, para. 28), and a
__________________
17 Peace Now, “No settlement freeze, especially not in isolated settlements: 2015 in the
settlements”, February 2016.
18 Israel’s position, as presented on numerous occasions before the High Court of Justice until
2011, affirmed the unauthorized status of outposts and its intention to evacuate and demolish
them.
19 Peace Now, “West Bank settlements: facts and figures, June 2009 ”.
20 The Committee’s conclusions were slated for publication in December 2015; at the time of
writing, they had not yet been released.
21 Ziv Stahl, “From occupation to annexation: the silent adoption of the Levy report on retroactive
authorization of illegal construction in the West Bank ”. The policies and practices of the Blue
Line task force have come under increasing scrutiny, including by the Israeli State Comptroller
and the High Court of Justice, in particular with regard to a lack of transparency and concerns
regarding absent mechanisms to ensure the protection of property rights of Palestinian
landowners. The impact of resulting Israeli Civil Administration amendments to the operating
procedures of the task force, which were ordered by the Court during the period under review, is
yet to be assessed. See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 21-23, and State Comptroller, annual report
No. 66B.
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newly drafted bill,22 which seeks to delay the court-ordered demolition of settlement
structures built on privately owned Palestinian land. 23
E. National parks and archaeological sites
15. As previously reported (A/HRC/31/43, para. 16), archaeological excavations,
the creation of national parks and the development of tourist activities are other
ways that Israel ensures control over Palestinian land.
16. East Jerusalem is particularly affected by such developments ( A/70/351, paras.
25-51). At the time of writing, significant plans were pending at various
administrative stages, such as the projected parks in Issawiya and in Silwan ’s
Al-Bustan. Seizing orders for the national park on Mount Scopus were issued by the
municipality for landscaping purposes in July 2015. 24 The most significant
development pertains to the Kedem Compound in Silwan, a major tourist site
promoted by the Elad settler organization. In March 2016, the full committee of the
National Planning Council issued its formal decision, revoking the June 2015 ruling
of the Appeals Committee to reduce the size of the original plans by half. The
positive results achieved in 2015 ( A/HRC/31/43, para. 19), on the basis of
objections from Silwan’s residents, NGOs, architects and various planning and
conservation experts, have therefore been reversed and the original plan restored as
approved by the District Committee in 2014. 25
17. The full plan for the Kedem Compound foresees the construction of a massive
structure of 16,000 square metres that may be at odds with the construction cr iteria
within a national park.8 Besides its significant impact on the lives of Palestinians in
Silwan, the implementation of the plan would represent a milestone in changing the
status quo and character of East Jerusalem.
F. Settler violence and law enforcement
18. Between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs registered 175 incidents of settler violence against
Palestinians resulting in injuries (81) or property damage (94), with a distinct peak
(57 reported incidents) in October 2015 and a noticeable decrease in incidents to
date in 2016 (38 incidents during t he first five months). Some attacks have featured
an exceptional degree of violence, such as the arson attack against the Dawabsheh
family home in Duma on 31 July 2015 that took the life of an 18 -month-old child
and his parents (A/HRC/31/43, paras. 35 and 36). In the aftermath of the attack, the
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs stated that “such violence is possible
__________________
22 Planning and construction law proposal (amendment — enforcement of administrative
demolition order) of 2016 introduced by Micky Zohar of the Likud party.
23 Both bills appear to be motivated by a number of impending deadlines, imposed by the High
Court of Justice, for the evacuation of unauthorized settlement construction, including the
outpost of Amona.
24 Nir Hasson, “Palestinians say Jerusalem council trying to turn Mount Scopus into park ”,
Haaretz, 5 July 2015.
25 The decision is currently being challenged on the grounds that it may be politically motivated.
See Nir Hasson, “Settler groups asks High Court to cover up its ties to Israeli Justice Minister ”,
Haaretz, 23 June 2016.
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because of the environment created as a result of Israel ’s decades-long policy of
illegal settlement activities”.26
19. The Secretary-General has repeatedly reiterated his concern regarding Israel ’s
failure to enforce the law against violent settlers ( A/HRC/25/38, paras. 42 and 43).
Figures published by the Israeli Ministry of Justice in January 2016 suggest an
increasing indictment rate for ideologically motivated offences by Israelis against
Palestinians.27 Nevertheless, according to a recent report by the Israeli NGO Yesh
Din-Volunteers for Human Rights on law enforcement on Israeli citizens, only
7.3 per cent of complaints of ideologically motivated offences against Palestinians
that were monitored by the organization between 2005 and 2015 led to an
indictment, while 85 per cent of investigations were closed owing to police failures
within the investigative process, such as the inability to identify suspects or to
collect evidence.28
20. Following the arson attack in Duma, Israeli authorities adopted measures,
including administrative detention and movement restrictions against settlers, in an
effort to prevent further incidents of violence ( A/HRC/31/43, paras. 40-43). With
respect to administrative detention, the Secretary -General has condemned its use by
Israel against Palestinians and Israelis alike. On 3 January 2016, media reported that
two Israeli suspects had been indicted with regard to the attack in Duma, one being
charged with three counts of murder and the other, a child, as acce ssory to murder.29
Welcoming these steps towards accountability, the Secretary -General recalls Israel’s
duty to respect and ensure the respect of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and calls for prompt and effective investigations in all oth er cases of
alleged settler violence leading to the injury or death of Palestinians, as well as
damage to their property.
G. Impact on Palestinian communities at risk of forcible transfer
21. The impact of settlement expansion on Palestinian communit ies at risk of
forcible transfer has been highlighted in previous reports of the Secretary -General
(A/HRC/31/43, paras. 44-63). The year 2016 began with a dramatic increase in
demolitions in Area C. According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, February 2016 saw the highest number of structures
demolished in a single month since 2009 when the systematic documentation of
demolitions began. As at 7 June 2016, a total of 546 structures, incl uding 79 in East
Jerusalem, had been demolished since the beginning of the year, more than the total
number of demolitions for the whole of 2015 (453 structures, including 78 in East
Jerusalem). Some 796 Palestinians have already been displaced by demoliti ons in
__________________
26 Statement available from: www.un.org/undpa/en/speeches -statements/19082015/middleeast.
27 Ministry of Justice, “Israel’s investigation and prosecution of ideologically motivated offences
against Palestinians in the West Bank ”.
28 See Yesh Din-Volunteers for Human Rights, “Law enforcement on Israeli civilians in the West
Bank”, data sheet, October 2015. See also Yesh Din ’s analysis of the Ministry of Justice report
on Israel’s investigation and prosecution of ideologically motivated offences against Palestinians
in the West Bank. Available from: www.rightsecretariat.ps/catigory/item/141 -yesh-din-sanalysis-
of-moj-report-on-israel-s-investigation-and-prosecution-of-ideologically-motivatedoffences-
against-palestinians-in-the-west-bank.
29 Chaim Levinson and Barak Ravid, “Israel charges two Jews over West Bank arson murders ”,
Haaretz, 3 January 2016.
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2016, compared with 580 in 2015. Since March 2016, the rate of demolitions has
decreased significantly.
22. Bedouins living in Area C are the most affected by demolitions and at risk of
forcible transfer. Khirbet Tana has suffered four rounds of demolition since the
beginning of 2016. On 23 March 2016 alone, 53 structures were demolished in the
hamlet, resulting in the displacement of 87 persons.
23. Other Palestinian communities were also affected by demolitions. Preparations
for the new settlement on the site of Beit al-Baraka along Route 60, next to the
Al-Arroub refugee camp, resulted in the demolition of three agricultural structures
and the uprooting of 85 trees. On 12 April 2016, demolitions resumed after a pause
of four years in Al-Walaja with three houses demolished. This coincided with the
resumption of construction of the wall in the nearby Cremisan Valley and the
initiation of works for the planned visitor centre of the Emek Refaim national park
located nearby.
24. Hundreds of families are at risk of forcible transfer in East Jerusalem owing to
the seizure of numerous buildings by Israeli settlers in Silwan and in the Old City,
as well as by the development of various parks throughout East Jerusalem. These
facts suggest that there is a clo se link between the rate of demolitions and forcible
evictions and settlement expansion. The following case study on Hebron illustrates
how the coercive environment generated by settlements forces Palestinians to
relocate to different areas.
IV. Impact of settlements: a case study of Hebron’s
coercive environment
25. After East Jerusalem, Hebron is the second largest city in the West Bank, with
a population of 215,000 inhabitants. Its Old City features a site of high religious
significance to Jews and Muslims: the Ibrahimi Mosque, or Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Hebron is the only other city within the West Bank, besides East Jerusalem, with
Israeli settlements within its urban area. Approximately 600 settlers live in five
settlements consisting of one to a few buildings: Avraham Avinu, Beit Romano, Beit
Hadassah, Tel Rumeida and Beit al-Rajabi.
26. These settlements are part of the H2 zone, the area of Hebron in which Israel
retained all authority and responsibilities for internal security and public order
under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.30 H2 covers approximately 20 per cent of Hebron, including the Old City,
which was once the centre of commercial and cultural life in Hebron, and includes
approximately 40,000 of its inhabitants. In addition to settlements in H2, the zone is
surrounded by two large settlements, Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha ’avot, with a
cumulated settler population of 7,000. To ensure the security of the settlers, an
average of 1,500 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been deployed among 6,000
Palestinians living in adjacent neighbourhoods.
__________________
30 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of 28 September
1995, annex I, art. VII, implemented by the Protocol concerning the Redeployment in Hebron of
21 January 1997.
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27. The settlement of Beit al-Rajabi was the latest to be established after the
Israeli Supreme Court had ruled in favour of settler ownership of the buildin g in
2014. It is the first new settlement established in the city of Hebron since 1980
(A/69/348, paras. 22 and 23). In April 2012, settlers took over another Palestinian
building in H2, the Abu Rajab house, claiming that they had purchased it. They
were moved out by the Israel Defense Forces a few days later. The settlers ’
ownership claim was eventually denied by the Israeli Civil Administration on
28 December 2015.31 On 20 January 2016, a group of settlers occupie d two
additional Palestinian houses in the Old City, claiming ownership, before being
removed by the soldiers the next day.
28. Since 1994,32 restricted areas have been established around the five
settlements located within H2, covering the main part of the Old City, with several
streets prohibited to Palestinian traffic, including some to pedestrian movement. The
Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron foresees the normalization of life
in the Old City, including the reopening of Al -Shuhada Street and the wholesale
market, but the commitment has not been met. Hundreds of closures by Israeli
security forces or physical obstacles remain in Hebron, including 17 permanently
staffed checkpoints. Palestinian land in the vicinity of settlements has also been
seized on alleged security grounds. More than 1,800 commercial establishments,
accounting for 75 per cent of all businesses in the Old City, have closed, most
during the second intifada in the early 2000s, mainly as a result of access
restrictions for customers and suppliers or on the basis of military orders. More than
1,000 Palestinian homes, or 42 per cent of homes in the Old City, were abandoned
by their residents, the majority during the second intifada. 33 Four mosques were also
closed in the Old City. What used to be the commercial and cultural heart of Hebron
has now been virtually deserted for almost two decades.
29. The Ibrahimi Mosque (Tomb of the Patriarchs), a site of high religious
significance to Jews and Muslims, is located in H2. The site was divided in two
parts following the 1994 massacre, one for Muslim worshippers and the other for
Jewish worshippers. During major religious holidays and for an average of 10 days
a year, the site is open to one faith only. During Jewish holidays, thousands of
Israeli visitors converge in Hebron, while the movements of Palestinians in the Old
City are strictly limited.34 The Muslim call for prayer is also banned during those
holidays. On other days, because of access restrictions to the location from which it
is performed, the call for prayer is prevented twice daily and subject to delays at
other times.35
30. Archaeological works by Israel and related plans to build a tourist centre in the
Tel Rumeida area of H2 was another concerning development. While no maj or
advancement was witnessed, previous reports highlight the significant impact that
such a project would have on the Palestinian inhabitants of Tel Rumeida ( A/69/348,
para. 35, A/HRC/31/43, para. 16).
__________________
31 Peace Now, “Settlers’ ownership claim of a Hebron house rejected by the Civil Administration ’s
Registration Committee”, 29 December 2015.
32 On 25 February 1994, an Israeli settler opened fire on Muslim worsh ippers in the Ibrahimi
Mosque (Tomb of the Patriarchs), killing 29 Palestinians and injuring 125 others.
33 Ofir Feuerstein, Ghost Town: Israel’s separation policy and forced eviction of Palestinians from
the centre of Hebron (B’tselem and Association for Civil Rights in Israel, 2007) .
34 Jews do not face similar practical restrictions during Palestinian holidays.
35 Data from Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowment (Al -Waqf).
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31. The escalation of violence that began in September 2015 had a significant
impact on Hebron, further undermining the living conditions of Palestinians in H2,
but also general access to the entire city. Besides restrict ions on the main roads
leading into Hebron, neighbourhoods adjacent to the settlements in H2, or so -called
restricted areas, have been isolated further by additional physical obstacles and
frequent inspections on individuals. While such measures add to the coercive
environment, concern has also been raised that they may result in collective
punishment.36
32. On 1 November 2015, the part of Al -Shuhada Street still accessible to
Palestinians and the neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida were declared a closed military
zone, enforced on Palestinians only, to which only residents officially registered
with the Israeli authorities could access. Visitors were not allowed into the zone,
including friends, family, medical and maintenance personnel and human rights
observers. The military zone was officially lifted on 19 May 2016, after more than
half a year of isolation for the approximately 120 Palestinian families living in the
neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida and Al-Shuhada Street.
33. In addition to being regularly attacked a nd intimidated by settlers,37 human
rights defenders active in Hebron have also been affected by increasing pressure
from the Israeli security forces, including through the latest security measures on
restricted areas. International, Palestinian and Israeli human rights defenders, in
particular, have been subjected to arrest, intimidation, raids on their offices and
death threats. For instance, additional pressure was placed upon volunteers from the
International Solidarity Movement after they had witnessed and documented from
their premises the killing by the Israel Defense Forces of two Palestinian men in
October 2015. On 29 February 2016, the coordinator of the NGO Youth Against
Settlements, Issa Amro, was arrested by security forces for his involvement in the
organization of a peaceful demonstration to open Al -Shuhada Street. He was
released the next day and reported having been ill -treated in detention.38
A. Impact on specific human rights
34. The extraterritorial applicability of human rights law has been recognized by
the International Court of Justice and human rights treaty bodies. 39 Accordingly,
Israel has the duty to implement its human rights obligations within the Occupied
Palestinian Territory with regard to not only Israeli citizens, but al so the entire
Palestinian population. It has the obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent,
investigate, prosecute, punish and remedy harm sustained by the Palestinians in H2,
irrespective of whether such harm is caused by officials or individuals, a nd without
any discrimination.
__________________
36 B’tselem, “New restrictions on movement in Hebron and environs disrupt lives and constitute
prohibited collective punishment”, 5 November 2015.
37 A/HRC/31/43, paras. 38 and 39. See also International Solidarity Movement, “Notorious violent
criminal settler Anat Cohen assaults a nd terrorizes internationals again”, 27 October 2015.
38 Youth against Settlements, “Human rights defender, Issa Amro, released after another arrest by
Israeli forces”, 3 March 2016. Available from: http://hyas.ps/press -release-israeli-soldiers-arresthuman-
rights-defender-issa-amro-hold-him-for-24-hours/.
39 International Court of Justice, Legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, advisory opinion of 9 July 2004, paras. 110 -112. See also A/HRC/25/38,
para. 5, and A/69/348.
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35. The present section focuses on the impact of the settlements on specific human
rights of the Palestinian population living in H2. Besides direct effects, such as
settler violence and limitations on freedom of movement, th e large numbers of
Israeli security forces in and around H2 to ensure the security of settlers carries an
important risk of violations.
B. Right to life, liberty and security of person
Excessive use of force and denial of medical assistance
36. The escalation of violence during the last quarter of 2015 was preceded by the
killing of 18-year-old Hadeel al-Hashlamoun by the Israel Defense Forces. She
allegedly attempted an attack with a knife at a checkpoint in the Old City of Hebron
on 22 September 2015. More than eight months after the incident, no criminal
investigation appears to have been opened, even though an inquiry by the Forces
had concluded that the death was unnecessary and avoidable ( A/HRC/31/40,
paras. 11-13).
37. Ms. Al-Hashlamoun’s killing was the first in a series of incidents in which
Palestinians were killed or seriously injured by Israeli security forces around the
numerous checkpoints within or leading to H2 while carrying out or alle gedly
carrying out an attack against Israelis. A total of 24 Palestinians, including 7
children, 2 women and 1 girl, were shot and killed by the security forces during
such attacks or alleged attacks. One Palestinian man was killed during clashes.
Since the upsurge in violence in September 2015, this is the highest number of
Palestinian casualties in a single city, after East Jerusalem.
38. On 24 March 2016, the Israel Defense Forces killed Abdelfattah al -Sharif and
Ramzi al-Qasrawi during an alleged stabb ing attack against an Israeli soldier in Tel
Rumeida. A videotape recorded by a witness and widely circulated in the media
shows a soldier shooting Mr. Al-Sharif in the head at close range, while he was
lying, apparently wounded but still alive, on the gro und, even though he seemed not
to pose any immediate threat.40 He had received no medical treatment from nearby
medical staff after his initial injury. The recording of the incident was shared around
the world on social media. The Israeli police immediately opened an investigation.
Both the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly condemned the
“apparent extrajudicial execution”.41 Additional witness accounts emerge d
suggesting that Mr. Al-Qasrawi, the second Palestinian man involved in the
incident, might also have been subject to an extrajudicial execution, given that he
was shot in the head while lying wounded on the ground. 42
__________________
40 See www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8WK2TgruMo.
41 Nikolay Mladenov, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process,
statement on the apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian assailant in Hebron in the
occupied West Bank, 25 March 2016. Available from: ww.unsco.org/Documents/Statements/SC/
2016/Statement%20by%20UN%20Special%20Coordinator%20Mladenov%20 -%2025%20March
%202016.pdf, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
“Comment by the spokesperson for OHCHR, Rupert Colville, on the killing of a Palestinian man
in Hebron”, 30 March 2016.
42 B’tselem, “Testimonies: prior to incident for which Elor Azaria is facing charges, Ramzi al -
Qasrawi was also executed”, press release, 6 June 2016.
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39. On 13 February 2016, Kilzar Eweiwi, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman,
reportedly attacked an Israeli soldier with a knife while he was searching her bag at
a checkpoint in the Old City. After having lightly injured the soldier, she stabbed a
Palestinian bystander while running away into a dead-end yard, with no means to
escape. There, according to the injured bystander, two soldiers shot at vital parts of
her body with several bullets from a distance of 5 or 6 metres. An eyewitness told
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner fo r Human Rights (OHCHR)
that she was left wounded without medical assistance for approximately 30 minutes
before being declared dead.
40. On 25 October 2015, Dania Irshied, a 17 -year-old Palestinian girl, was shot
and killed by the Israel Defense Forces at the checkpoint leading to the Ibrahimi
Mosque. A witness told OHCHR that, after searching the girl ’s bag, a soldier began
shouting at her, repeatedly ordering her to reveal the knife that he alleged she was
hiding. The girl continually denied that she was carrying a knife but was shot with
several bullets in the upper part of her body while allegedly holding her empty
hands in the air. According to witnesses, Ms. Irshied was reportedly left wounded on
the ground without medical assistance for approximately 25 minutes. She died at the
scene.
41. Similarly, on 26 October 2015, 20-year-old Sa’ad al-Atrash was killed by the
Israel Defense Forces at a checkpoint in the Old City for an alleged stabbing attack
during what seemed to be a regular identity check. Wit nesses reported to OHCHR
how a soldier shot at the upper part of his body as Mr. Al -Atrash was handing over
his identification. According to those accounts, he was left on the ground without
medical assistance for approximately 25 minutes manifestly still alive, despite the
nearby presence of an ambulance.
42. On 15 February 2016, 21-year-old Yasmeen al-Zaru was shot by the Israel
Defense Forces and critically injured at a checkpoint close to the Ibrahimi Mosque.
According to numerous witnesses present at the scene, the soldiers ordered
Ms. Al-Zaru to stop once she had already walked through the checkpoint, empty -
handed. She was shot in the back by two soldiers from a distance of 6 or 7 metres
after apparently ignoring the order. The girl was then left on t he ground, bleeding
heavily, for approximately 15 minutes. Two witnesses informed OHCHR that an
Israeli settler threw a knife near the injured girl while she was on the ground.
Ms. Al-Zaru was eventually taken to an Israeli hospital before being arrested o n
suspicion of an attempted stabbing. At the time of writing, Ms. Al -Zaru was still in
prison, but had yet to be indicted.
43. The cases monitored by OHCHR raise serious concerns about the excessive
use of force and unlawful killings by the Israeli securi ty forces, including
extrajudicial executions (A/HRC/31/40, paras. 10-15). Law enforcement officials,
including members of the armed forces acting in that capacity, have the duty to
protect the public and the right to protect themselves, but lethal force should only be
used when strictly necessary and in accordance with the principle of proportionality.
It should be restricted to cases of self-defence or defence of others against an
imminent threat of death or serious injury, that is, to situations of last resort. 43 The
use of force that does not comply with those principles and results in the death of
__________________
43 Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, articles 2 and 3, and Basic Principles on the
Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcemen t Officials, provisions 5, 9, 13 and 14.
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the suspect amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life. 44 In addition, when the
unjustified use of firearms by law enforcement officials of the occupying Power is
made against protected persons, this may, depending on the circumstances, amount
to an act of wilful killing under international humanitarian law. 45 The cases of Dania
Irshied, Sa’ad al-Atrash and Yasmeen al-Zaru are all the more disturbing because
OHCHR found no evidence that they were killed within the context of a stabbing or
attempted stabbing attack.
44. Systematic delays in the provision of medical assistance to wounded suspects,
as documented by OHCHR in all the above-mentioned cases, is an additional
concern and may suggest the existence of an established practice. According to
international legal principles regulating the use of force by law enforcement
officials, medical assistance has to be provided as soon as possible.46 The loss of life
resulting from a failure to respect this principle would also amount to an arbitrary
deprivation of life.
45. All allegations of the use of excessive force resulting in death or injury by law
enforcement officials should be subject to prompt, independent and impartial
investigations. The apparent extrajudicial execution of Mr. Al -Sharif is the only
known case of killing by the Israeli security forces during the reporting period that
has so far led to an indictment. The soldier that fired the fatal shot at Mr. Al -Sharif
has been suspended and is currently facing trial for manslaughter in a military court.
Settler violence and lack of accountability
46. Hebron has been the scene of continuous harassment and violence committed
by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, including against children, mostly without
legal consequences. The close proximity within which the settlers live with
Palestinians in H2 makes this violence all the more acute and dangerous. After a
notable peak in instances of settler violence in early October 2015 ( A/HRC/31/43,
para. 38), rates decreased significantly in the subsequent months. While attacks
often take the form of stone-throwing, damage to Palestinian property and verbal
harassment, the violence of a number of attacks and the inaction of the Israel
Defense Forces when present at the scene are particularly worrying, as illustrated by
two cases monitored by OHCHR.
47. On 17 October 2015, Fadel Mohammad Awad al-Qawasmeh was shot by an
Israeli settler while walking on Al -Shuhada Street after having been searched.
According to witnesses, the settler approached Mr. Al -Qawasmeh in a provocative
way, yelling at him. When Mr. Al-Qawasmeh turned back to avoid the settler, the
latter shot at him with several bullets, including at the upper part of his body. As
seen in a video of the incident recorded by Youth Against Settlements, 47
Mr. Al-Qawasmeh was lying wounded on the ground as a number of soldiers
converged on the location. The soldiers neither arrested the settler nor assisted
Mr. Al-Qawasmeh, who was left wounded for approximately 25 minutes before
eventually being evacuated by Israeli medical personnel and pronounced dead.
__________________
44 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 6.
45 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 147.
46 Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,
provision 5 (c).
47 See www.youtube.com/watch?v=opdMYUpMny8.
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48. On 4 May 2016, Ra’ed Abu Rmeileh, a former cameraman for the NGO
B’tselem, was attacked by Israeli settlers close to the Ibrahimi Mosque when he
attempted to videotape settlers harassing Palestinian children. Two settlers assaulted
Mr. Abu Rmeileh, punching and hitting him on the head with a sealed soda can until
he collapsed. Two soldiers present at the scene did not intervene but were reportedly
pointing their weapons at nearby Palestinians and towards the victim while he was
being beaten. Once the settlers had escaped, the s oldiers assisted the wounded man,
who was evacuated by a Palestinian ambulance. Mr. Abu Rmeileh filed a complaint
with the Israeli police and identified his assailants. He had not received any update
on his complaint at the time of writing the present repo rt.
49. Such incidents seem to illustrate soldiers ’ consistent failure to stop settlers
from harassing Palestinians, intervening only in order to protect the settlers and
contain the situation.48 Such discriminatory law enforcement is of strong concern to
the Secretary-General.
50. As the occupying Power, Israel is responsible for ensuring public order and
safety within the occupied territory.49 International humanitarian law provides that
protected persons are, in all circumstances, entitled to respect for their persons,
honour, family rights and religious convictions and practices. They shall be
protected against all acts or threats of violence and against insults. 50 Israel also has
the obligation under international human rights law to protect the right to life and
physical integrity of Palestinians.51 Settler violence impedes the enjoyment of
numerous other human rights by the affected Palestinian population. 52 Israel is
obliged to take measures to prevent and address settler violence, given its duty to
respect and ensure the respect of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
as well as its obligations as an occupying Power. However, Israel is repeatedly
failing in its obligation to do its utmost to investigate cases of settler violence and
prosecute perpetrators.
C. Impact on children
51. For many years, the living environment in H2 has been particularly harsh for
children. Children attending schools in the vicinity of settlements are affected by
strict security measures, including daily searches at checkpoints. Students and
teachers of Qurtuba school are regularly prevented from accessing the school
through the usual routes because of settler harassment and violence and are
__________________
48 B’tselem, “Footage from Hebron: Israeli military enables 5-day settler attack”, 19 October 2015.
49 The Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention of 1907, art. 43. See also Guidelines for
Hebron (annex I, art. VII, of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip of 28 September 1995) and Protocol concerning the Redeployment in Hebron of
21 January 1997, para. 2, and A/67/375, para. 30.
50 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27 (1). See also the Regulations annexes to the Hague
Convention, art. 46.
51 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 6.
52 This includes the right not to be subjected to cruel or inhuman treatment (International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, art. 7), the right to privacy, family and home (International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 17), the right to an adequate standard of living
(International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and the right to property
(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 17, and International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 5).
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sometimes obliged to seek alternative routes, leading to major delays. It was
reported that seven students had dropped out of Al-Ibrahimiya school since October
2015 because of the heightened risks and security measures at the checkpoints and
that the school would be empty by now if the Palestinian authorities had allowed
students to move to other schools. The principals of both schools reported a decline
in academic results during the same period. Children visiting the Al -Saraya
kindergarten were escorted by members of the NGO Christian Peacemaker Teams
for the entire school year to help them through checkpoints and prot ect them from
settler violence.
52. Palestinian children are particularly vulnerable to settler violence ( A/67/375,
para. 22). The current situation of children living in H2 reflects a failure by the
occupying Power to ensure their well-being and to protect them from physical and
mental violence, injury and abuse, as guaranteed by human rights law. 53
53. OHCHR interviewed a resident whose house in Tel Rumeida overlooks the
checkpoint and settlements. She reported a number of attacks by settlers against
children as young as eight years of age living in her house, including slapping,
spraying with pepper and beating with sticks. The children living in this house, like
many other children in the area, are now confined t o playing indoors, given that
their parents fear that they would be subject to further assaults if they played
outside. Settler children are reportedly often equipped with pepper spray, batons or
whips when walking through restricted areas. Palestinian families living in those
neighbourhoods are also constantly worried about their children having to cross
checkpoints, given the risk of being arrested on false allegations made by settlers.
Their children have witnessed numerous scenes of violence, including the killing of
several Palestinians by the Israel Defense Forces, which adds to their psychological
distress and trauma.
54. Eleven-year-old Marwan Mofeed al-Sharabati lives on Al-Shuhada Street,
close to the Israel Defense Forces base and settlement of Be it Romano. On
18 September 2015, after he complained to a soldier that his bike had been stolen by
a child living in a nearby Israeli settlement, Marwan, reportedly crying out of fear,
was forcibly taken to the military base where he found his bicycle. He was later
arrested by soldiers on the basis of allegations by settlers that he had thrown stones
at them. He was handcuffed, blindfolded, verbally threatened and harassed for an
hour before being released. Marwan’s father explained to OHCHR that the boy ha d
suffered from nightmares and bed-wetting ever since. The NGO Palestinian
Prisoners Club reported the arrest of 117 children in H2 and H1 by the Israeli
security forces.
55. Such cases are familiar to the NGO Doctors without Borders, which has been
providing psychosocial support to families residing in H2. According to the
organization, the vast majority of children residing in Tel Rumeida and Al -Shuhada
Street, in particular those that witnessed the killings of Palestinians, are suffering
from acute traumatic symptoms, such as fear, irritability and nightmares.
__________________
53 Convention of the Rights of the Child, arts. 3 and 19.
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D. Right to health and to an adequate standard of living
56. Adequate access to health services is a serious concern within H2. In addition
to Israel’s obligations under international human ri ghts law, including the rights to
an adequate standard of living and to the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health,54 the Secretary-General recalls Israel’s responsibility, as an
occupying Power, to ensure proper access to health -care facilities and services to the
whole population, without discrimination. 55
57. In the restricted areas of Tel Rumeida and Al -Shuhada Street, access for
Palestinian ambulances is provided after coordination by the International
Committee of the Red Cross with the Israeli Civil Administration. However, this
system has caused significant delays and Palestinians no longer rely on it for an
emergency first response. Instead, the Palestinian ambulance is left at the
checkpoint while the medical personnel cross on fo ot to reach the patient. This can
cause life-threatening delays.
58. On 21 December 2015, Hashem Al ’Azzeh, a well-known human rights
defender, who had a heart condition, lost consciousness in Tel Rumeida after a
possible heart attack. His relatives carried him through the checkpoint, where they
were delayed for some minutes by Israel Defense Forces security procedures. On
the way, Mr. Al’Azzeh was further exposed to tear gas from nearby clashes. He was
pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital.
59. The overbearing military presence and security operations, alongside security
restrictions imposed on Palestinians, impede their movement and daily activities,
including access to basic services. The closure of businesses also creates a
challenging environment for H2 residents to maintain their livelihood and an
adequate standard of living. Security measures and access restrictions also have
considerable consequences on the social life of H2 residents, given that access to
visitors is restricted or banned. Israeli building restrictions preventing the extension
of houses located close to settlements have also forced new generations of families
to relocate to different areas, mainly in H1.
60. Settler violence and a lack of accountability exacerbate the vulnerabilit ies
created by the already dire living conditions in H2. Paradoxically, the absence of
regular policing, away from settler incidents, has turned H2 into a safe haven for
criminals. Drug trafficking, smuggling and other crimes have flourished in areas
suffering from this security gap, adding to the coercive environment that is forcing
Palestinian families out of the area.
E. Forced to leave
61. The coercive environment within H2, added to the events of the past eight
months, the deteriorating living co nditions and the constant feeling of insecurity,
have forced families to move out of H2, as recorded by OHCHR.
62. In November 2015, Ra’ed Sider, his wife and six children moved out of the
house in Tel Rumeida, where they had lived since 2000, and relocat ed to H1.
__________________
54 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, arts. 11 and 12.
55 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 56.
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Mr. Sider took this decision mainly out of concern for the safety of his five sons,
ranging from 7 to 15 years of age, and the psychological impact that recent events
had had on them. Mr. Sider was also concerned for the safety of his eldest son, who
had been stopped and harassed by the Israel Defense Forces on a number of
occasions. Additional factors influencing his decision included the increasing
security measures at checkpoints, constraints on freedom of movement during
security incidents, the constant att acks by settlers and the lack of law enforcement.
He recalled how relatives visiting during Ramadan in 2014 were stopped and
harassed by soldiers and then arrested when his house was raided during the iftar
meal. “The atmosphere for living has become unbearable and we cannot stand it
anymore. It is about the safety of our children; otherwise, we don ’t mind sacrificing
ourselves,” Mr. Sider told OHCHR.56
63. OHCHR interviewed another Palestinian from Tel Rumeida, Nidal Salhab,
who is planning to leave the area out of concern for the safety of his four boys
ranging from 6 to 16 years of age. His eldest son had already moved to H1 after
being seriously injured by live fire from the Israel Defense Forces while returning
home late at night on 1 December 2015. Acc ording to Mr. Salhab, “Restrictions on
everyday life activities, the stress around the clock fearing security incidents,
concern for the children’s well-being and the unpredictable responses of the IDF
and settlers have created an extremely uncomfortable a tmosphere to live in. Besides,
the strict measures imposed by the soldiers manning the checkpoint have become
unbearable and have significantly hampered our daily life ”.57
64. The adverse impact of Israeli settlements within the Old City of Hebron on
Palestinians’ security and standard of living is striking. Palestinians are forced to
leave H2 owing to the coercive environment, and the Secretary -General is
concerned about possible instances of forcible transfers. As more Palestinian
families leave H2, Israeli settlement will likely expand, further adding to the
deteriorating living conditions of the remaining Palestinians.
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
65. Illegal settlement expansion in the occupied Syrian Golan continued with the
support of the Government of Israel, in violation of Israel ’s obligations under
international humanitarian law, international human rights law and numerous
Security Council resolutions.58 The expansion has reportedly included a building
boom in the kibbutz of Merom Golan, the ongoing “farms project” with plans for up
to 750 new settler farms in the coming years and Israeli Government public
spending plans of hundreds of millions of shekels to increase the population by up
to 100,000 settlers by 2020.59 The Secretary-General notes with particular concern
the statement by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a Cabinet meeting
held in the occupied Syrian Golan on 17 April 2016 asserting that “the Golan
Heights will forever remain in Israel ’s hands. Israel will never come down from the
Golan Heights. The population on the Golan Heights grows year by year; today it
__________________
56 Interview of 5 May 2016.
57 Interview of 3 May 2016.
58 See Security Council resolution 497 (1981). See also A/70/351.
59 Jodi Rudoren, “As Syria reels, Israel looks to expand settlements in Golan Heights ” New York
Times, 2 October 2015. See also A/70/406 para. 12.
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numbers approximately 50,000 and there are thousands of families due to join them
in the coming years”.60
66. The Secretary-General draws attention to the Security Council’s deep concern
over such statements by Israel about the occupied Syrian Golan and reaffirms the
validity of resolution 497 (1981), in which the Council decided that, “the Israeli
decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and adminis tration in the occupied Syrian
Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect ”.
VI. Conclusions and recommendations
67. Israeli settlement activities remain at the core of many human rights
violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Secretary-General
reiterates that Israeli settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territory are
illegal under international law.
68. Israel must implement all relevant United Nations resolutions, including
Security Council resolution 497 (1981), and withdraw from territories occupied
in 1967. The Israeli authorities must halt and reverse the creation and
expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the
occupied Syrian Golan built in violation of international humanitarian law and
international human rights law.
69. Israeli authorities must stop issuing plans and tenders and stop
retroactively legalizing outposts and other unauthorized constructions. They
must also halt expanding the area effectively occupied by settlements by other
means, such as the development of archaeological and tourist parks. The Israeli
authorities must also discontinue their support for private settler
organizations’ initiatives aimed at the seizure of Palestinian properties and the
forced eviction of their residents.
70. The Israeli authorities must cease discriminatory and unlawful planning
processes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. More specifically, Israel
must refrain from implementing evictions and demoliti on orders on the basis of
discriminatory and illegal planning policies, laws and practices that may lead
to forcible transfer.
71. Israel must respect human rights law within the Occupied Palestinian
Territory. In view of its obligation to maintain intern al security and public
order in the West Bank, Israel must ensure proper enforcement of the law
without discrimination, including against settlers who commit acts of violence
against Palestinians. The Secretary-General reiterates that the Israeli
authorities must ensure full criminal accountability for perpetrators of such
acts. In addition, Israel must take all feasible measures to prevent such violence
and fulfil its international obligations to provide effective remedy for victims.
72. Israel must protect the Palestinian population from arbitrary deprivation
of life. Any suspected case of excessive use of force by law enforcement officials
must be properly investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted. According to
human rights obligations, Israel must als o ensure proper access to health care,
__________________
60 Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet communique, 17 April 2016. Available from:
http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2016/Pages/Cabinet -communique-17-April-2016.aspx.
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education and an adequate standard of living to Palestinians living in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory. The coercive environment that results from the
lack of respect for human rights is a factor that has forced Pa lestinian families
to relocate, as has been the case in the Old City of Hebron.
73. Displacement and relocation to alternative residential areas, as a result of
demolition orders, forced eviction or a coercive environment, may amount to
forcible transfer, in violation of Israel’s obligations under international
humanitarian law and human rights law.
United Nations A/72/564
General Assembly
Distr.: General
1 November 2017
Original: English
17-19289 (E) 071117
*1719289*
Seventy-second session
Agenda item 54
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the Occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report has been prepared by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to General Assembly resolution 71/97. It
provides an update on Israel’s settlement activitie s in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan. It also highlights instances of demolition
and forced eviction in the context of settlements, including case studies on their
impact on Bedouin and herder communities in Area C.
A/72/564
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I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 71/97
and provides an update on the implementation of the resolution during the period
from 1 June 2016 to 31 May 2017. It should be read in conjunction with previous
reports of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly and the Human Rights
Council on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the
occupied Syrian Golan.1
2. The report provides an update on settlement activities in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and on the conditions contributing to a coercive environment,
including instances of demolition and forced eviction, described in two illustrative
case studies affecting Bedouin and herder communities. As noted in previous
reports, forced evictions constitute one of the factors that contribute to the creation
of a coercive environment.2 The report also highlights the fact that the demolitions
and forced evictions faced by Palestinians themselves constitute grave human rights
violations, in particular of the right to adequate housing. These continued
developments remained of concern during the reporting period, as did cases of
settler violence.
II. Legal background
3. An analysis of the applicable legal framework and the basis for Israel’s
obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan ca n
be found in previous reports of the Secretary-General, including his most recent
reports (see A/HRC/34/38, paras. 3–12 and 18; A/HRC/34/39, paras. 4–9; and
A/71/355, para. 3).
III. Update on settlements
A. New settlements and settlement expansion
4. Since 1967, Israel has established approximately 250 settlements and
settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.3 In addition to
being in violation of Israel’s international humanitarian law obligations, settlements
and settlement outposts continue to have a serious impact on the human rights of the
Palestinian population. Palestinians have been deprived of their land and property,
forcibly evicted and denied access to essential services as a consequence of
settlements. They have also often been subjected to violence, harassment and
intimidation by settlers. Previous reports of the Secretary -General have described
the role of Israeli authorities in the construction and expansion of settlements,
including through the provision of land, infrastructure and public services, along
with other benefits and subsidies granted to settlers. 4
__________________
1 A/71/355 and A/HRC/34/39, which covers the first few months of the reporting period.
2 See A/HRC/34/39, paras. 45–46; A/70/351, paras. 25–51; and A/HRC/16/71, paras. 20–22.
3 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The humanitarian impact of de facto
settlement expansion: the case of Asfar”, Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian Territory
(November 2016), available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian -impact-defacto-
settlement-expansion-case-asfar; see also A/70/82, para. 46.
4 See A/68/513, paras. 23–29; A/69/348, paras. 33–35; and A/70/351, paras. 33–36.
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5. The Government of Israel had initially planned to compensate settlers 5
evacuated from the outpost of Amona6 by developing housing in the illegal
settlement of Shvut Rachel East. Even though the residents of Amona reportedly
rejected that offer, the plan for Sh vut Rachel East was approved by Israeli
authorities in February 2017, allowing for the construction of 98 out of the 300
planned housing units. According to the Israeli non -governmental organization
(NGO) Peace Now, although Shvut Rachel East is officially deemed a
“neighbourhood” of the settlement of Shilo, it is effectively a separate settlement,
because it will be located approximately 1 km from the built -up area of Shilo.7
6. On 28 May 2017, the jurisdiction of a new settlement, Amihai, was defined by
a military order of the Central Command of the Israel Defense Forces. It is the first
new settlement to be established by the Government of Israel in Area C since 1992. 8
Despite the development of Shvut Rachel East, Amihai was also proposed as
compensation for the residents of Amona. It would include 102 housing units,
whereas 41 families were evicted from the Amona outpost.
7. According to Peace Now, two new settlement outposts were established during
the reporting period: one in September 2016, near the s ettlement of Mehola, and the
other in January 2017, near the settlement of Hemdat. 9
8. The task force for the survey of State land boundaries (Blue Line task force) of
the Israeli Civil Administration10 continued its surveys and demarcations of State
land during the reporting period. Its surveys and decisions are integral steps in the
process of advancing settlement plans. 11 In August 2016, the Government of Israel
notified the High Court of Justice about its ongoing survey to identify “State lands”
near the village of Nahlah, south of Bethlehem, in the so -called “E2” area. The
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process observed that
that step could enable the establishment of a new settlement, Givat Eitam, on the
outskirts of Bethlehem, further restricting that city’s development and contributing
to the dismemberment of the West Bank.12
9. According to the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the
Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), in March 2017 the Israeli Civil
Administration declared as State lands some 24 acres near the settlement of Eli. On
the basis of their monitoring of settlement activities, some NGOs have suggested
that that declaration reflects the intention to retroactively legalize the settlement
outposts of Palgey Maim and Givat Haroeh.13 In late March, the Blue Line team
published its revisions to the demarcation of State land near the settlement of Shilo.
__________________
5 See Barak Ravid, “Inside Amona evacuation budget: 70 million shekels to build new settlement”,
Haaretz, 18 December 2016, available from http://www.haaretz.com/israel -news/1.759866.
6 The settlement outpost of Amona was evacuated on 1 February 2017. In December 2014, the
High Court of Justice had given the Government two years to evacuate Amona, which had been
built illegally on privately held Palestinian land.
7 See Peace Now, “Jurisdiction of the new settlement ‘Amihai’ approved”, 30 May 2017, available
from http://peacenow.org.il/en/jurisdiction -new-settlement-amihai-approved.
8 Ibid.
9 Although outposts are set up without authorization, support provided by the Israeli authorities i n
the form of infrastructure and security has been documented. At the time of reporting, the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was not able to confirm
whether such support was available to the two new outposts.
10 See A/71/355, para. 13; and A/HRC/31/43, para. 21.
11 See A/HRC/31/43, para. 21.
12 See Nickolay Mladenov, Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, 29 August
2016, available from http://www.un.org/undpa/en/speeches -statements/29082016/middle-east.
13 See Peace Now, “Israeli cabinet approves new settlement”, 31 March 2017, available from
http://peacenow.org.il/en/israeli-cabinet-approves-new-settlement.
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Israeli authorities have previously declared their intention to legalize the nearby
outpost of Adei Ad.
B. Construction starts, plans and tenders
10. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics published 2,758 construction starts for
housing units in Area C settlements from April 2016 to March 2017, which
represents a 70 per cent increase compared with t he period from April 2015 to the
end of March 2016, when 1,619 construction starts were recorded. 14 No official data
on construction starts in East Jerusalem settlements are publicly available.
11. According to monitoring carried out by UNSCO, tenders for a pproximately
3,200 housing units were issued during the reporting period, the majority of them
(2,800) in the first five months of 2017. From June to December 2016, tenders were
issued for 365 units, including 323 in East Jerusalem and 42 in the settlement of
Qiryat Arba‘, in Area C. Among those issued during the reporting period were
tenders for construction in the settlements of Har Homa, Giv‘at Ze’ev, Ma‘ale
Adummim and Ari’el.
12. UNSCO also reported that during the second half of 2016, plans had been
advanced for the construction of some 1,500 units in Area C (220 of which had
reached the final stage of approval) and another 1,500 in East Jerusalem. During the
first six months of 2017, approximately 5,000 housing units were advanced through
the Israeli planning bodies.
C. Legislation
13. Raising concerns about “de facto annexation”, the Israeli legislature has
pursued past practice in enacting laws with direct applicability in the West Bank.
During the reporting period, this included legislation th at, for the first time, extends
the jurisdiction of the Knesset to matters of land and property.
“Regularization” law
14. On 8 February 2017, the Knesset adopted the Law for the Regularization of
Settlement in Judea and Samaria, 5777 -2017, referred to as the “regularization”
law.15 It authorizes the continued use in the West Bank of privately owned
Palestinian land that has been taken for settlement purposes. The law requires that
the regularization take place as soon as possible and that the reallocatio n of private
Palestinian land for settlement use be completed within one year from the date of
publication of the law, 13 February 2017. This is the first time that the Knesset has
extended its jurisdiction to matters concerning the private property of Pal estinians
living under Israel’s military occupation. The Attorney General of Israel has
opposed the law, describing it as unconstitutional and in violation of the Geneva
__________________
14 See Peace Now, “Central Bureau of Statistics: 70 per cent rise in construction of settlements
during the past year compared to previous year”, 19 June 2017, available from
http://peacenow.org.il/en/central-bureau-statistics-70-rise-construction-settlements-past-yearcompared-
previous-year.
15 See A/HRC/34/39, para. 33; see also Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair s, “Zeid
urges Israel to reconsider bill to legalize outposts that ‘clearly and unequivocally violate
international law’”, available from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/
DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21003.
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Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth
Geneva Convention).16
15. Two petitions against the law have been submitted to the High Court of Justice
by Israeli and Palestinian civil society organizations on the grounds that it would
violate Israeli and international law. 17 However, the Court has stated that the
petitions would not delay the application of the law and that the mandatory deadline
of 13 February 2018 for the reallocation remains valid. If not invalidated by the
High Court of Justice, the law could remove obsta cles to the retroactive legalization
of dozens of existing outposts, and approximately 3,000 housing units built illegally
in settlements recognized as legal by Israel. 18 With the de facto confiscation of
private Palestinian land, the law would violate Isra el’s obligation to protect private
property in the territory that it occupies. 19 The law also raises concerns as to Israel’s
fulfilment of its obligation, as the occupying Power, to respect the laws in force in
the territory that it occupies, unless absolut ely prevented from doing so.20
“Annexation” bills and applicability of Israeli legislation to the West Bank
16. Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, dozens of private bills aimed at
annexing parts of the West Bank have been proposed by members of the Knesset. At
least 20 such bills have been submitted for consideration since the March 2015
elections (e.g., through the direct application of Israeli legislation to settlements), 21
but none has reached a first reading in the Knesset or been endorsed by the
Government. However, new laws adopted by the current Knesset explicitly apply to
Israeli citizens living in settlements. In January 2017, a bill aimed at applying
Israeli laws and regulations to Ma‘ale Adummim (one of the largest settlements,
with 40,000 inhabitants) came close to being discussed by the Government, but its
promotion was eventually blocked by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin
Netanyahu.22
__________________
16 See “Israel passes controversial law on West Bank settlements”, BBC News, 7 February 2017,
available from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38888649; see also Allison Kaplan
Sommer, “Explained: Israel’s new Palestinian land -grab law and why it matters”, Haaretz,
7 February 2017, available from http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.770102.
17 The first petition was submitted on 8 February 2017 by Adalah, the Al Mezan Centre for Human
Rights and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre on behalf of 15 Palestinian local
councils and two municipalities (see http://mezan.org/en/post/21791); the second was submitted
on 15 March 2017 by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Peace Now and Yesh Din on
behalf of 27 Palestinian local councils and 13 Israeli civil society organizations ( see
http://www.acri.org.il/en/20 17/03/05/acri-peace-now-and-yesh-din-petition-the-high-courtagainst-
the-expropriation-law/).
18 See Association for Civil Rights in Israel, “ACRI, Peace Now and Yesh Din petition the High
Court against the expropriation law”, 5 March 2017, available from http://www.acri.org.il/en/
2017/03/05/acri-peace-now-and-yesh-din-petition-the-high-court-against-the-expropriation-law/.
19 See Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague Regulations), arts. 46
and 56; Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 53; and A/HRC/34/38, paras. 20–21.
20 See Hague Regulations, art. 43; Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 63; and A/HRC/34/38, para. 39.
21 The majority of the bills have aimed at the annexation of particular settlements or areas
(e.g., Ma‘ale Adummim, Gush Etzion, Jordan Valley) and some at the application of the Israeli
planning and zoning legislation to settlements, while othe rs have been much broader in scope
and effect, demanding the full annexation of Area C or of all major Israeli settlements.
22 See Tovah Lazaroff, Jeremy Sharon and Herb Keinon, “Annexation bill put off until after Trump -
Netanyahu meeting”, Jerusalem Post, 22 January 2017, available from http://www.jpost.com/
Israel-News/Netanyahu-looks-to-delay-Maaleh-Adumim-annexation-bill-479191; see also Tovah
Lazaroff, “Ma’aleh Adumim annexation bill on hold for a week”, Jerusalem Post, 4 March 2017,
available from http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Maaleh-Adumim-annexation-bill-on-hold-fora-
week-483206.
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D. Law enforcement regarding settler violence
17. Previous reports of the Secretary-General described how settler violence,
trespassing and property damage on Palestinian lands often occurred in concerted
efforts to forcibly expel Palestinians in order to expand settlements. 23 In recent
years, the Israeli authorities have increas ed their efforts to address settler violence
through both preventive measures and the prosecution of perpetrators. 24 According
to official data, between January 2016 and June 2017, 54 indictments were served
against Israelis for ideologically motivated crimes.25 In addition, between January
and October 2016, Israeli authorities issued 30 restraining orders against Israelis
(including minors) considered to be extremists, prohibiting their presence in the
West Bank. As at 29 November 2016, 11 Israelis were bein g held under
administrative detention.26
18. However, between 1 June 2016 and 31 May 2017, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 111 incidents of settler violence
affecting Palestinians, 42 of which had resulted in injuries and 6 9 in property
damage. Despite a continuing decline since 2013 (when 397 cases were recorded),
there was an increase in such incidents in early 2017, as well as in attacks against
Israelis, mostly stone-throwing by Palestinians at vehicles.27
19. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) has monitored and documented several cases of settler violence in the
Nablus area, where a significant proportion of the incidents took place, reflecting
recurrent and organized attacks by settlers that are increasingly encroaching on
Palestinian villages in that area. Some attacks occurred in the presence of Israeli
security forces, who failed to uphold public order and safety in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and to protect its inhabita nts, including from all acts of
violence, threats and insults.28
20. For example, in Arif, the family of Muneer Hassan Ahmed Suleiman
experienced several days of violent settler attacks, most severely on 29 April 2017.
According to OHCHR monitoring data, a n estimated 60 settlers, including a settler
armed with an automatic rifle, attacked Mr. Suleiman’s property, destroying cars
and throwing stones at the house. Mr. Suleiman was struck with stones and beaten
with a metal rod, which caused several fractures to his legs. Mr. Suleiman reported
that while Israeli security forces had arrived at the scene, they had refused to
intervene. He was hospitalized for four days and was wheelchair -bound when
OHCHR met him in May 2017.
21. OHCHR also monitored and documented the case of the Amraan family, who
live 400 metres from an outpost in East Burin. The family reported almost weekly
attacks by settlers over the past three years, believing that the perpetrators came
__________________
23 See A/70/351, paras. 52–60.
24 See A/HRC/34/39, para. 20; and S/2016/595, annex.
25 See Ministry of Justice of Israel, “Israel’s investigation and prosecution of ideologically
motivated offences against Palestinians in the West Bank” (June 2017). The report does not
clearly distinguish between investigations regarding ideologically motivated offences directed at
Palestinians or their property, and investigations regarding other ideologically motivated
offences committed by Israelis in the West Bank (e.g., offences targeting security personnel).
26 Ibid. With respect to administrative detention, the Secretary -General has condemned its use by
Israel against Palestinians and Israelis alike; see A/69/347, para. 29; and A/HRC/31/43,
paras. 40–43.
27 According to the Office, between January and May 2017, 152 incidents caused harm to Israelis
or their property, compared with 112 during all of 2016.
28 See Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27, first para.; Hague Regulations, art. 46; and
A/HRC/34/38, paras. 33–37.
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from the outpost near the settlement of Har Brakha. O n 12 May 2017, seven settlers
armed with slings reportedly hurled stones at villagers and the family’s house in the
presence of Israeli security forces. According to witnesses, the latter did not
intervene to stop the attack or arrest any suspects, raising strong concerns as to the
obligation of Israeli authorities to ensure public order and safety and to protect the
population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
22. Between 22 April and 27 May 2017, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs documented five incidents in which settlers had attacked
Palestinians while accompanied by members of the Israeli security forces. Most of
the attacks were believed to have originated from the settlement of Yitzhar, in the
Nablus area, a known hotspot for extremist violence against Palestinians. In those
cases, many of which were documented on video, soldiers neither intervened nor
detained the attackers. In some cases, they used means of crowd dispersal on
Palestinians.29
IV. Demolitions and forced evictions in the context of settlements
23. In 2016, the Israeli authorities demolished or seized 1,093 Palestinian -owned
structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. According to the Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this resu lted in the displacement of more
than 1,600 Palestinians and had an adverse impact on the livelihoods of more than
7,000 others. The number of demolitions in 2016 nearly doubled compared with
2015 and was the highest since 2009, when the Office began its s ystematic
monitoring of demolitions.30
24. During the reporting period, 718 Palestinian -owned structures were seized or
demolished, which led to the displacement of 1,122 people. 31 Eighteen of those
structures were located in Areas A and B. While the number of demolitions
generally decreased during the reporting period, there was a spike in January 2017,
when 140 structures were demolished by the Israeli authorities, leading to the
displacement of some 240 Palestinians. The number of structures demolished was
more than 50 per cent higher than the monthly average number of structures
targeted in 2016 (91).32
25. The official reason for those demolitions is that the structures were bui lt
without permits; however, building legally in most of Area C and East Jerusalem is
nearly impossible for Palestinians, owing to the planning policies implemented by
Israeli authorities in those areas.33 As noted in previous reports of the Secretary-
General34 and by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the
planning regime is discriminatory and incompatible with requirements under
__________________
29 See Rabbis for Human Rights, “Series of incidents where soldiers stand by as Palestinians are
attacked”, press release, 6 June 2017, available from http://rhr.org.il/eng/2017/06/series-casesidf-
soldiers-stand-idly-palestinians-attacked-extremists-settlers/.
30 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of demolitions and
displacements in the West Bank during 2016”, in Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian
Territory (January 2017), available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/ record-numberdemolitions-
and-displacements-west-bank-during-2016.
31 Data are from the Demolition System database of the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory.
32 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of demolitions and
displacements in the West Bank during 2016”.
33 See A/72/565.
34 A/66/364 and A/HRC/25/38.
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international law.35 Israel’s planning policies and processes in East Jerusalem and
Area C contravene the principle of non-discrimination in relation to the right to an
adequate standard of living, including the right to housing. 36 For many Palestinian
communities, particularly the Bedouin and herder communities, Israel also fails to
guarantee security of tenure, one of the core components of the right to adequate
housing, thus leaving a large proportion of Palestinians vulnerable to forced
evictions, threats and harassment.37
26. In general comment No. 7 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the term “forced eviction” is defined as the permanent or temporary removal
against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or
land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms
of legal or other protection. The non-discrimination provisions of articles 2.2 and 3
of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights obliges Governments to
ensure that, where evictions do occur, appropriate measures are taken to ensure that
no form of discrimination is involved.38 Furthermore, the Committee has noted that
house demolitions carried out as a punitive measure are inconsistent with the norms
of the Covenant.39 Therefore, demolitions carried out by the Israeli authorities in the
context of discriminatory planning structures or for punitive purposes are unlawful
under international law and therefore constitute forced evictions. 40
27. Forcible transfer is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and
amounts to a war crime that may lead to individual criminal responsibility.41 In
previous reports, the Secretary-General identified demolitions, and threats thereof,
as key factors contributing to a coercive environment in the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem,42 when specific circumstances may leave no o ther choice to
individuals and communities but to leave. 43 The Secretary-General has previously
expressed concern that Israel was increasing pressure on Palestinians through
practices and policies contributing to a coercive environment in areas under full
Israeli control, pushing them to move out of their areas of residence. 44 The
following examples and case studies illustrate how populations facing demolitions
and forced evictions may be victims or at risk of forcible transfer.
__________________
35 See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 18 and 45; A/HRC/25/38, paras. 11–14; and A/HRC/34/38, para. 25. In
2012, the Committee expressed concern regarding the discriminatory planning policy of Israel
and urged the Government to reconsider it entirely in order to guarantee Palestinian and Bedouin
rights to property, access to land, access to housing and access to natural resources (see
CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 25).
36 See International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11.
37 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights established, in its general comment
No. 4, that everyone should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal
protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. The Committee also affirmed
that States must take immediate mea sures aimed at conferring legal security of tenure upon those
persons and households lacking such protection, in genuine consultation with affected persons
and groups. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 4
(1991) on the right to adequate housing.
38 See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7 (1997) on
forced evictions.
39 Ibid., para. 12.
40 In its 2011 concluding observations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
expressed deep concern about home demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank, in
particular in Area C, as well as in East Jerusalem, by Israeli authorities, m ilitary personnel and
settlers (see E/C.12/ISR/CO/3, para. 26).
41 See Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49 and 147; and Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, art. 8, para. 2 (b) (viii).
42 See A/HRC/34/39, para. 47.
43 See A/HRC/34/38, para. 28.
44 See A/HRC/34/39, para. 41.
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A. East Jerusalem
28. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities have allowed for the planning and zoning
of only 13 per cent of the city, most of which is already built up, for Palestinian
construction. Consequently, one third of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
lack Israeli-issued building permits, which places at least 90,000 residents at risk of
eviction, demolition of their homes and subsequent displacement. 45
29. According to data provided by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs for 2016, 17 per cent of t he structures demolished or seized
(190) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory were in East Jerusalem. 46 The most
large-scale demolitions conducted during the reporting period included the
destruction of 15 structures in Qalandia village, for lacking the ne cessary building
permits. Although the village is located on the West Bank side of the wall, it falls
within the boundaries of the Municipality of Jerusalem. Rising housing costs in East
Jerusalem, which are due in part to a housing shortage, have driven many
Palestinian families to these particularly vulnerable areas that are located beyond
the wall but that Israel considers to be part of Jerusalem. These areas have little or
no access to public services, although residents pay taxes to the Municipality of
Jerusalem.47
30. As of August 2017, eviction orders were pending against at least 180 families
in East Jerusalem (818 people), including 21 in the Old City of Jerusalem. In most
cases initiated by settler organizations, such orders have the goal of gaining control
of Palestinian-occupied properties by claiming ownership prior to 1948 or
challenging the “protected tenant” status of some families. 48 In addition, the
eviction of Palestinian families as a result of the application of the Law of Judicial
and Administrative Arrangements 196749 may be considered unlawful owing to its
inherently discriminatory nature.50
31. The reporting period witnessed significant cases related to forced evictions
resulting from demolitions in East Jerusalem. In one instance, on 20 D ecember
__________________
45 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory, “East
Jerusalem: key humanitarian concerns” (August 2014), available from https://www.ochaopt.org/
content/east-jerusalem-key-humanitarian-concerns-august-2014.
46 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of demolitions and
displacements in the West Bank during 2016”.
47 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Increase in West Bank demolitions
during July-August”, in Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian Territory (August 2016),
available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/increase-west-bank-demolitions-during-julyaugust.
The demolition in Qalandia village was also significant because the Municipality of
Jerusalem had not enforced its permit regime on buildings situated beyond the wall.
48 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “East Jerusalem: Palestinians at risk of
eviction”, available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/east-jerusalem-palestinians-riskeviction.
49 Enacted after the 1967 war, the law transferred all property under the Jordanian Custodian of
Enemy Property — which had managed the properties of Jews who had fled or been forced to
leave East Jerusalem in 1948, which were used mainly to house Pa lestinian refugees — to the
Administrator General of the Ministry of Justice of Israel. According to sect. 5 (b) of the law, the
Administrator General must release property to whoever owned it prior to its transfer to the
Jordanian custodian, or to a person standing in for the owner at the owner’s request. In effect,
Jews or Jewish entities can recover properties that they owned before 1948. However,
Palestinians who lost control of their properties after 1948 can reclaim their properties from the
current occupants in extremely rare cases, and are eligible only for compensation that falls far
below the current value of the property. This discrepancy in treatment makes the Law of Judicial
and Administrative Arrangements 1967 inherently discriminatory against Palestinians.
50 See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7 (1997) on
forced evictions.
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2016, the High Court of Justice ruled that the protected tenancy of Nora Ghaith and
Mustafa Sub Laban would be terminated in 10 years and that they could live in their
home in the Old City until then. It also ruled that after 10 years, the property would
be handed over to Atara Leyoshna, the settler organization that has been engaged in
a 40-year legal battle to evict the Sub Laban family. 51 In addition, the Court ruled
that the children of Nora Ghaith and Mustafa Sub Laban, and their respective
families, would not be permitted to continue to live in the Sub Laban house, with
immediate effect.52 In another example, on 15 September 2016, the Kirresh family
(six adults and two children) were evicted from their home in the Old City after the
Israeli Supreme Court had rejected its appeal. The family had been renting the
property since the 1930s and was ordered to transfer it to an Israeli settler
organization, Ateret Cohanim, which had claimed that it had purchased the property
in 1980. Three other Palestinian families (seven adults and 10 children) were also
evicted from their homes in the Old City in August 2016.
B. Area C
32. Only 30 per cent of Area C is available for Palestinian use and development
following the allocation of land for settlements and their expansion, the demarcation
of closed military zones and the takeover of land for the construction of the wall.
Yet, the Israeli Civil Administration has permitted construction on only 0.4 per cent
of the land.53 In Area C, according to estimates by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs that take into account the populations of Palestinians and
settlers, the planned area per Israeli settler is more than 13 times larger than th e
planned area per Palestinian.54
33. Planning for Palestinian villages involves the demarcation of the existing
built-up area in a village with little or no room for growth, and with no involvement
of the local population in the drafting and decision -making process.55 Since 2011,
the Palestinian Authority has supported communities in submitting local outline
plans for the approval of the Israeli Civil Administration. In total, 110 community -
based outline plans have been prepared for some 148,000 Palestinians. As at 31 May
2017, five of those plans had been approved by the Israeli Civil Administration,
96 were pending its approval and final decision, and nine remained to be submitted
for its consideration.
34. According to the Israeli Civil Administration, approximately 12,500
demolition orders were pending against Palestinian-owned structures across Area C
__________________
51 The Sub Laban family first rented the apartment from the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy
Property in 1954, at which point it was awa rded protected tenancy status. The family maintained
this status and paid rent to the Israeli General Custodian after it had assumed control of
properties administered by the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property . Despite this protected
status, the Sub Labans have been under threat of eviction since 1978, first by the General
Custodian and later by Atara Leyoshna.
52 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory,
“Palestinian family forcibly evicted from its home in occupied East Jerusalem”, 15 September
2016, available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/palestinian -family-forcibly-evicted-itshome-
occupied-east-jerusalem.
53 See United Nations Human Settlements Programme, “‘One UN’ approach to spatial plannin g in
‘Area C’ of the occupied West Bank” (September 2015), available from https://unhabitat.org/
wp-content/uploads/2015/10/One-UN-Approach-to-Spatial-Planning-in-Area-C-.pdf.
54 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Under threat: demo lition orders in
Area C of the West Bank” (September 2015), available from http://data.ochaopt.org/
demolitionos/demolition_orders_in_area_c_of_the_west_bank_en.pdf pp 13.
55 See Nir Shalev and Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, The Prohibited Zone: Israeli Planning Po licy in
Palestinian Villages in Area C (Bimkom, 2008).
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by the end of 2016 for lack of appropriate permits. 56 More than 2,900 of those
orders were on hold owing to appeals with the Administration or Israeli courts. 57 As
the orders do not have expiry dates, they c an be executed at any time, which places
the Palestinian individuals and families concerned in a very precarious position. In
2016, the Administration issued stop-work orders, demolition orders or warnings
regarding more than 100 donor-funded humanitarian aid structures.58
35. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more
than 63 per cent of the structures confiscated by the Israeli Civil Administration in
Area C in 2016 were in Palestinian herding and/or Bedouin communities, inc luding
283 structures provided by the international community as humanitarian
assistance.59 As highlighted by the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian
Aid and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Most of the
demolitions in the West Bank take place on the spurious legal grounds that
Palestinians do not possess building permits, but in Area C, official Israeli figures
indicate only 1.5 per cent of Palestinian permit applications are approved in any
case. So what legal options are left for a law-abiding Palestinian?”60
36. The following case studies document forced evictions that were faced by some
Bedouin and herder communities in Area C during the reporting period. In previous
reports of the Secretary-General, various factors were identified that contribute to
the creation of a coercive environment in Area C, including plans to evict and
relocate Bedouin and herder communities, 61 as well as demolitions — or the threat
thereof — related to the implementation of the illegal and disc riminatory planning
regime.62
Case study 1: Kurshan–Khan al-Ahmar, a community on the periphery of Jerusalem
37. The Kurshan Jahalin Bedouin community is part of the Khan al -Ahmar cluster
of communities, located east of the settlement of Mishor Adumim. Like all Bedouin
communities on the periphery of Jerusalem, Kurshan –Khan al-Ahmar is at risk of
forcible transfer owing to Israeli relocation and settlement expansion plans and
other factors contributing to the creation of a coercive environment, as detai led
below. Kurshan is one of the smallest Bedouin communities, with a population of 54
comprising nine Abu Dahuk families.63
38. Like other Bedouin communities on the periphery of Jerusalem, Kurshan lies
in the path of expansion plans for Ma‘ale Adummim. The community has faced
demolitions since the mid -1990s.64 Its lack of ownership titles and its location,
which is almost adjacent to a closed military zone, pose serious constraints on
__________________
56 Some of these orders were issued in the 1980s. Approximately 77 per cent of the demolition
orders issued by the Israeli Civil Administration since 1988 have targeted structures located on
land recognized by the Israeli authorities as privately owned Palest inian land, while the
remaining 23 per cent have concerned structures built on land designated as State land; see
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Under threat: demolition orders in Area C
of the West Bank”.
57 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of demolitions and
displacements in the West Bank during 2016”.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 See Amira Hass, “Israel dramatically ramping up demolitions of Palestinian homes in West
Bank”, Haaretz, 21 February 2016, available from http://www.haaretz.com/israel -news/
.premium-1.704391.
61 See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 50–60; and A/HRC/24/30, paras. 28–29.
62 See A/68/513, paras. 30–34; A/HRC/25/38, paras. 11–20; A/HRC/31/43, paras. 44 and 46;
A/HRC/28/80, para. 24; and A/69/348, para. 13.
63 See http://bimkom.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/jahalin/al%20kurshan.htm.
64 Ibid.
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planning for the community. As a result, necessary building permits can not be
obtained. Residents of Kurshan are not connected to the electrical grid or the
sewage system and receive water through private connections. The children who
live in Kurshan attend a primary school in nearby Abu Al -Hilw.
39. In July 2011, the Israeli Civil Administration announced plans to relocate
Bedouin communities from the periphery of Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the
South Hebron Hills.65 It invoked the absence of rights to land as well as the lack of
necessary building permits for homes and other structures to justify the relocation. 66
During the reporting period, the Administration demolished 30 structures, including
11 homes, on 9 October 2016. Nine families comprising 47 individuals, including
26 children, were forcibly evicted and left homeless. More than a third of the
demolished structures were built as part of a donor -funded project consisting of
eight residential structures and five latrines. Emergency tents provided by donors
the day after the demolition were confiscated by Israeli aut horities on 14 October
2016.
40. According to the Kurshan community, for two months after the forced
eviction, members of a settler organization were seen in the area, apparently to
monitor the situation. A delegation of the Israeli Civil Administration v isited the
community, advising the residents to move to either Al Jabal or Nuweima in Area C.
As of the end of May 2017, six months after the demolition, the Administration had
prevented the provision of humanitarian assistance for the community, including
temporary shelters. OHCHR observed that while most forcibly evicted families had
reconstructed makeshift shelters from the rubble of their demolished homes, those
shelters were far from adequate.
Case study 2: Khirbat Tana
41. Firing zones for military training purposes cover large tracts of land in the
West Bank: approximately 17.5 per cent of the tot al area of the West Bank and
29 per cent of Area C.67 These areas are also home to some 6,200 people from
38 Palestinian communities. Residents of firing zones often lack access to essential
services such as water, sanitation and health care. They also often face settler
violence, harassment and confiscation of property for entering the zone without the
necessary permission from the Israeli Civil Administration.68
42. One such village is Khirbat Tana, located in Area C, in the northern Jordan
Valley. It is home to some 250 people, who live in permanent and temporary
structures, tents and old caves and whose livelihoods consist of sheep - and cattleherding,
farming and seasonal agricultural work. They lead semi -nomadic lives,
spending part of the year in Khirbat Tana and the other part in the nearby village of
Bayt Furik.
43. The Israeli Civil Administration does not recognize Khirbat Tana as a village
and therefore has refused to consider it for master planning, also prohibiting
__________________
65 See A/67/372, para. 36.
66 See B’Tslem, “Civil administration plans to expel tens of thousa nds of Bedouins from Area C”,
7 October 2013, available from http://www.btselem.org/settlements/20111010_forced_eviction_
of_bedouins.
67 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Wide-scale demolitions in Khirbet
Tana”, 4 March 2016, available from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/wide -scale-demolitionskhirbet-
tana; see also Kerem Navot, “A locked garden: declaration of closed areas in the West
Bank” (March 2015), available from http://www.keremnavot.org/a-locked-garden.
68 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory, “The
humanitarian impact of Israeli-declared ‘firing zones’ in the West Bank”, fact sheet (August
2012), available from https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_firing_zone_factsheet_
august_2012_english.pdf.
A/72/564
17-19289 13/18
construction in the area.69 This prohibition has triggered regular demolitions of
homes, animal shelters and water storage facilities, as well as the destruction of a
primary school.
44. On 3 January 2017, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished 49 structures
in Khirbat Tana, including 13 residential struct ures, 9 portable toilets and
26 structures used for agricultural purposes. Thirty of the demolished structures
were donor-funded. Fifty people, including 22 children, were consequently left
homeless. During this demolition drive, the Administration also issued a stop -work
order regarding the ongoing reconstruction of the local school funded by the
European Union, which had been demolished in 2011 and again in 2016. 70
45. The recent demolitions and forced evictions continued a wave that had begun
in July 2005, when the Israeli Civil Administration had demolished almost all the
buildings in the village and blocked the entrances of caves that were being used as
homes by some of the villagers. Five additional rounds of forced evictions took
place between 2009 and 2011.71 The Administration also carried out four rounds of
demolitions between February and April 2016. 72 One woman from Khirbat Tana told
OHCHR that she had faced house demolitions approximately a dozen times in her
life.
46. The Minister of Defence of Israel claimed that the location of the villagers in a
firing zone posed a danger to their lives. 73 In its responses to court petitions against
the demolition orders, the Government of Israel claimed that the construction of
dwellings on the site had begun in the late 1990s, long after the area had been
declared a firing zone, and that most residents were using the residential and other
structures on a seasonal basis and had residences in the nearby village of Bayt
Furik.74 However, it acknowledged the presence of a mosque from the Ottoman
period on the site,75 which supported the claim of some residents of Khirbat Tana
that the community had been present there long before the designation of the area as
a firing zone.
47. In general, in addition to questions about the legality of the confiscation and
destruction of private property and the forced evictions that have followed the
__________________
69 See Noga Kadman, Acting the Landlord: Israel’s Policy in Area C, the West Bank (Jerusalem,
B’Tselem, June 2013).
70 See Amira Hass, “First week of 2017: Israel d emolishes homes of 151 Palestinians, almost four
times last year's average”, Haaretz, 7 January 2017, available from http://www.haaretz.com/
israel-news/premium-1.763331.
71 In March 2011, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished all 42 structures in the village,
including a primary school and water cisterns. It also blocked the entrances to eight caves used
as residences as well as shelters for livestock. This forced evict ion left 152 villagers, including
64 children, homeless. See B’Tselem, “The village of Khirbet Tana”, 17 April 2016, available
from http://www.btselem.org/jordan_valley/tana; see also Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, “Wide-scale demolitions in Khirbet Tana”.
72 See A/71/355, para. 22.
73 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Third
large-scale demolition in Khirbet Tana in 2016”, 21 March 2016, available from
https://www.ochaopt.org/content/third -large-scale-demolition-khirbet-tana-2016.
74 See B’Tselem, “The village of Khirbet Tana”.
75 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “United Nations Humanitarian
Coordinator visits Palestinian community of Khirbet Tana and warns of risk of forcible transfer”,
press release, 28 March 2016, available from http://data.ochaopt.org/documents/
hc_statement_demolitions.khirbet%20tana_english.pdf.
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14/18 17-19289
declaration of a firing zone,76 there is the concern that some land taken by the Israeli
military and closed off for firing zones will be used for future settlement expansion.
Instances of the transfer of land from firing zones to settlements only reinforce that
concern.77 One NGO study based on field observations and interviews resulted in
the conclusion that almost 80 per cent of the firing -zone land designated for training
purposes (approximately half of the total area of firing zones) was not used for such
purposes.78
48. There is also the concern that in some cases, firing zones may be used for
agricultural settlement expansion.79 With respect to firing zone 904a, in which
Khirbat Tana is located, settlers are using approximately 755 dunums
(75.5 hectares) of land for agricultural purposes.80 Moreover, there are also two
settlement outposts (Gidonim 777 and Havat Binyamin) located within the zone.
While those outposts have also received demolition orders, only a few of the orders
have been acted upon. Significantly, in 2012, the Blue Line task force reclassified
one of the two outposts as being on State land, ostensibly with the intention of
settlement expansion.81
Impact of forced evictions on human rights
49. The impact of demolitions and forced evictions on communities in Kurshan
and Khirbat Tana is not unique, but illustrates the experience of several other
communities in similar situations in Area C. Forced evictions resulting from
demolitions, as described in the instances referred to above, are a gros s violation of
human rights,82 including the rights to adequate housing, water, sanitation, health,
education and privacy.
50. The most direct impact of house demolitions is homelessness, in violation of
the right to adequate housing as protected by article 11 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Although humanitarian
organizations provide forcibl y evicted families with aid, including material for the
rebuilding of their homes, it can take up to several weeks for the aid to reach the
affected family. In the meantime, victims have no option but to live in rudimentary
__________________
76 While art. 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention allows for the temporary evacuation of protected
persons for their own security or for an imperat ive military reason, forced evictions for the
establishment of firing zones for training purposes do not meet such a threshold, and raise
concern about possible forcible transfer; see Michael Bothe, “Expert opinion: limits of the right
of expropriation (requisition) and of movement restrictions in occupied territory” 2 August 2012,
available from http://www.acri.org.il/en/wp -content/uploads/2013/01/Michael-Bothe-918-
position.pdf; see also Akevot, “Firing zone 918: a 1967 legal opinion presented to the high
court”, 11 January 2017, available from http://akevot.org.il/en/article/firing -zone-918-case-1967-
legal-opinion-presented-high-court/?full.
77 For example, in January 2015 the General Officer Commanding the Central Command signed an
order reducing the area of firing zone 912 to make way for housing units to be constructed as a
part of Ma‘ale Adummim’s expansion plans. Similarly, in 2011 more than 900 dunu ms
(90 hectares) of land from firing zone 203 were transferred for the establishment of an industrial
zone, Sha’ar Shomron, to serve the settlements of Oranit and Elkanah. See Chaim Levinson,
“IDF cancels status of firing zone to enable expansion of nearby settle ment”, Haaretz, 8 March
2015, available from http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.645771; see also Kerem
Navot, “A locked garden: declaration of closed areas in the West Bank”.
78 See Kerem Navot, “A locked garden: declaration of closed areas in the West Bank”.
79 Ibid. According to the Kerem Navot study, in 2015 approximately 14,480 dunums (1 ,448
hectares) of agricultural land cultivated by Israelis was located in closed military zones,
including almost 20 per cent of land located in firing zone s.
80 Ibid.
81 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Third large -scale demolition in
Khirbet Tana in 2016”.
82 See Commission on Human Rights resolution 19 93/77.
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17-19289 15/18
and inadequate makeshift housing or with relatives or neighbours. Khirbat Tana
residents told OHCHR that, while many of them had tried to rebuild their homes
using material from the demolished homes, the Israeli Civil Administration would
often tear their tents down and bury them in debr is to prevent their reuse.
51. In Kurshan, residents described to OHCHR surveillance that had been
conducted by security forces and members of the Israeli Civil Administration for
several weeks after the forced eviction. According to them, Israeli authori ties have
been monitoring all movements in and out of the community to ensure that no
building material is brought in for reconstruction. In order to prevent additional
confiscations, aid material that the community has received has been stored in
Jericho following the confiscation of tents provided by representatives of the
Palestine Red Crescent Society for affected families. Forcibly evicted families have
therefore had to live in cramped conditions with relatives whose houses were not
destroyed. One man spoke of the difficulty of having to take his wife and three
children to live with his brother ’s family of six for more than two months. As at
31 May 2017, more than eight months after the forced evictions, almost all affected
people were living in highly inadequate makeshift housing made out of damaged
material from their previous homes, while one family continued to live with
relatives.
52. The demolition of toilets and bathing facilities adds to the hardships faced by
communities after a house demolitio n. Two women told OHCHR of the difficulty
and lack of privacy that women and girls faced in forcibly evicted communities as
they were compelled to use the open space around their communities.
53. The forced evictions and the subsequent closure of the area by Israeli
authorities have posed a serious health risk to some of the affected people. Two
women from Kurshan, whose house was demolished in October 2016, reportedly
had to walk across rugged terrain, 2 to 3 km from the village, in order to reach a
medical facility in order to give birth, because the Israeli authorities would not
allow any vehicles to enter the community. Another woman, who was pregnant and
injured while trying to salvage her belongings, also had to walk to reach medical
assistance.
54. In the context of demolitions conducted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
in 2016, the NGO Médicos del Mundo stressed that there was no doubt that the
current wave of demolitions was having negative psychosocial effects on the
communities affected, in the short, medium and long terms.83 Several people
interviewed by OHCHR described the fear and stress that they had experienced as a
result of demolitions.
55. House demolitions and forced evictions can have a particularly deep and
lasting impact on children. Residents told OHCHR of the fear that demolitions had
instilled in children, some of whom had been unable to sleep at night for a week
after the demolition. In Kurshan, a resident said that, following the demolition, his
children, who were between 2 and 12 years of age, had become fearful of strangers
and would become alarmed at the sight of any vehicle approaching the community.
56. Israeli authorities have also demolished community centres and schools in the
above-mentioned communities. For example, in a case monitored by OHCHR, the
demolition of the community centre in Khirbat Umm al Khayr (Hebron
Governorate), which had also served as a primary school, af fected 35 children. In
Khirbat Tana, the demolition of the local school resulted in children having to be
__________________
83 See Emilian Tapia, “Demolishing mental health: the 2016 wave of dem olitions in the West Bank
and East Jerusalem and its impact on the Palestinian population’s mental health” (Médicos del
Mundo, 2017).
A/72/564
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temporarily transferred to a school 15 km away, in Bayt Furik, to continue their
education. During that time, they were separated from their families during the
week.
57. The losses caused by demolitions (including of animal shelters) and forced
evictions in the Bedouin and herder communities have also had an impact on the
livelihoods of affected families and increased their expenditures. Women spoke
about the destruction of material, which had added to their financial burden, in
particular because the Israeli Civil Administration does not allow sufficient time for
people to remove their belongings before a demolition. Two women told OHCHR
that Civil Administration personnel had removed their bedding and other large items
from their homes, but that all their kitchen utensils and provisions, such as grain,
sugar and oil, had been destroyed during the demolitions. Another woman, in
Khirbat Tana, reported that one of her main responsibilities during demolitions,
which she had faced 10 to 12 times, was to save the cheese that she produced for
sale.
58. Forced evictions further entrench patterns of poverty, which often directly
affects the rights to health, food and education. According to a study of Bedouin and
herder communities in Area C, carried out by the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the World Food
Programme (WFP), between 2010 and 2016 there was an overall increase in the
proportion of food-insecure households from 55 to 61 per cent, and a decrease in the
proportion of food-secure households from 20 to 6 per cent. 84
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
59. Illegal settlement expansion and land appropriation by the Government of
Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan continued during the reporting period, in
violation of Israel’s obligations under international law. The Secretary -General
reaffirms the continuing validity of Security Counc il resolution 497 (1981), in
which the Council decided that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction
and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and
without international legal effect.85
60. The 34 illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan are home to an
estimated 23,000 Israeli settlers and are supported by the Government of Israel
through financial incentives. The settlements also benefit from a disproportionately
larger allocation of natural resour ces, such as clean water, than what is allocated to
Syrian residents.86 In October 2016, the Government of Israel reportedly approved
the construction of 1,600 new homes in the Israeli settlement of Katzrin.87 Syrian
residents of the Golan, estimated to numb er roughly 25,000, live in five villages that
face significant challenges in terms of growth and development, owing in part to
restricted access to land and resources.88
61. Discriminatory land, housing and development policies established by the
Israeli authorities have made it nearly impossible for Syrians to obtain building
permits. Consequently, the Syrian villages in the occupied Syrian Golan are
__________________
84 See UNRWA and WFP, “Food security among Bedouins and herding communities in Area C”
(2016).
85 See A/71/355, para. 66.
86 See A/HRC/28/44, para. 54; and A/HRC/31/43, para. 64.
87 See http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel -okays-1600-new-homes-in-golanheights/.
88 See Al-Marsad, “Fifty years of the occupation in Syrian Golan”, 8 June 2017, available from
http://golan-marsad.org/50-years-of-the-occupation-of-the-syrian-golan/.
A/72/564
17-19289 17/18
increasingly overcrowded, with strained infrastructure and limited resources. 89
Israeli authorities reportedly undertook the first home demolitions in the occupied
Syrian Golan on 7 September 2016, in the village of Majdal Shams, arguing that it
had been built without the necessary permit. 90 The human rights organization
Al-Marsad, based in the occupied Syrian Golan, reported that a number of Syrian
homeowners had received demolition notices, and expressed concern at the
possibility that Israel would institute a systematic policy of home demolitions in the
occupied Syrian Golan.91
VI. Conclusions
62. As described in previous reports of the Secretary-General, Israel’s
establishment and expansion of settlements in the Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant
violation under international law. The settlements and their continued
expansion have adversely affected the human rights of Palestinians, resulting in
forced evictions, the loss of property and sources of livelihood, and restrictions
on access to services.
63. Through the takeover of Palestinian land, the settlements have
fragmented the West Bank,92 as have support for settlement outposts and the
declaration of State lands, seam zones,93 firing zones for training purposes,
nature reserves and national parks and survey lands. 94 As indicated in the
present report, many of those processes have continued to advance steadily.
64. Moreover, in much of Area C and East Jerusalem, various measures put in
place by the Israeli authorities have continued to strengthen a coercive
environment. It may amount to forcible transfer, in violation of Israel’s
obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law. 95
65. Forced evictions resulting from demolitions not only are a violation of the
right to adequate housing and a key factor in the creation o f a coercive
environment, but also have negative impacts on a wide range of human rights.
Those negative impacts include restrictions on movement, including strict
residency regimes, especially in East Jerusalem, and the denial of access to
essential services such as water and sanitation.96
66. Settlement activity is incompatible with Israel’s obligations under
international law. It lies at the core of a range of human rights violations and
humanitarian needs in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and a lso
constitutes one of the main obstacles to a viable Palestinian State.
__________________
89 See Al-Marsad, “Israeli authorities demolish home in the Occupied Syrian Golan”, 8 September
2016, available from http://golan -marsad.org/press-release-israeli-authorities-demolish-home-inmajdal-
shams-in-the-occupied-syrian-golan/.
90 Ibid.
91 Ibid.
92 See A/HRC/31/43, A/HRC/22/63, A/70/351 and Human Rights Council resolution 25/28.
93 Seam zones are areas located between the Green Line and the wall.
94 Survey lands are unregistered areas whose status is under examination by the Israeli authorities
with a view to retaining them as government property to enable the State to use them.
95 See A/HRC/34/39, para. 42; Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49 and 147; and rule 129 of
customary international humanitarian law.
96 See A/HRC/34/39, paras. 40–57.
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18/18 17-19289
VII. Recommendations
67. On the basis of the present report, the Secretary-General recommends
that the Israeli authorities:
(a) Implement all relevant United Nations resolutions, including
Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), in which the Council, inter alia, calls
upon Israel to cease all settlement activity, and Council reso lution 497 (1981);
(b) Halt and reverse all settlement development and related activities in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the
occupied Syrian Golan, including through the discontinuation of support for
private settler organizations’ initiatives aimed at the seizure of Palestinian
properties and the forced eviction of their residents;
(c) Immediately halt forced evictions and cease any activity that would
contribute to the creation of a coercive environment and /or lead to a risk of
forcible transfer;
(d) Cease from taking any initiative to relocate communities in Area C in
contravention of international law, including Bedouin and herder communities;
(e) Review planning laws and policies to ensure that they a re compliant
with Israel’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian
law;
(f) Take all necessary steps to ensure that Palestinians in East Jerusalem
and Area C of the occupied West Bank are not denied access to essential
services, including electricity, water and sanitation, and natural resources,
including land for agricultural purposes.
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United Nations A/74/357
General Assembly
Distr.: General
20 September 2019
Original: English
19-16206 (E) 111019
*1916206*
Seventy-fourth session
Agenda item 51
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General*
Summary
The present report, prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/98,
provides an update on Israeli settlement activities and their impact on human rights in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan. The report
covers the period from 1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019.
* The present report was submitted after the deadline so as to include the most recent
information.
A/74/357
2/19 19-16206
I. Introduction
1. The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/98,
provides an update on the implementation of the resolution from 1 June 2018 to
31 May 2019. It is based on direct monitoring and other information-gathering
activities conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and on information
provided by other United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and
by non-governmental organizations. The report should be read in conjunction with
recent related reports of the Secretary -General and of the High Commissioner
submitted to the Assembly (A/73/410 and A/73/420) and to the Human Rights Council
(A/HRC/40/39, A/HRC/40/42 and A/HRC/40/43). The quarterly updates of the
Secretary-General presented to the Security Council on the implementation of
Council resolution 2334 (2016) concerning the same period1 also provide relevant
information.
2. During the period under review, Israeli settlement activities increased in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Significant legal developments and
conditions and acts contributed to a coercive envir onment, including demolitions,
forced evictions and acts of settler violence. Settler violence continued at a high level,
while injuries to Palestinians and the severity of attacks increased; related
developments in Nablus and the H2 zone in Hebron are exa mined in the present
report. On 28 January 2019, the Government of Israel announced its decision not to
renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron as of
30 January 2019. The report also contains an update on Israeli settlements in the
occupied Syrian Golan.
II. Legal background
3. International human rights law and international humanitarian law are
concurrently applicable in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely, Gaza and the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This incl udes the de jure applicability of the
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
(Fourth Geneva Convention), which is binding upon Israel as an occupying Power. A
detailed analysis of the legal framework applicable in t he Occupied Palestinian
Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan can be found in recent reports of the
Secretary-General (A/HRC/34/38 and A/HRC/34/39).
III. Activities related to settlements
4. The reporting period was marked by an increase in settlement plan
advancements, tenders and construction starts of settlement housing. The demolition
of Palestinian structures in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, increased by
50 per cent compared with the previous reporting period. Furthermore, settler
violence continued to increase, and, in the majority of incidents monitored, Israeli
security forces failed to protect the Palestinian population.
__________________
1 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/security-council-briefings-0.
A/74/357
19-16206 3/19
A. Settlement expansion
Land designation, planning and tenders
5. The advancement of plans for settlement construction continued at a higher rate
than during the previous reporting period, with plans for some 10,900 housing units
in the West Bank advanced or approved by the Israeli authorities, compared with
9,800 in the previous reporting period. Of those, 8,700 were located in Area C and
about 1,800 had reached the final stage of approval by 31 May 2019. In East
Jerusalem, plans were advanced for some 2,200 housing units, about 200 of which
had reached the final stage of approval. 2
6. Israeli authorities issued tenders for 2,400 units in Area C settlements, compared
with 2,100 during the previous period. In East Jerusalem, the first tender in over tw o
years was issued, for 600 units in Ramat Shlomo. 3
7. Official data on settlement construction starts in Area C indicate an increase
from 1,546 units during the previous reporting period to 2,395 units.
8. On 26 December 2018, the Government of Israel inf ormed the High Court of
Justice of Israel that it intended to permit the Ministry of Construction and Housing
to initiate planning procedures for Givat Eitam, a new settlement, in a large area of
1,182 dunums south of Bethlehem. The area was originally dec lared State land in
2004, and the Court issued its final decision on the matter in 2016. 4 In April 2019,
300 dunums were declared State land in the South Hebron Hills. 5
9. On 14 October 2018, the Government of Israel allocated $6 million for work
required ahead of the construction of 31 already approved settlement units in the
H2 zone in Hebron (A/HRC/40/42, para. 9). This is the first time in 16 years that
settlement units are to be built in the H2 zone.
10. According to Peace Now, 11 new outposts were established during the reporting
period,6 compared with 5 during the previous period. 7 In addition, an outpost structure
was established some 100 m from Khan al -Ahmar/Abu al-Helu, a Bedouin
community that remains at risk of imminent demolition and forcible transfer. 8
11. In a public statement made on 13 December 2018, the Prime Minister of Israel
announced a series of measures intended as deterrence in response to Palestinian
attacks against Israelis in the West Bank. 9 The measures included the retroactive
legalization of 2,000 housing units in settlements built on private Palestinian land,
advancing the construction of 82 new housing units in the Ofra settlement and two
new industrial zones in the Avnei Hefetz and Betar Illit settlements, and other
__________________
2 Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
3 Ibid.
4 Peace Now, “Government allocates land for new settlement in E2 ”, 31 December 2018; see also
http://peacenow.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/State-update-e2-allocation-261218.pdf for the
text of the decision.
5 Documentation on file. Peace Now filed a petition against the declaration.
6 Pnei Hever South, Kokhav HaShahar East, Mishol Hamaayan Farm, Ras Karkar Farm, Givat
Eitam, Gadi Base, Kida East, Asa’el West, Tkoa E, Nofei Prat South and Suseya East.
7 Peace Now, data on file.
8 See also para. 37 below; and Yotam Berger, “Israeli who sought evacuation of contested West
Bank Bedouin village builds illegal outpost nearby”, Haaretz, 1 May 2019.
9 Noa Landau and others, “Netanyahu warns Hamas that Israel won’t have Gaza truce alongside
West Bank terror, senior official says ”, Haaretz, 14 December 2018.
A/74/357
4/19 19-16206
measures that may amount to collective punishment. 10 During the reporting period,
Israeli authorities demolished structures at six outposts. 11
B. Consolidation of settlements
12. During campaigns ahead of the elections in Israel in April 2019, several
politicians declared intentions to expand settlements and annex all or parts of the
occupied West Bank. On 6 April 2019, the Prime Minister stated: “I will extend
[Israeli] sovereignty but I don’t distinguish between the settlement blocs and the
isolated ones … I will make sure we control the territory west of Jordan. ” He also
vowed to demolish Khan al-Ahmar/Abu al-Helu.12
13. In April and May 2019, the Minister of Defence of Israel and the Israeli Civil
Administration approved the construction of two roads bypassing Palestinian towns
in the West Bank.13 The Civil Administration issued orders to confiscate hundreds of
dunums of private Palestinian land for the construction of the roads. 14 In April 2019,
the Ministry of Tourism of Israel announced that it would make monetary grants
available for the construction of hotels in the settlements.
Legislative developments, including the regularization of outposts
14. During the reporting period, the Government of Israe l promoted an amendment
that would give the Settlements Division of the World Zionist Organization, a
non-governmental entity functioning under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, the authority to manage declared State land i n the West Bank.
The amendment passed the first reading by the Constitution, Law and Justice
Committee of the Knesset on 29 October 2018. The long -standing practice of the
Settlements Division of managing State land in the West Bank has been criticized for
a lack of transparency and governmental supervision. In the past, the Settlements
Division has allocated private Palestinian land as State land for use by settlers,
including in the Mitzpeh Kramim settlement. 15
15. On 1 August 2018, the Israeli Civil Admin istration stated its intention to triple
the size of the jurisdiction of the new Amihai settlement 16 to include the Adei Ad
outpost as a means to achieve retroactive regularization. 17 One of the settlement plans
advanced in April 2019 would retroactively reg ularize the Haresha outpost by
incorporating it into the existing Talmon settlement. 18
16. On 28 August 2018, the District Court of Jerusalem applied Military Order
No. 59 (1967) to regularize, under Israeli law, the Mitzpeh Kramim outpost, which
__________________
10 Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefing to the
Security Council on the situation in the Middle East: report on Security Council resolution 2334
(2016), 18 December 2018.
11 Netiv Ha’avot, Tappuah West, Geulat Zion, Bat Ayin B, Amona and Maoz Est er.
12 “Netanyahu says will begin annexing West Bank if he wins Israel election ”, Haaretz, 7 April
2019; see also Noa Landau and Yotam Berger, “Israel won’t uproot any more settlements,
Netanyahu says in visit to West Bank ”, Haaretz, 28 January 2019.
13 Peace Now, “Construction permits approved for two bypass roads near Nablus and Bethlehem ”,
2 May 2019.
14 Confiscation orders on file.
15 Peace Now, “Preliminary approval for settlement division bill ”, 13 June 2018.
16 Amihai was established for settlers evacuated from the Amona outpost in the northern West Bank
(A/HRC/40/42, paras. 11 and 32).
17 Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, briefing to
the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, 22 August 2018.
18 Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, briefing to
the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, 29 April 2019.
A/74/357
19-16206 5/19
was built on private Palestinian land, on the basis of the alleged good faith assumption
that it was located on State land. The decision is the first use of the Military Order
and, if upheld by the Supreme Court of Israel, could serve as a precedent to regularize
more than 1,000 illegal housing units within outposts and settlements. At the time of
writing, an appeal against the decision was pending before the Supreme Court.
17. In mid-December 2018, the Government of Israel established a team to fast -
track the legalization of outposts and housing units in settlements built illegally
according to Israeli law. The move followed an opinion issued by the Attorney
General on 13 December allowing the Government to initiate steps to retroactively
legalize settlement units built “in good faith”, including on private Palestinian
property that, at the time of construction, was mistakenly believed to be State land
under Israeli law. According to the Office of the Attorney General, some 2,000
settlement units throughout the West B ank could be retroactively legalized using this
legal and administrative tool, referred to as the “market regulation” principle
(S/2019/251, para. 6). In May 2019, the District Court of Jerusalem accepted th e
position of the Government that the “market regulation” principle could be used to
retroactively legalize structures built in part on private Palestinian land in the
settlement of Alei Zahav, allowing the State to use this tool for the first time. 19
18. In November 2018, the Knesset passed legislation enabling, under certain
conditions, planning for residential purposes in areas declared national parks located
within municipal boundaries. The amendment could facilitate the construction of
additional settlement units in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan. 20
C. Impact of settlements on human rights
Settlement-related violence
19. During the reporting period, incidents of settler violence continued at a high
level, while injuries to Palestinians and the severity of attacks increased. Four
Palestinians were killed by settlers in the West Bank. Five Israeli civilians were killed
by Palestinians in the West Bank, compared with seven in the previous reporting
period. The number of Palestinians injured by settlers increased from 84 during the
previous reporting period to 133. 21 A total of 37 Israeli civilians were injured,
compared with 43 in the previous reporting period. There were also 246 incidents of
property damage by settlers, including the vandalization of more than 8,300 fruit
trees, compared with nearly 5,800 in the previous reporting period. According to the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of incidents of settler
violence reached its highest level si nce 2014, with 321 incidents during the reporting
period, compared with 191 incidents in the previous reporting period and 75 in the
period before that.
20. In an alarming indication of the severity of settler violence, at least 11
Palestinians were injured as a result of the use by settlers of live ammunition,
compared with 4 during the previous reporting period. 22 Such developments were
__________________
19 Yotam Berger, “Israeli court ruling could end up legalizing 2,000 settlement homes ”, Haaretz,
30 June 2019.
20 Ir Amim, “National parks bill enabling settler group ’s penetration into Silwan advances ”,
13 November 2018. Available at www.altro.co.il/newsletters/show/11210?key=d7b7765151
ed%20526253af292a8cac3478&value=e821eb584ad5f7c51923b071f60f258329b7ed91:1320432 .
21 The term “injured” in the present report refers to people who were physically hurt and treated at
a medical facility or on site by paramedic personnel, see www.ochaopt.org/data/casualties.
22 Ibid.
A/74/357
6/19 19-16206
particularly marked in the H2 zone in Hebron and around Nablus (see paras. 39–69
below).
21. Attempts by settlers to enter and/or attack Palestinian communities also
continued to cause friction between Israeli security forces and Palestinians, leading
to clashes that resulted in 4 Palestinians killed and 295 injured. 23
22. On 26 January 2019, a 38-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed and nine
others were injured during a settler attack on Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah. In
clashes that erupted after a group of up to 30 settlers from the nearby Adei Ad outpost
attacked Palestinian farmers in their fields and then i n the village, the settlers shot at
the inhabitants and their houses. There was a heavy presence of Israeli security forces
near the village, and Israeli authorities had been immediately alerted of the attack.
Witnesses reported that the Israeli security forces were late to intervene and, when
they did, the focus of their action appeared to have been to disperse the Palestinians
using crowd dispersal means and live ammunition. 24 It is unclear whether any settlers
were also injured. Given that the settlers implicated in the shooting were civilian
security coordinators, the military has initiated an investigation. 25 As at 31 May 2019,
there was no further information regarding the investigation. 26
23. In May 2019, Israeli security forces and civilian security coo rdinators beat and
seemingly arbitrarily arrested and detained two Palestinian farmers from Kifil Haris
village, in the northern West Bank. After coordination with Israeli authorities
regarding access to the land, the farmers were tending to their land, wh ich had been
included within the boundary of the adjacent Ari ’el settlement. Soldiers claimed that
a group of farmers was violating the coordination time and told the farmers that they
wanted to punish them by temporarily detaining them at the location. Af ter an
argument ensued, a group of soldiers and civilian security coordinators beat two of
the farmers, one of whom was handcuffed. The two farmers were then arrested after
the soldiers claimed that one of them had tried to take his gun. Witness accounts a nd
video recordings suggest that no attempt was made to take the gun. The farmers were
released on bail after 10 days of detention. As at the end of the reporting period, the
victims had not been presented with an indictment or informed as to whether
investigations had been opened into the conduct of the Israeli security forces and
civilian security coordinators. OHCHR has followed the restrictions on access to
agricultural land due to settler violence and had documented an attack in June 2018
by a civilian security coordinator on the same farmers while they were trying to access
their land (A/HRC/40/42, para. 38).
24. Surges in settler violence against Palestinians occurred after the killing of
settlers and soldiers by Palestinians or the removal of outpost structures by Israeli
authorities. 27 On 9 and 13 December 2018, Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli
soldiers and injured another soldier and eight Israeli civilians in the West Bank. The
__________________
23 See e.g. B’Tselem, “Border police escorting settlers invading al -Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah land fire at
residents who clashed with them, killing two and wounding seven ”, 6 December 2018.
24 Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
“Human Rights Commissioner concerned about attack on Palestinians in the West Bank village
of Al Mughayyir”, press briefing, 29 January 2019.
25 Yotam Berger and Jack Khoury, “No settlers questioned after Palestinian shot dead in the Wes t
Bank”, Haaretz, 28 January 2019. Civilian security coordinators are usually residents of
settlements and outposts trained and armed by the army and funded by the Ministry of Defence
to guard settlements and outposts (A/HRC/40/42, para. 37).
26 OHCHR has previously reported on how settler violence around Adei Ad has contributed to human
rights violations and to Palestinians being driven from the area ( A/HRC/40/42, paras. 32–33).
27 For example, there was a peak in settler violence after a Palestinian attack in March 2019, see
B’Tselem, “Predictable, violent settler rampage after a Palestinian attacks Israelis; Israeli
security forces do nothing”, 18 April 2019.
A/74/357
19-16206 7/19
attacks triggered violence across the West Bank, with settlers protesting along main
roads and attacking Palestinian cars with stones. 28 On 13 December 2018, a
Palestinian bus driver was attacked and injured by settlers in the Modi ’in Ilit
settlement and an ambulance of the Palestine Red Crescent Society was attacked by
settlers near Bani Na‘im village in the southern West Bank.
25. In February 2019, flyers were posted in Palestinian villages near the Gush
Etzion settlement block warning Palestinian labourers that they would be banned from
working in nearby settlements if they cooperated with Israeli human rights activists.
The activists were providing a protective presence in areas subject to settler
violence.29
26. As the occupying Power, Israel has the obligation to take al l the measures in its
power to restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and life in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and to protect the Palestinian population from all acts or threats
of violence, in all circumstances.30 Israel also has the obligation to respect, protect
and fulfil the human rights of the Palestinian population, including their right to life
and security of person (A/HRC/34/38, paras. 13 and 36–37).
27. While efforts have been made by the Israeli authorities in recent years to
prevent, investigate and prosecute particular incidents of settler violence, overall
there continues to be a prevailing climate of impunity enjoyed by violent settlers and
those taking over private Palestinian land (A/HRC/31/43, para. 37, and A/HRC/34/39,
para. 18). In one of the cases of settler violence to reach trial, Israeli prosecutors
reached a plea bargain with one of the Israeli suspects in the 2015 arson attack that
killed the Dawabsheh family in Duma, near Nablus ( A/71/355, para. 18). The
prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence of five and a half years for the less serious crime
of “conspiracy to commit a crime motivated by a racist motive ”.31 The trial of another
suspect was ongoing at the time of writing the present report. In another case, an
Israeli minor suspected of killing a Palestinian woman in Octobe r 2018 was indicted
for manslaughter.
Impact of settlements on Palestinian communities at risk of forcible transfer
28. Demolitions and forced evictions entail numerous human rights violations,
exacerbate the coercive environment and raise concerns abo ut the risk of forcible
transfer. They also continue to raise concern about compliance with the relevant
provisions of international humanitarian law that are binding on the occupying Power,
including the prohibition of the destruction of property and inst itutions dedicated to
education.32
29. During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished 511 structures in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing 641 people, including 310 children
and 184 women. In the previous reporting period, they had demolished 343 structures,
displacing 408 people.33
__________________
28 See also paras. 44–45 below; and B’Tselem, ‘“Price tag’, November–December 2018: settlers
continue to wreak havoc in Palestinian communities, shielded by military and police ”, Eyes Wide
Open, blog, January 2019.
29 Aryeh Savir, “Israeli employers to Arabs: want to work for us? Don ’t work with anarchists”,
Jewish Press, 3 February 2019; and Edo Konrad, “Settlers to Palestinian laborers: ‘work with
human rights groups and lose your job ’”, +972 Magazine, 4 Februar y 2019.
30 Hague Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 1907 (Hague Regulations), arts. 43
and 46; and Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27.
31 Amended indictment, on file.
32 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 53, as noted in A/HRC/34/38, para. 21; and Hague Regulations,
art. 56.
33 See www.ochaopt.org/data/demolition.
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30. In addition to those displaced, the demolitions affected over 28,021 people,
many of whom were affected because of the destruction of water connections and
wells, which, in some cases, had been fu nded by donors.34 In February 2019 alone,
five incidents of destruction of water connections and wells were recorded. On
17 February 2019, the Israeli authorities destroyed a 750 -m-long water pipeline,
affecting an estimated 18,000 residents of the villages of Bayt Furik and Bayt Dajan
in Nablus.35
31. In East Jerusalem, demolitions almost doubled, from 131 structures in the
previous reporting period to 219. In April 2019 alone, 60 homes and other structures
were demolished, the highest number of demo litions in one month since the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs started recording such acts in 2009.
Consequently, 318 people were displaced in East Jerusalem during the reporting
period.36 Of those demolitions, 27 per cent were self -demolitions.37 Self-demolitions
have increased dramatically, with 52 incidents, compared with 19 in the previous
reporting period. The increase may be linked to changes in Israeli legislation that
allow expedited demolitions and increased fines for violating th e permit scheme.38 At
least one third of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack an Israeli -issued
building permit, which is almost impossible to obtain, potentially placing over
100,000 residents at risk of having their homes demolished and of being f orcibly
transferred.
32. On 17 and 30 April 2019, Israeli authorities demolished six structures in Wadi
Yasul, displacing 11 Palestinians, including 7 children. Israeli security forces
appeared to use excessive force during the demolition, including beating residents
and shooting at them with sponge-tipped bullets at close range. Nearly all structures
in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi Yasul face a heightened risk of
demolition following the near complete exhaustion of legal efforts to protect homes
in the area. More than 550 Palestinians are consequently at imminent risk of having
their homes demolished.
33. Israeli authorities also demolished or confiscated 13 school -related structures,
while 50 schools (42 in Area C and 8 in East Jerusalem) were under “stop work” or
demolition orders as at 31 May 2019.39 On 19 March 2019, in the Shu’fat refugee
camp, Israeli authorities demolished a school building under construction on the
grounds of a lack of an Israeli-issued permit, reportedly affecting 485 new students
who were registered to start at the school. The area is located within the Israeli -
defined Jerusalem municipal boundary east of the wall separating Jerusalem from the
West Bank. During the demolition, Israeli security forces enter ed the school, causing
panic among students and necessitating the evacuation of about 1,000 students. As
__________________
34 The term “affected” refers to those people whose livelihood has been affected by the demolition
without being displaced, see www.ochaopt.org/data/demolition.
35 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Demolitions in West Bank
undermine access to water”, Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian Territory, March 2019.
36 See www.ochaopt.org/data/demolition; and United Nations, Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, “United Nations officials call for an immediate halt to demolitions in East
Jerusalem and respect for international law amidst rise ”, 3 May 2019.
37 Self-demolitions are carried out by owners to avoid further fines and the cost of the demolition
conducted by the municipality that they will be forced to pay.
38 See www.ochaopt.org/data/demolition; United Nations, Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of demolitions, including self -demolitions, in East
Jerusalem in April 2019”, Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian Territory, April 2019; and
Global International Humanitarian Law Centre of Diakonia, “Demolishing the future: continued
property destruction in the Occupied Palestinian Terr itory”, June 2019, p. 6.
39 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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previously reported, the Jerusalem communities east of the wall are severely
underserviced, including in terms of education ( A/HRC/37/43, para. 59).
34. A total of 21 Palestinian residents of three houses in East Jerusalem, including
7 women and 10 children, were evicted following Israeli court decisions recognizing
settlers’ claim of ownership. On 17 February 2019, Israeli security forces forcibly
evicted the eight members of the Abu Assab family from their house in the Muslim
Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem following a court decision based on the Legal
and Administrative Matters Law of 1970, facilit ating its handing over to a settler
organization claiming to represent previous owners. In 1948, the family members had
fled their property in West Jerusalem, but, unlike Jewish owners, they cannot reclaim
their right to their property from that time (ibid ., para. 40). The family members
reported that the eviction has had serious psychological effects on them.
35. About 200 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem, comprising over 860
Palestinians, including nearly 390 children, face a similar risk of force d eviction as a
result of cases filed in Israeli courts, primarily by Israeli settler organizations. Forced
evictions frequently violate the right to adequate housing and the right to privacy, as
well as other human rights. Forced evictions form part of a coercive environment that
may lead to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva
Convention (A/73/410, paras. 25 and 38). In a positive development, in April 2019,
the Magistrate’s Court of Jerusalem ordered the evacuation of a Palestinian house in
the H2 zone in Hebron that had been taken over by settlers through forged documents
in the early 2000s. The Court ruled that the settlers had to provide the family a
compensation of $161,000.40 The settlers have appealed the decision.
36. The 190 residents of the Khan al-Ahmar/Abu al-Helu Bedouin community
continue to face the risk of imminent demolition, which may lead to forcible transfer.
Following the approval by the High Court of Justice of th e demolition of the
community in May 2018,41 the execution was temporarily delayed after three petitions
were submitted against the verdict. On 5 September 2018, the Court rejected the
petitions in a final ruling. The time frame for the demolition remained unspecified,
leaving it to the discretion of the Israeli military commander. 42 The ruling sets a
precedent that may put dozens of other Bedouin communities at risk of forcible
transfer across the West Bank.
37. On 30 April 2019, the High Court of Justice di smissed petitions submitted by
Palestinian and Israeli non-governmental organizations and Palestinian communities
against Military Order No. 1797 of 17 April 2018 regarding the removal of new
structures (A/73/410, para. 24).43 The Order expands the authority of the Israeli Civil
Administration to remove, within 96 hours following the delivery of a demolition
order, contingent upon the approval of the head of the Civil Administration or the
head’s delegated representative, any structure that has not been completed or was
completed within six months from the issuance of the demolition order. In the case of
residential structures, the Order gives authority to remove any structure that is still
__________________
40 Yotam Berger, “Court orders settlers evicted from Palestinian home purchased with forged
documents”, Haaretz, 22 April 2019.
41 A/73/410, para. 22; see also Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Crim inal Court,
statement regarding the situation in Palestine, 17 October 2018.
42 On 17 June, the demolition was postponed until the formation of a new Government. See Revital
Hovel and Nir Hasson, “Israel postpones eviction of West Bank Bedouin village of K han
al-Ahmar until December”, Haaretz, 17 June 2019.
43 See also High Court of Justice, Society of St. Yves, the Catholic Centre for Human Rights v. The
Military Commander in the West Bank , Case No. 4588/18, Judgment, 30 April 2019. Available at
https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts \18\880\045\n10&
fileName=18045880.N10&type=2.
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uninhabited or whose occupancy began within no more than 30 days. 44 The Order
supplements other recently issued military orders allowing authorities to seize
“mobile structures” without notice.45 There is serious concern that these orders will
expedite demolitions based on the di scriminatory Israeli zoning and planning regime
and further limit opportunities for legal recourse. The reported and continuing
practice of Israeli authorities of leaving demolition or stop -work orders on or near
structures without ensuring that the order was received by the owner and with the risk
of the order being lost further hinders procedural guarantees and legal protection. 46
IV. Impact of settlements: case studies from Nablus
Governorate and the H2 zone in Hebron
38. Settler violence adversely affects the rights of Palestinian people, including the
rights to security of person, freedom of movement, privacy, family life, an adequate
standard of living, work and education (A/HRC/40/42, para. 24). Combined with the
failure of the Israeli authorities to protect the Palestinian population and to hold
perpetrators of violence accountable, settler violence is an important factor of the
coercive environment that may leave some Palestinians no other choice than to leave
their places of residence. Involuntary moves of this nature could amount to forcible
transfer, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime. 47 During
the reporting period, Nablus Governorate and the H2 zone in Hebron continue d to be
the areas most affected by settler violence.
A. Nablus
39. The majority of all settler violence incidents in the West Bank occurred within
the 25 km² constituting the area surrounding the Yitzhar settlement and its adjacent
outposts.48 The Yitzhar settlement has been expanded by unofficial means through the
construction of eight outposts that tripled the built -up area of the settlement. 49
However, the actual land takeover is far more extensive, enforced through persistent
settler violence in all directions towards lands and surrounding six Palestinian
villages.
Settler violence and the failure of Israeli security forces to protect
and investigate
40. In the reporting period, 115 incidents of settler violence were reported in Nablus
Governorate. Two Palestinians were killed in the incidents, while 39 were injured,
including 3 women and 6 children. Some of the peaks of settler violence followed
__________________
44 Haqel, press release, 1 May 2019 (on file).
45 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Record number of
demolitions”; and Global International Humanitarian Law Centre of Diakonia, “Demolishing the
future”, p. 6.
46 See e.g. Jerusalem Legal and Human Rights Centre, Concealed Intentions: Israel’s Human
Rights Violations through the Manipulation of Zoning and Planning Laws in “Area C” (May
2011), p. 21, available at www.jlac.ps/userfiles/file/Publications/Concealed%20Intentions -%20
JLAC.pdf.
47 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 147; and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
art. 8 (2) (b) (viii).
48 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “High level of violence by
Israeli settlers; rise in Israeli fatalities ”, Humanitarian Bulletin: Occupied Palestinian Territory,
October 2018.
49 Yonatan Kanonich, “Yitzhar: a case study – settler violence as a vehicle for taking over
Palestinian land with State and military backing ”, Yesh Din, August 2018, p. 11.
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security incidents in the West Bank, for example within days of the killing of settlers
by Palestinians or the removals of outposts. Palestinians living near hotspots in the
Nablus area reported that they would prepare for attacks as soon as they heard about
security incidents somewhere in the West Bank.
41. In the Nablus area, 83 per cent of those injured as a result of settler violence
were men and boys, as were 89 per cent of those injured by Israeli security forces in
cases involving settler attacks.50 Men are more directly exposed to settler violence, as
they are more often working the land or herding in exposed areas outside the house,
where settlers may target them (A/HRC/40/42, para. 49). In accordance with
traditional gender roles, men assume the responsibility as the protectors of the family
and the village, and it is therefore most often men who respond to settler attacks by
being present or throwing stones, thereby being exposed to violence by settlers and
Israeli security forces.
42. Women were directly exposed to violence by settlers and Israeli security forces
close to their homes, including during house raids and tear gas exposure during
clashes, and indirectly by witnessing family members being attacked by settlers and
arrested or ill treated by Israeli security forces. OHCHR monitoring shows that settler
violence and related coping mechanisms reinforce negative aspects of traditional
gender roles.51
43. One of the areas heavily affected by settler violenc e is along Road 60 in the
Nablus area, a main traffic artery for both settlers and Palestinians and a hotspot for
Israeli-Palestinian violence. On 9 and 13 December 2018, Palestinian gunmen opened
fire at Israeli security forces and settlers on Road 60, ne ar the Ofra settlement and the
Giv‘at Asaf settlement, killing two soldiers and injuring one soldier and eight settlers,
including four children and a pregnant woman whose baby was delivered prematurely
and later passed away. Subsequently, settlers attacke d Palestinians across the West
Bank, especially along Road 60 in the Nablus area, where settlers congregated to
attack Palestinian drivers and shops, impairing Palestinian movement.
44. On 13 December 2018, a large crowd of settlers gathered at the junctio n on Road
60 leading to Yitzhar and attacked and damaged several Palestinian houses, shops and
cars, injuring two Palestinians with stones. Two Palestinians reported that, on 3 May
2019, on Road 60 near the junction, settlers stopped the traffic and attack ed cars with
stones until Israeli security forces dispersed the settlers by shooting in the air. The
junction was a frequent hotspot during the reporting period, where hundreds of
settlers would gather and attack Palestinians and their property, often foll owing
actions against settlers, including by Israeli authorities. According to video footage
and as reported to OHCHR by a family living near the junction, Israeli security forces
were most often present but rarely controlled the large crowds of settlers.
45. On 12 October 2018, a Palestinian woman, Aisha Rabi, was killed after being
hit in the head by a large stone as she was driving with her husband and child near
the Za‘tarah checkpoint, on Road 60. Five Israeli suspects were arrested in relation
to the killing, and, in January 2019, one minor was charged with manslaughter in the
context of a terrorist act. In May 2019, the minor was released and placed on house
arrest while on trial.52
__________________
50 Corresponding roughly to the rest of the West Bank, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.
51 OHCHR interviewed women in Asirah al-Qibliya, Urif and Huwwarah, all villages exposed to
frequent violence by settlers from the Yitzhar settlement.
52 Yaniv Kubovich and Yotam Berger, “Israel arrests five Jewish minors over murder of Palestinian
woman”, Haaretz, 6 January 2019; and Jacob Magid, “Israeli teen charged with killing
Palestinian woman to be freed to house arrest ”, Times of Israel, 7 May 2019.
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46. On 3 April 2019, two settlers shot and killed a 23 -year-old Palestinian man on
Road 60, south of Nablus, and injured another. The 23 -year-old Palestinian was
standing at the side of Road 60 near Bayta junction, throwing stones at passing Israeli
vehicles. A settler shot twice from his vehicle, got out of the car and shot again at the
man, who was reportedly attempting to hide. Another settler got out of his car and
also fired at the victim. Both men then approached the victim, who was lying wounded
on the ground, and fired several more shots at him, killing him. As at the end of the
reporting period, no investigation had been launched into the incident by the Israeli
authorities. On 15 April, the Head of the municipal Council of Settlements in the north
West Bank awarded a civilian medal of valour to the two shooters. The incident raises
serious concerns of failure by the State to investigate the killing.
47. Nablus, in particular the villages near the settlements of Har Bracha and Yitzhar
and nearby outposts, was the area most affected by the use of force by Israeli securi ty
forces in cases involving settler attacks or trespassing in the West Bank, accounting
for 71 per cent of Palestinian injuries in such cases. In particular, families in houses
on the edge of the villages facing Yitzhar reported a heavy presence of the se curity
forces and the use of force on a weekly basis. Many residents reported live fire and
intense and frequent exposure to tear gas as they were caught in their houses during
attacks or clashes. Residents also believed that settlers and soldiers targeted them
when they were seen filming.
48. Israeli security forces repeatedly failed to prevent settler attacks and protect
Palestinians when attacks occurred in their presence in the hotspots in the Nablus area
(see also A/HRC/40/42, paras. 53–54). In the villages around Yitzhar, residents
reported that the Israeli security forces were frequently present during settler attacks
but often in small numbers, and noted that the security forces were often unwilling t o
attempt to control the settlers.53 There were, however, several reported incidents of
violent clashes between the security forces and settlers in Yitzhar in the context of
law enforcement operations in the area. In Asirah al -Qibliya, in an area where a
military watchtower overlooks the hills from which the settlers frequently attack the
village, residents reported that the army would consistently appear after settlers had
reached and attacked the village.
49. As previously reported, in some cases, settlers serving in the army engaged in
violence against Palestinians while off duty ( A/73/410, para. 18). On 17 May 2019,
settlers were filmed torching Palestinian lands in two locations near Burin and Asirah
al-Qibliya;54 one of the perpetrators was an off-duty soldier who was arrested 18 days
later as part of the police investigation. 55
50. The above-mentioned cases raise serious concern that the occupying Power
failed to protect the Palestinian population against all acts of violence or threats. In
several villages in Nablus Governorate, the degree to which settler violence has
become almost a norm of daily life for Palestinians is an indicator of this failure. Of
added concern is that it remained common, as previousl y documented, for the Israeli
security forces not to prevent attacks or to fail to react to attacks occurring in their
presence (A/72/564, paras. 20–22, and A/73/410, para. 18). Furthermore, there are
serious concerns of failure by the State to effectively, promptly and independently
investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of settler violence.
__________________
53 See also the video footage in B’Tselem, “Predictable, violent settler rampage after a Palestinian
attacks Israelis”.
54 B’Tselem, “Settlers torch fields in Burin and ‘Asirah al-Qibliyah”, 22 May 2019.
55 Yotam Berger, “Israeli soldier filmed setting fire to field near Palestinian village arrested ”,
Haaretz, 4 June 2019.
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Impact of settler violence on access to land and livelihoods
51. In February 2019, an elderly herder was attacked and injured by settlers using
stones and clubs while his herd grazed on lands in Burqa village, near the evicted
settlement, Homesh. Despite the eviction of the inhabitants of Homesh in 2005, a
combination of military orders and settler attacks has prevented the registered
landowners and herders from accessing their land ever since. 56 Settlers still routinely
accessed the area without enforcement by Israeli authorities. 57 Efforts by settlers to
re-establish the Homesh outpost have been funded by an online crowdfunding page
set up by an Israeli association that claims that a religious school has operated at
Homesh for the past 12 years.58
52. The Palestinian households affected by frequent settler attacks are also affected
economically. Men and women reported that their capability to work was affected.
For example, a man and his sons in Asirah al -Qibliya reported that they would always
leave their worksite whenever they were alerted of settler attacks near the ir house.
Furthermore, some families with agricultural land near settlements reported that they
would be chased off by settlers, even when their access had been coordinated with
Israeli authorities in advance (A/HRC/40/42, paras. 35–36).
Impact of settler violence on the rights to privacy, family life and health
53. In cases where men are at work, the tasks of women in the home have expanded
to include alerting community and family members of attacks and keeping the house
and children secure during attacks. Along with the unsafe environment, this additional
responsibility has increasingly confined them to the house, resulting in social
isolation, as they no longer receive or make social visits, for exampl e. Such isolation,
in turn, affects their right to family life. Some women reported that the frequent or
permanent presence of settlers, soldiers or male residents around the house affected
their privacy and freedom of movement. Furthermore, some evoked th e need to
always be ready to escape, obliged to always dress in a way that is appropriate outside.
Women also reported feeling the pressure of supporting their children in traumatic
circumstances and keeping an appearance of normality. Women and children w ere
visibly traumatized while recounting the incidents of violence by settlers or Israeli
security forces that they experienced. Several women and children reported that they
were afraid that they would be burned like the victims in the Dawabsheh case, in
which three Palestinians, including a baby, were killed by a firebomb used by settlers
(A/71/355, para. 18).
B. H2 zone in Hebron
54. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 39 incidents
of settler violence in the H2 zone during the reporting period, with 48 Palestinians
injured, including 14 children. After the end of the mandate of the Temporary
International Presence in Hebron, on 31 January 2019, the number of incidents of
settler violence doubled between February and May 2019 compared with the previous
four-month period, while the number of injured remained similar. Several incidents
__________________
56 See e.g. A/HRC/37/43, para. 21; see also Yesh Din, “Landowners from Burka petitioned the High
Court of Justice to allow them to access their land where the settlement of Homesh was located ”,
18 April 2019; and Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, “A violent gang of young settlers haunts a
Palestinian village”, Haaretz, 21 February 2019.
57 In April 2019, Yesh Din filed a petition to ensure access for landowners, see Yesh Din,
“Landowners from Burka petitioned the High Court of Justice ”.
58 Yotam Berger, “Education Ministry gave millions to NGO that funds illegal outpost ”, Haaretz,
21 March 2019.
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occurred in the presence of Israeli security forces, at times with their direct
participation, or were followed by an operation conducted by the security forces. The
use of pepper spray by settlers continued at the increased level reported in 2018
(A/HRC/40/42, para. 29). Although settler violence has been a serious long -standing
issue in the H2 zone (A/71/355, paras. 46–49, and A/HRC/40/42, para. 29), the recent
increase in the number of incidents is of concern and could be related to the reduced
international presence in the zone. The end of the mandate of the Temporary
International Presence in Hebron led to the removal of over 60 inte rnational monitors
from the zone after more than 20 years. Moreover, the operations of the three non -
governmental organizations providing protective presence in the zone have been
hampered by settler violence and restrictions imposed by Israeli security fo rces
throughout the reporting period.
Settler violence in the presence of Israeli security forces
55. On 12 February 2019, two settlers and four Israeli soldiers entered a Palestinian
family’s house adjacent to the Abraham Avino settlement. According t o the father, the
settlers threatened to kill his children and to take over the house. On the following
days, 25 settlers reportedly shouted death threats at the family from the adjacent
settlement, and Israeli soldiers arrested a 14 -year-old boy of the family for alleged
stone throwing. Israeli security forces interrogated him without the presence of a
lawyer or parent, and he was released two days later. The boy reported that he had
been handcuffed and blindfolded in a military base for six hours without water or
food. This case exemplifies a number of human rights violations that make up the
coercive environment that households experience in the H2 zone.
56. On 20 April 2019, between 20 and 30 settlers, accompanied by 2 soldiers, threw
stones at a house in the Tall al-Rumaydah neighbourhood, adjacent to the Ramat
Yishay settlement. When the residents, including children, gathered at the house
entrance, a soldier threw a stun grenade among them. Shortly after, a settler sprayed
pepper spray into the eyes of a 35-year-old woman from a short distance. Israeli
soldiers did not interfere. The woman had to be treated in hospital.
57. The above-mentioned cases raise serious concern that the Israeli security forces
failed to protect the Palestinian population again st all acts of violence or threats, as
required by the obligations of the occupying Power. Moreover, in some cases, Israeli
security forces appeared to aid settlers in carrying out attacks. Furthermore, as
mentioned in paragraph 50 above, there are serious concerns of failure by the State to
effectively, promptly and independently investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of
settler violence.
Attacks and harassment against human rights defenders
58. Palestinian human rights defenders have been affected by settler violence and
by interference by the Israeli security forces in their attempts to document incidents.
They, and in some cases their family members, have also faced arrests.
59. On 24 December 2018, approximately 30 settlers entered premi ses belonging to
the Palestinian organization Youth against Settlements, with a large contingent of at
least 50 soldiers from the Israeli security forces following them. Witnesses reported
that the settlers hit those inside with batons and sticks and kicke d, punched and bit
them. Many officers of the Israeli security forces reportedly pushed and kicked the
Palestinians. Three Palestinians were admitted to a hospital and four others were
treated for less serious injuries at the location. A complaint was file d with the Israeli
police, but no updates on progress had been reported as at 31 May 2019. There is
serious concern that the Israeli security forces failed in their obligation to protect the
Palestinian population and appeared to participate in a violent a ttack.
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60. International non-governmental organizations providing a protective presence
in the H2 zone were targeted by means of seemingly systematic harassment by a small
number of settler leaders. The harassment included threats, intimidation, physical
attacks and taking photographs and videos at close range, including of identification
documents, with the help of Israeli security forces. Since the withdrawal of the
Temporary International Presence in Hebron, Israeli security forces have arrested five
volunteers of the organizations and banned some of the volunteers from entering the
H2 zone for 15 to 30 days. For example, on 2 May 2019, Israeli soldiers detained for
five hours a volunteer of the International Solidarity Movement, which provides
protective presence, for taking a photograph. OHCHR documented several other
instances of Israeli security forces restricting the movement of members of such
organizations by declaring areas around schools as closed military zones and refusing
entry through checkpoints.
Access for emergency services
61. The Secretary-General has previously reported on Israeli security forces
delaying access for ambulances at checkpoints ( A/71/355, para. 57), and the High
Commissioner for Human Rights has reported on a series of settler attacks on
ambulances in the H2 zone (A/HRC/40/42, para. 43). During the reporting period, the
Palestine Red Crescent Society reported three incidents o f settler attacks against their
ambulances in the H2 zone, in the presence of Israeli security forces. For example,
on 18 November 2018, an ambulance of the Society was attacked near the Avraham
Avinu settlement by 15 to 20 settlers who smashed the rear wi ndows with stones.
Israeli soldiers near the scene did not intervene to stop the attack, and they forced the
ambulance to turn back, claiming that they could not ensure its security. The pattern
of attacks on Palestinian ambulances, in particular in the pr esence of Israeli security
forces, raises concerns of failure by the occupying Power to respect its obligations
under international humanitarian law to ensure medical services and allow medical
personnel to carry out their duties.
62. Moreover, in some instances, Israeli security forces failed to guarantee access
for emergency services at checkpoints in the H2 zone ( A/71/355, para. 57, and
A/HRC/40/42, paras. 42–43). The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported nine
incidents of Israeli security forces seriously delaying ambulances, for a period of
between 15 and 90 minutes, and three incidents of the security forces preventing
access. Palestinian ambulances are r equired to have coordinated in advance with the
Israeli District Civil Liaison Office, through the International Committee of the Red
Cross, for access to restricted areas near settlements in the H2 zone. Considering the
process for access clearance, any d elay of coordinated emergency services by Israeli
security forces at checkpoints raises serious concerns of a violation of the right to
health and failure to ensure medical services to the population under occupation. 59
63. On 5 March 2019, three children d ied from their injuries as a result of Israeli
security forces delaying access for the firefighters and the ambulance. A fire broke
out in the Salaymah neighbourhood in the H2 zone, in a house where three children
between 1 and 5 years old were sleeping. T he ambulance that intervened, usually
stationed within the zone, had been denied entry the day before and was therefore
delayed. Israeli security forces further delayed the ambulance for 24 minutes and the
firefighters for at least 20 minutes at Givat Havo t checkpoint. A firefighting vehicle
was dispatched on an alternative, longer route, where Israeli security forces delayed
the vehicle for two minutes. The deliberate limitation by Israeli security forces of
access for Palestinian ambulances and firefighte rs to the area may amount to a
violation of the rights to health and life.
__________________
59 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 56.
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Impact on children and the right to education
64. There were 29 incidents involving the use of tear gas or stun grenades by Israeli
security forces against schools in the H2 zon e in the reporting period.60 The Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the use of tear gas in or
near schools increased by 45 per cent and the number of injured schoolchildren by
138 per cent in the four months following the remo val of the Temporary International
Presence in Hebron compared with the previous four months.
65. On 13 September 2018, the Israeli security forces raided Al -Khalil Elementary
School, using tear gas canisters and stun grenades in the schoolyard and attempt ing
to arrest children for allegedly throwing stones at their elements. Some 30 boys
suffered tear gas inhalation. In two similar incidents at the same school, on 17 and
20 September 2018, 10 boys and 1 teacher were exposed to tear gas inhalation and
were consequently admitted to a hospital.
66. On 4 and 5 December 2018, in two separate incidents, dozens of Israeli soldiers
fired tear gas and stun grenades near Al -Hajiriyah Primary School for Boys and
briefly arrested six students between 9 and 12 years old . Israeli security forces
interrogated the children individually at a nearby checkpoint for a few hours, accusing
them of throwing stones, without their parents or lawyers present. The children were
released without charges.
67. On 16 April 2019, a large group of Israeli security forces launched dozens of
tear gas canisters near three schools. At least two canisters landed inside the Dhu
Nurayn Primary School for Girls and Al -Hajiriyah Primary School for Boys. School
staff kept hundreds of children inside t he three schools for two hours during the
incident. A total of 50 girls between 7 and 10 years old and 80 boys between 12 and
15 years old were treated for tear gas inhalation. Schoolchildren were panicked, and
several vomited after inhaling tear gas.
68. The recurrent use by Israeli security forces of crowd control means against
children inside and near schools close to settlements is of grave concern. Pursuant to
the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,
law enforcement officials shall, as far as possible, apply non -violent means before
resorting to the use of force, which may be used only if other means remain ineffective
or are without promise of achieving the intended result. All the above -mentioned
cases raise serious concerns of unwarranted use of force and violations of the right to
physical and mental integrity. Furthermore, in accordance with article 37 (b) of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, children must be detained only as a last resort
and for the shortest time possible.
Possible excessive use of force by Israeli security forces
69. Israeli security forces killed three Palestinians in the H2 zone during the
reporting period, all of them near settlements. In all cases, the Israel Defense Forces
alleged that the killings were in response to Palestinian stabbing attacks against
soldiers. On 12 March 2019, for example, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian
man in the Wadi al-Husayn neighbourhood, outside a house occupied by settlers,
alleging that he was trying to carry out a stabbing attack. The man was working,
delivering notices on behalf of the Palestinian magistrates ’ court when, according to
witnesses, he was called to the entrance of the building by the soldiers. While no
witnesses saw the actual killing, there was no indication that the victim posed an
immediate threat. The case therefore raises concerns of possible excessive use of force.
__________________
60 Data from the education cluster of the United Nations country team.
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V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
70. On 25 March 2019, the Presid ent of the United States of America proclaimed
that the country “recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel ”.61
Some members of the Security Council and other States expressed regret about or
condemned the announcement. Some States ra ised concerns about the broader
consequences of recognizing illegal annexation, including the possible impact on the
region (see S/PV.8493). The Secretary-General reaffirms the continuing validity of
Security Council resolution 497 (1981), by which the Council decided that the Israeli
decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian
Golan Heights was null and void and without international legal effect.
71. Soon after the announcement of the United States, an Israeli media outlet
reported on a government plan to expand settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
and to increase the settler population in the area to 250,000 by 2048. The plan
reportedly envisions the construction of 30,000 new housing units and two new
settlements.62 At present, almost 50,000 people live in the occupied Syrian Golan,
about half of whom are Israeli settlers living in 34 illegal settlements. The Syrian
population of nearly 27,000 lives in five villages that form approximately 5 per cent
of the territory of the occupied Syrian Golan. Moreover, they face significant
discriminatory building restrictions imposed by Israel, which leads to strained
infrastructure and overcrowded conditions.
72. A local human rights organization from the occupied Syrian Golan recently
raised concerns about plans by a renewable energy company for a wind energy project
that would involve the building of numerous wind turbin es on rented farmland
available to the Syrian Arab population. 63 The project is reportedly being considered
for approval by the Government of Israel, and the energy produced by the project
would be sold exclusively to the Israel Electric Corporation. 64
73. On 30 October 2018, for the first time, the Government of Israel held municipal
elections in the occupied Syrian Golan, following a petition to the High Court of
Justice of Israel by a group of Syrian Druze residents of the occupied Syrian Golan
demanding that elections be held in place of the long -standing practice of the
Government of directly appointing municipal officials in their communities. Syrian
residents were given the right to vote, but only those holding Israeli nationality were
eligible to run for office. The elections created some controversy, with protests
involving hundreds of residents of Majdal Shams held on polling day. Protesters were
reportedly dispersed by the police, including with tear gas. 65 A local human rights
organization reported that the elections had been almost entirely rejected by the
Syrian population and raised questions about their legality under international law. 66
__________________
61 “Proclamation on recognizing the Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel ”, 25 March 2019.
62 Al-Marsad – The Arab Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights, “Al-Marsad rejects new
illegal settlement plan for the occupied Syrian Golan ”, 3 April 2019.
63 Al-Marsad – The Arab Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights, “Al-Marsad, ACRI and
Bimkom host community meeting on wind farm project ”, 14 May 2019.
64 Aaron Southlea and Nazeh Brik, “Windfall: the exploitation of wind energy in the occupied
Syrian Golan”, Al-Marsad – The Arab Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights, Janu ary
2019, p. 12.
65 Stephen Farrell and Suleiman al -Khalidi, “Druze on Golan Heights protest against Israeli
municipal election”, Reuters, 30 October 2018; and Reuters, Jack Khoury and Noa Shpigel,
“Hundreds of Druze protest municipal elections in Israel ’s Golan Heights”, Haaretz, 30 October
2018.
66 Al-Marsad – The Arab Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights, “More shadows than
lights: local elections in the occupied Syrian Golan ”, 20 April 2019.
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VI. Conclusions and recommendations
74. The establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan amount to the transfer by
Israel of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, which is
prohibited under international humanitarian law,67 as consistently confirmed by
the competent United Nations organs, including the International Court of
Justice, the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights
Council.
75. Plans for further housing units in settlements increased or accelerated, as
did the announcement of tenders and the rate of construction starts of settlement
housing. Incidents of settler violence continued at a high level, while injuries to
Palestinians and the severity of attacks increased, confirming an upward trend
since 2016, without decisive action by Israeli authorities to protect the
Palestinian population in accordance with their obligations as the occupying
Power. Cases in which Israeli security forces appeared to have used force against
the protected population instead of protecting it are of utmost c oncern.
76. Settlements expose Palestinian communities to violence, with further
adverse effects on their rights, including the rights to life, freedom of movement,
privacy, family life, an adequate standard of living, work and education.
77. Forced evictions resulting from demolitions in the context of a
discriminatory planning regime are a key factor in the creation of a coercive
environment. They have a negative impact on a wide range of human rights and
increase the risk of forcible transfer (A/HRC/34/39, paras. 40–57).
78. The Secretary-General recalls Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in
which the Council decided that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction
and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and
without international legal effect.
79. On the basis of the present report, the Secretary-General recommends that
Israel:
(a) Immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in compliance with
relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334
(2016);
(b) Review planning laws and policies to ensure that they are compliant
with the obligations of Israel under international human rights and
humanitarian law;
(c) Immediately halt demolitions and forced evictions and cease any
activity that would further contribute to the creation of a coercive environment
and/or lead to a risk of forcible transfer;
(d) Take all measures to ensure the protection of the Palestinians and their
property from settler violence in the Occupied Palestinia n Territory, including
East Jerusalem;
(e) Ensure that violence by settlers and Israeli security forces against
Palestinians and their property is investigated, that perpetrators are prosecuted
and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and t hat victims are
__________________
67 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49, sixth paragraph.
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provided with effective remedies, including adequate compensation, in
accordance with international standards;
(f) Immediately cease and reverse all settlement development and related
activities in the occupied Syrian Golan, in compliance with relevant United
Nations resolutions;
(g) Immediately remove all mines and minefields in the occupied Syrian
Golan, which pose a risk to the local population.
United Nations A/75/376
General Assembly
Distr.: General
1 October 2020
Original: English
20-12868 (E) 151020
*2012868*
Seventy-fifth session
Agenda item 53
Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General*
Summary
The present report, prepared pur suant to General Assembly resolution 74/88,
provides an update on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, from 1 June 2019 to 31 Ma y
2020, and highlights their impact on human rights.
* The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to include the most recent
information.
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2/18 20-12868
I. Introduction
1. The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 74/88,
provides an update on the implementation of the resolution from 1 June 2019 to
31 May 2020. It is based on monitoring and other i nformation-gathering activities
conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and on informa tion provided by
other United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territo ry and by
non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The report should be read in conjunction
with recent related reports of the Secretary -General and of the High Commissioner
submitted to the Assembly and to the Human Rights Council. 1 The quarterly reports
of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the implementation of resolution
2334 (2016) concerning the same period2 also provide relevant information.
2. The report contains an update on settl ement advancement and its impact on
human rights, in which, in particular, demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and
Bethlehem are examined. It also contains an update o n Israeli settlements in the
occupied Syrian Golan.
3. During the period under review, Israeli settlement activities increased in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 20 April 2020, the parties to the
new coalition Government of Israel agre ed on terms under which the Prime Minister
could put forward a proposal to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.3 Demolitions
of Palestinian property and forced evictions increased and settler violence continued
at the high levels of the previous reportin g period, including during the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and largely with impunity. These developme nts
exacerbated the coercive environment described in previous reports of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
II. Legal background
4. International human rights law and international humanitarian law are
concurrently applicable in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely, Gaza and the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This includes the de jure applicability of the
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
(Fourth Geneva Convention), which is binding upon Israel as the occupying Power.
A detailed analysis of the legal framework applicable in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan can be found in previous reports of the
Secretary-General.4
III. Activities related to settlements
5. During the reporting period, there was an increase in settlement plan
advancements and tenders, in particular in East Jerus alem and surrounding areas. The
announcement of the “Peace to prosperity: a vision to improve the lives of the
Palestinian and Israeli people” by the Government of the United States of America,
on 28 January 2020, was followed by calls from members of the Government of Israel
to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. The demolition of Palestinian structures in
__________________
1 A/74/357, A/74/468, A/HRC/43/67, A/HRC/43/21 and A/HRC/43/70.
2 See S/PV.8557, S/2019/938, and S/2020/263. See also https://unsco.unmissions.org/securitycouncil-
briefings-0.
3 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_23_april_2020.pdf.
4 A/HRC/34/38 and A/HRC/34/39.
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the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, increased by 19 per cent as compared
with the previous reporting period and has continued at slightly low er levels since the
COVID-19 outbreak. Settler violence continued at high levels, resulting in significant
property damage, in particular during the COVID-19 outbreak. In the majority of
incidents of settler violence monitored by OHCHR, as described below, Israeli
security forces failed to protect the Palestinian population, and for most incidents
there was no accountability for violence perpetrated in those incidents.
A. Settlement expansion
Land designation, planning and tenders
6. Advancement of plans for settlement construction further increased by 7 per
cent in the reporting period from the already high level of the previous reporting
period, with plans for some 11,700 housing units in the West Bank advanced or
approved by the Israeli authorities.5 Of those units, 10,400 will be located in Area C,
including about 4,400 which had reached the final stages of approval by 31 May 2020.
In East Jerusalem, plans were advanced for some 1,500 housing units, about 900 of
which had reached the final stage of approval as at 31 May 2020.6 The Government
of Israel further announced intentions to advance t housands of units in East
Jerusalem, including in the E1 and E2 areas, which, if constructed, would sever the
contiguity of the West Bank, including East Jeru salem (see sect. IV).
7. Israeli authorities issued tenders for 1,700 units in Area C settlements , compared
with 2,400 during the previous reporting period. In East Jerusalem, tenders were
announced for 1,500 housing units.7
8. Official data on settlement construction starts in Area C indicate a decrease from
2,395 units in the previous reporting period to 1,301 units.
9. On 1 December 2019, the Minister of Defence of Israel instructed the Israeli
Civil Administration to advance planning procedures for a new settlement in the
wholesale market in the H2 zone in Hebron. 8
10. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, seven new outposts were established
during the reporting period,9 compared with 11 in the previous.10 Previously, between
2007 and 2017, an average of 1.7 outposts were established per year. 11 All the new
outposts are agricultural, which h as a greater impact on surrounding Palestinian
communities as they take over large swathes of land and divert water. 12 The Secretary-
General recalls that settlement activities by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, are v iolations of international humanitarian law.
Although outposts are also considered illegal under Israeli domestic law, Israeli
authorities continued to encourage an d facilitate the establishment of certain outposts
through the provision of services and incentives. For example, on 24 February 2020,
the Prime Minister of Israel reportedly ordered that 12 outposts be connected to the
__________________
5 Compared with 10,900 in the previous reporting period.
6 Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
7 In East Jerusalem, the first tender in more than two years was issued for 600 units in the previous
reporting period.
8 A/HRC/43/67, para. 16, and S/2019/938, para. 5.
9 Peace Now, on file: Maskiot South, Nili East, Makhrur outpost, Kedar East (“Mitzpeh Yehuda”),
Neriya Ben Pazi’s farm, Amihai South, Hallamish East.
10 A/74/357, para. 10.
11 A/HRC/43/67, para. 10.
12 A/HRC/40/42, para. 39.
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Israeli electrical grid.13 Israeli authorities demolished structures or prevented
construction in at least six outposts, but non e was fully dismantled.14
B. Consolidation of settlements
11. Following the announcement of the United States “Peace to prosperity” vision,
the Prime Minister of Israel stated that “Israel will apply its laws to the Jordan Valley,
to all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and to other areas that the [United
States Government’s] plan designates as part of Israel and which the United States
has agreed to recognize as part of Israel.”15 He later clarified that such a step would
take place only once a joint United States-Israeli mapping committee agreed on
specific areas of the West Bank over which Israel would apply its sovereignty. 16 The
committee’s work was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. The Government
of Israel announced that it would advance large-scale plans in the areas which appear
to be allocated to Israel according to the map included in the vision (see sect. IV
below). Other notable advancements in January and February 2020 included the plan
announced to declare 7 new nature reserves in Area C and to expand 12 existing
reserves, for the first time since the 1990s 17 and the early advancement of a large new
industrial park south of Qalqilyah .18
12. On 20 April 2020, the new coalition Government of Israel agreed on terms under
which the Prime Minister could put forward a proposal to annex parts of the occupied
West Bank for Government or Knesset approval. 19 On 22 April 2020, the President of
the State of Palestine stated that he would regard agreements with Israel and the
United States as “completely cancelled” if Israel moved forward with such steps. 20
On 19 May, he announced that the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Liberation
Organization were absolved “of all the agreements and understandings with the
American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these
understandings and agreements, including the security ones.” 21 The following day,
Palestinian officials formally no tified Israeli counterparts of the termination of
security coordination.
13. If implemented, annexation of any part of the West Bank would constitute a
most serious violation of international law, including the Charter of the United
Nations.22 It would also severely impede the exercise by the Palestinian people of its
right to self-determination, and be a major obstacle to the achievement of the two -
State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. 23 Such a step would
__________________
13 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-netanyahu-authorizes-west-bank-outpostsconnection-
to-electrical-grid-1.8569266.
14 See unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_30_march_2020_2334.pdf and S/2019/938.
15 See www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-prime-ministernetanyahu-
state-israel-joint-statements/.
16 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_24_february_2020_0.pdf .
17 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_21_january_2020.pdf.
18 See https://peacenow.org.il/en/1739-settlement-units-promoted-eli-settlement-housing-legalizednew-
industrial-park.
19 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_23_april_2020.pdf.
20 See www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/pompeo-annexation-occupied-west-bank-ultimatelyisrael-
200422163510199.html.
21 S/2020/555, para. 40.
22 S/2020/596, annex I; and S/2020/555, para. 54.
23 Security Council resolution 2334 (2016).
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entrench the establishment of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, which has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant
violation under international law.24
Hebron
14. On 23 December 2019, the Jerusalem District Court confirmed after appeal the
eviction of the Israeli settlers who have occupied the Palestinian -owned “Al Bakri”
house in Tall al-Rumaydah, Hebron, since 2001. After 14 years of legal proceedings,
the Jerusalem Magistrate Court had ruled on 12 March 2019 that the Bakri family
owned the property and that the settlers had acted in bad faith by using f orged
documents to claim ownership, and ordered them to evacuate the property within 45
days.25 Israeli authorities had previously ordered the settlers to evacuate in 2006, 2008
and 2012, without result. The latest court decision had not been implemented b y the
end of the reporting period.
15. On 12 May 2020, the Ministry of Defence of Israel assumed municipal planning
authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron f rom the
Palestinian Hebron municipality, on the stated grounds that th e site should be made
accessible to persons with disabilities with the construction of an elevator. 26 The order
allowed 60 days for objections.
Regularization of outposts
16. According to Peace Now, four outposts were regularized under Israeli law
through the approval of plans that retroactively included the outposts 27 as
neighbourhoods of existing settlements. 28 Plans to similarly regularize the outposts of
Mevo'ot Yericho, Jericho Governorate, and Haroeh Ha'ivri, near the Palestinian
Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar/Abu al-Helu, east of Jerusalem, were
deposited in February and March 2020 respectively.
C. Impact of settlements on human rights
Settlement-related violence
17. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, incidents
of settler violence continued at a high level, with 337 incidents recorded during the
reporting period,29 compared with 357 in the previous. Killings of and injuries to
Palestinians and the severity of attacks decreased slig htly. No Palestinians were killed
by settlers, while a 17-year-old Israeli girl was killed by Palestinians at the Ein Bubin
spring in the West Bank in an attack in which her father and brother were severely
injured.30 The number of Palestinians injured 31 by settlers decreased from 133 in the
previous reporting period to 116, with no injuries from live ammunition reported.
Twenty-one Israelis were injured by Palestinians, compared with 37 in the previous
__________________
24 Ibid.
25 CS 12278-02-14, available in Hebrew at http://peacenow.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/
03/Bakri_eviction_verdict_120319.pdf .
26 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_20_may_2020_0.pdf and www.jpost.com/israel-news/plans-to-make-cave-of-patriarchswheelchair-
accessible-move-forward-627778.
27 Brosh, Givat Sal’it, Ibei Hanahal and Haresha.
28 Peace Now, on file.
29 Only incidents resulting in injuries or property damage are included.
30 Compared with four Palestinians and five Israelis killed in the previous reporting period.
31 Injured: i.e., people physically hurt and treated at a medical facility or on site by paramedic
personnel. See www.ochaopt.org/page/settler-related-violence.
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6/18 20-12868
reporting period. Incidents of property damage by sett lers slightly increased to 266,
with 8,591 trees vandalized.32 Attempts by settlers to enter and /or attack Palestinian
communities continued to cause friction between Israeli security forces and
Palestinians. Israeli security forces killed 1 Palestinian and injured 230 in such
contexts.33
18. Nablus Governorate continued to account for the largest part (27 per cent) of
settler violence incidents, while 50 per cent of the injuries due to settler violence were
recorded in Hebron Governorate.34 The United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights has reported on how repeated and apparently organized settler
violence, coupled with other coercive factors, has forced several Palestinian families
to leave their homes in those areas.35
19. A series of settler attacks was recorded in the H2 zone in Hebron during a Jewish
religious celebration, on 22 and 23 November 2019. In all incidents, Israeli security
forces were present but did not take action to protect Palestinians. On 22 November
2019, in wadi al-Husayn neighbourhood, a group of around 50 settlers beat (including
with batons) and pepper-sprayed members of an extended Palestinian family outside
a shop. Six men and one woman were injured, one of them seriously. On 23 Nov ember
2019, three settler attacks took p lace in the restricted area of Tall al-Rumaydah. In
one incident, a large group of settlers threw stones and bottles at the house of a local
human rights defender. One stone entered through a window and struck a 1-year-old
boy in the head, causing injury. Israeli security forces denied entry of an ambulance
to Tall al-Rumaydah. After soldiers outside the house had failed to contain the settlers
for 20 minutes, six Palestinian men and women carried the boy to a checkpo int, and
were pepper-sprayed by settlers on the way. The boy was treated in a hospital. The
same day, in the same area, another group of settlers entered a building where two
Palestinian women (one of whom was pregnant) and their five children, aged betwee n
two days and eight years old, were pre sent. In an agitated state, the settlers threw
empty bottles onto the doors and stairway, causing damage to the property. Owing to
a sudden movement, one of the women, who had recently given birth, started bleeding
after her surgical stitches opened. Israe li security forces prevented the ambulance
from entering Tall al-Rumaydah, forcing two paramedics to cross the checkpoint on
foot to treat the woman. Approximately two hours later, a group of four to five settlers
entered a shop nearby. One of them pepper-sprayed five young Palestinian males,
including a 16-year-old boy in a wheelchair.36 Two soldiers stationed nearby stopped
and spoke to the settlers after the attack, but let them leave without taking any action.
20. On 15 December 2019, a group of six settlers threw stones at three Palestinian
women and a four-year-old girl who were sitting in the yard of their house in Madama
village, adjacent to Yitzhar settlement, Nablus Governorate. As they fled into the
house, two of the women were hit with stones and one of them – at the time five
months pregnant – fell twice. She reported that she was later treated in the hospital
for an injury to her shoulder and for medical examination of possible complications
related to the pregnancy. Another 20 settlers gathered and smashed three windows
with iron pipes and threw one stone into the house, befo re a group of Palestinians
approached the house, prompting the settlers to leave. Fearing further attacks, the
family relocated for more than two months.
__________________
32 Compared with 246 incidents and over 8,300 trees vandalized in the previous reporting period.
33 During the previous reporting period, Israeli security forces killed 4 Palestinians and injured 295
in such circumstances.
34 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. See www.ochaopt.org/page/settler-relatedviolence.
35 A/HRC/43/67, paras. 46–59.
36 Two were treated on the spot and three were briefly treated in the hospital for burns.
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21. The cases illustrate that Palestinian women are particularly targeted by settler
violence in their homes during the day, when men are usually absent. Furthermore,
pregnant women and women who have recently given birth may suffer a dditional
injury or other consequences from such attacks.
22. Settlers also attacked Palestinians and their property follo wing Israeli security
forces law enforcement measures against settlers, leaving messages suggesting that
those attacks were acts of retribution. A series of incidents resulting in damage to
Palestinian property marked with graffiti conveying threats or hat e speech37 occurred
following demolitions in the outpost of Kumi Ori, near Yitzhar settlement, in Nablus
Governorate, on 15 January 20 20.38 On 24 January 2020, a mosque in Sharafat
neighbourhood, East Jerusalem, was partially burned by three masked men who left
the following graffiti on the mosque: “You demolish for Jews, Kumi Ori demolishes
for the enemies”. On 28 January 2020, unknown a ssailants set fire to a classroom of
the Aynabus school, Nablus Governorate. Graffiti at the site read “You are
demolishing homes? That is only for enemies! Regards from Kumi Ori.” At least eight
attacks of this type took place from 24 October to 19 Decemb er 2019 in Nablus,
Qalqilyah and Salfit Governorates, with over 70 vehicles and other property of
Palestinians damaged and marked with similar messages, following the imposition of
a closed military area in Kumi Ori, in October 2019, which barred settlers from
entering the area.
23. As in previous years, settler violence peaked during the olive harvest and the
spring months. In 2019, in conjunction with severe restrictions imposed by Israeli
authorities on access to land for Palestinians seeking to harvest , the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 60 incidents of settler violence against
farmers across the West Bank, with 45 per cent of them in Nablus Governorate. 39 The
attacks resulted in 10 Palestinians injured, damage to over 2,700 trees and the theft
of approximately 160 tons of produce.40 Despite significant movement restrictions
imposed by both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities during the COVID -19
pandemic, settler violence increased in the spring of 2020, in particular in t erms of
damage to Palestinian property.
24. The monthly rate of settler violence from March to May 2020 was over 20 per
cent higher than during the same period in 2019. 41 This significant increase is
particularly alarming, as it happened despite the almost total lockdown in the West
Bank during March and April during the COVID-19 outbreak. Amid almost daily
attacks in some areas at the beginning of the outbreak, according to media, Israe li
security forces did not appear to enforce the movement restrictions v is-à-vis settlers
and reportedly accompanied them on several occasions. 42 On 9 April, Israeli security
forces reportedly placed 20 settlers from the so-called “Hilltop Youth”, a group from
outposts and settlements around Nablus, in an improvised quarantine site near
Jericho, after they had been in contact with a confirmed COVID -19 patient. Two of
__________________
37 Such incidents are often referred to as “price tag” attacks by authorities and in media. See
A/HRC/40/42, para. 30.
38 The Israeli security forces have also reported several instances of settlers attacking Israeli
security forces in and around the outpost. See for example www.haaretz.com/israelnews/.
premium-israeli-soldier-wounded-by-west-bank-settlers-throwing-stones-military-says-
1.8010112 and www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-firebombs-hurled-at-border-policevehicle-
in-yitzhar-settlement-1.8715546.
39 See www.ochaopt.org/content/record-yield-reported-2019-olive-harvest.
40 Ibid.
41 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. See www.ochaopt.org/page/settler-relatedviolence.
42 See www.wattan.net/ar/news/304131.html ; www.wattan.net/ar/news/304306.html ;
www.wattan.net/ar/news/304336.html; and www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2020/03/16/
1322491.html (all in Arabic).
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them were reportedly arrested five days later, suspected of having thrown stones and
tear gas canisters at three Palestinians and of setting fire to two cars near t he
quarantine site.43 Human rights organizations also reported cases of settlers spitting
on Palestinians during attacks, causing fear of exposure to COVID -19 and prompting
victims to go into quarantine or self-isolation.44 In several incidents, settlers app eared
to attempt to take over Palestinian land, taking advantage of the restricted movement
of Palestinians owing to the state of emergency. 45 For example, on 6 April, 10 settlers
attempted to install a fence on Palestinian lands in Ash Shuyukh village, Heb ron
Governorate. When the owners arrived, settlers threw stones, used electric tasers and
pepper spray and unleashed dogs. One Palestinian sustained a dog bite to the leg and
others bore bruises. When Israeli security forces arrived, they ordered the Pales tinians
to leave their land, firing tear gas and stun grenades. The Palestinians filed a
complaint to the Israeli police.
25. As the occupying Power, Israel has the obligation to t ake all the measures in its
power to restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and life in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and to protect the Palestinian population against all acts or
threats of violence in all circumstances. 46 All incidents of settler violence must be
promptly, fully and impartially investigated. Is rael also has the obligation to respect,
protect and fulfil the human rights of the Palestinian population, including their rights
to life and security of person; as well as the r ight to health, including during the
COVID-19 pandemic.47
Accountability for settler violence
26. The Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights have on many occasions reported on the prevailing climate of impunity tha t
exists for settlers and those taking over private Palestinian land. 48 In August 2019, the
Ministry of Justice of Israel released a report listing 118 investigations into
allegations of ideologically motivated crimes perpetrated by settlers against
Palestinians and Israeli security forces between January 2017 and June 2019. The
report indicates that investigations resulted in 11 indictments filed, two trials and no
convictions.49 Forty-six cases were still under investigation or prosecution stages.
During that period, 559 incidents of settler attacks against Palestinians were
reported.50
27. During the reporting period, OHCHR followed up on accountability for 11 cases
of settler violence that occurred between 11 July 2018 and 19 October 2019, including
__________________
43 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-settler-youths-flee-military-run-coronavirusquarantine-
steal-army-tents-1.8770302 and www.btselem.org/press_releases/20200423_violent
_attacks_by_settlers_spike_in_april.
44 See www.btselem.org/press_releases/20200423_violent_attacks_by_settlers_spike_in_april .
45 On 5 March 2020, the Palestinian President proclaimed by presidential decree a state of
emergency in the State of Palestine valid for one month owing to the outbreak of COVID -19. The
state of emergency was later prolonged and valid as at the end of the reporting period. Severe
restrictions on movement and assembly have been implemented during most of the state of
emergency.
46 Hague Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 1907 (Hague Regulations), arts. 43
and 46; and Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27.
47 A/HRC/34/38, paras. 13, 36 and 37.
48 A/74/357, para. 27; A/70/351, para. 23; A/HRC/25/38, paras. 42–47; A/HRC/43/67, paras. 26–29;
A/HRC/31/43, para. 37; and A/HRC/34/39, para. 18.
49 A/HRC/43/67, para. 27; report availa ble in English at https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/
files.yesh-din.org/Law+enforcement+settlers+official+reports/Moj+report+om+Law+
Enforcement+in+the+West+Bank++-+28.8.19.pdf.
50 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, see A/HRC/43/67, para. 27.
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the killing of three Palestinians, which were reported on in the previous reports of the
Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 51
28. Concerning the killings, the OHCHR review revealed that one suspect was
arrested and indicted in one case, while no perpetrator has been held accountable in
the other two cases. Thus, one settler was indicted for the manslaughter of a
Palestinian woman on 12 October 2018, near Nablus. 52 In May 2019, he was however
released to house arrest, and on 2 May 2020, he was permitted to return to the
settlement in the West Bank where he had been living, despite objections by the State
prosecutor that he presented a danger to the public. 53 The trial has not advanced since
the indictment.54 Concerning the killing of a man by settlers in Mughayyir, Ramallah
Governorate, on 26 January 2019,55 witnesses were interviewed and the police
collected evidence, including video footage, in February 2019. The family of the
victim has since received no updates on the investigation and no arrests were reported.
In another case, on 3 April 2019, two settlers shot and killed a 23-year-old Palestinian
man south of Nablus, after he had thrown stones at Israeli vehicles, and injured
another.56 The man’s family reported that they did not file a complaint because Israeli
security forces had publicly stated that the man had attacked the settlers. The man
who was injured in the same incident filed a complaint, but had not received any
information on the investigation as at the end of the reporting period. In May 2020,
in response to a request by a member of the Knesset, the Israeli State Attorney
reportedly stated that the killing was lawful, according to the findings of the police. 57
29. In the other eight cases which OHCHR reviewed where violence resulted in
injuries or property damage, no perpetrators were held accountable. In four of the
cases, the victims either submitted no complaints or withdr ew them, reporting that
they had received threats or feared reprisals from settlers, that numerous complaints
that they had previously filed about settler violence had not led to an investigation,
or that they lacked trust in, and knowledge of, the Israeli legal system. In one case
where a complaint was submitted, the settler (an off-duty soldier) was suspended from
the Israeli security forces and arrested on 4 June 2019 on suspicion of setting fire to
Palestinian property on 17 May 2019, which had been captured on video footage. 58
However, no indictment was reported, according to available information. In the other
four cases in which complaints were submitted, no steps t o investigate had been
reported to the victims as at the end of the reporting period, even though the incidents
had taken place up to two years ago (see para. 27). The Palestine Red Crescent Society
reported that it had not received any information about i nvestigations following its
complaints to the Israeli police about four 59 settler attacks against their ambulances
in Hebron from July to November 2018.60 The NGO Youth Against Settlements,
which filed a complaint about an incident of settler violence during which Palestinians
were injured on 24 December 2018,61 had received no information. It reported two
new incidents of settler violence, in April and May 2020.
__________________
51 A/74/357, paras. 22, 45, 46, 49, 56, 59 and 61, and A/HRC/43/67, paras. 20, 22, 24 and 58.
52 A/74/357, para. 45.
53 Ibid. See also www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-suspected-killer-of-palestinian-womancan-
go-back-to-settlement-home-court-rules-1.8815179.
54 In January 2020, the Ministry of Defence of Israel denied the woman’s husband compensation
for an “act of hostility” because she did not have Is raeli citizenship or a residence permit.
55 A/74/357, para. 22.
56 A/74/357, para. 46.
57 See www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/436210 (in Hebrew).
58 A/74/357, para. 49.
59 The four incidents are counted as one case for the purpose of the present review.
60 A/74/357, para. 61 and A/HRC/40/42, para. 43.
61 A/74/357, para. 59.
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30. With regard to incidents of settler violence which occurred during the reporting
period, some victims reported they had not filed complaints to the Israeli police for
reasons similar to those mentioned above. For example, on 22 November 2019, four
adult settlers kicked, slapped and pepper-sprayed a 10-year-old boy in the street in
wadi al-Husayn neighbourhood in the H2 zone of Hebron. A soldier stationed at a
nearby checkpoint took no action. The boy was treated in a hospital for burns from
the pepper spray and bruises and was discharged the same day. The family reported
they had not submitted a complaint for fear of reprisals from the settlers and because
of failure by the police to investigate their numerous previous complaints about settler
violence.
31. The Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din reported that 75 per cent of
victims did not file a complaint in 28 settler violence incidents 62 that it had monitored
during the olive harvest in 2019. In most cases, the reason g iven was loss of trust in
the law enforcement system.63 Yesh Din reported that, in the 308 investigation files
that it had monitored between 2014 and 2019, the rate of indictment decreased to 4
per cent from 2017 to 2019, compared with an overall rate of 9 per cent from 2014 to
2019.64
32. In a significant development, on 18 May 2020, a settler was convicted for
murder, attempted murder and additional charges for the arson attack that killed a
Palestinian family (two adults and a toddler) in 2015. No sente nce has yet been
handed down in the case, including in respect of another settler convicted in the case
in October 2019 for “conspiracy to commit a crime motivated by a racist motive”,
following a plea deal.65
33. Deficiencies in the justice system to hol d settlers accountable for violence
against Palestinians include: the application of different legal systems to settlers and
Palestinians;66 the persistent and prevailing lack of thorough and impartial
investigations;67 the very low rate of indictments and convictions reported between
2017 and 2019; frequently delayed processes; and lenient charges. Fewer complaints
are submitted by Palestinians owing to distrust in the Israeli legal system and fear of
reprisals. While efforts have been made by the Israeli authorities in recent years to
prevent, investigate and prosecute particular incidents of settler violence, overall,
these deficiencies sustain a climate of impunity for settler violence, encouraging
attacks to continue.
Demolitions, forced evictions and displacement
34. Demolitions and forced evictions as referred to below entail numerous human
rights violations, exacerbate th e coercive environment and raise concerns about the
risk of forcible transfer. They also continue to raise concern about complia nce with
the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law that are binding on the
occupying Power, including the prohib ition of the destruction of property and
institutions dedicated to education.68
35. During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished 606 structures in the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing 778 people (194 women, 182 men,
__________________
62 Including violence resulting in property damage.
63 See www.yesh-din.org/en/reaping-with-sorrow-a-summary-of-the-2019-olive-harvest/.
64 See https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.yesh-din.org/ /דצמבר+ +2019 דף+נתונים+חוק/אנגלית
Law+Enforcement+Data+Sheet+12.2019+ENG.pdf .
65 A/HRC/43/67, para. 27.
66 A/HRC/43/67, para. 29, and A/68/513, para. 12.
67 A/HRC/40/42, para. 55; A/71/355, para. 50; A/HRC/34/38, para. 38; and A/HRC/37/43, para. 23.
68 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. Hague Regulations, arts. 46 and 56 (see A/HRC/34/38, paras. 21
and 33).
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177 girls and 225 boys).69 In the previous reporting period, 511 structures were
demolished, displacing 641 people. The majority of the demolitions took place in
Area C (427 demolished structures, displacing 465 people), and the most affected
areas were East Jerusalem (122), Hebron Governorate (126), Jordan Valley (110) and
Bethlehem (110). Demolitions more than tripled during Ramadan in 2020 as
compared with 2019.70
36. Demolitions and confiscations continued during the COVID -19 pandemic at
only a slightly lower monthly rate than in the previous period, 71 leaving Palestinians
without adequate housing, medical facilities and access to water, thereby seriously
increasing the risk of COVID-19 infection in the West Bank. On 26 March 2020, in
Ibziq village, Jordan Valley, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished one
residential structure (displacing two persons), and dismantled and confiscated eight
tents and equipment (including a water tank, a generator and spraying devices) on the
grounds of lack of a building permit. Some tents were assigned as clinical facilities.
37. Military Order No. 1797 came into effect in July 2019, authorizing the Israeli
Civil Administration to remove new structures built without a permit 72 in Area C
within 96 hours.73 The order can be applied to residential structures only if they have
been inhabited for less than 30 days.74 It has been used to demolish 47 structures since
it came into effect.75 The order has further limited opportunities for legal recourse, 76
and only one appeal against demolition under the order has been successful.
38. Israeli authorities demolished three school-related structures77 during the
reporting period, which affected 181 students and teachers, while 51 schools (43 in
Area C and 8 in East Jerusalem) were under “stop work” or demolition orders as at
31 May 2020.78 On 16 January 2020, in Hebron, in the Birin herding community,
Israeli security forces demolished the foundations for new school premises intended
to serve 60 students.79 The demolition order was based on Military Order No. 1797
and delivered to the school representatives 96 hours before demolition.
Impact of settlements on Palestinian communities at risk of forcible transfer
39. The publicly stated intention of the Government of Israel to relocate thousands
of Palestinians residing in Area C remains a key concern and contributes to a coercive
environment.80 Some 18 communities in and around East Jerusalem are at particular
risk of forced eviction, including the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar/Abu
al-Helu.81 The Israeli Government’s stated intention to move ahead with annexation
of parts of the occupied West Bank increases that risk.
__________________
69 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
70 Ibid.
71 A monthly average of 43 demolitions during COVID-19 compared with 51 for the entire
reporting period.
72 See www.ochaopt.org/poc/17-30-march-2020.
73 A/74/357, para. 37.
74 Ibid.
75 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
76 A/74/357, para. 37.
77 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
78 Data from the education cluster of the United Nations country team.
79 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
80 A/HRC/34/39, para. 44; A/72/564, paras. 36–57.
81 A/73/410, para. 22; A/74/357, para. 36; A/HRC/37/43, para. 25; and A/HRC/43/67, para. 33.
A/75/376
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IV. Settlement expansion, demolitions and evictions in East
Jerusalem and Bethlehem
40. In the weeks leading up to the March 2020 Israeli election, and following the
publication of the United States “Peace to prosperity” vision , the Government of
Israel advanced or announced its intention to advance thousands of settlement housing
units in and around East Jerusalem. If construction is realized, these plans would
further consolidate the ring of settlements around East Jerusalem, severing it from the
rest of the West Bank. This would further restrict the freedom of movement of
Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, negatively impa ct other rights, increase the risk
of forcible transfer for nearby Palestinian communities and seriously impede the
exercise by the Palestinian people of the right to self -determination and undermine
the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian State.
A. Settlements plans around East Jerusalem
41. On 9 February 2020, a plan to create a new large settlement of 9,000 units in the
area of the former Qalandiya/Atar ut airport, north of Jerusalem, was advanced and in
the early stages of approval.82 The construction would disrupt the contiguity of
territory between East Jerusalem and the Ramallah area.
42. On 24 February 2020, tenders were announced for 1,077 housing units in a new
settlement in Giv‘at Hamatos, in the southern part of East Jerusalem.83 Publication of
the tenders, initially scheduled for 3 May, has been delayed to an unknown date as at
the end of the reporting period. The Prime Minister of Israel also announced his
intention to advance the expansion of the ne arby Har Homa settlement, with 2,200
housing units.84 Such construction would further consolidate the ring of settlements
along the southern perimeter of Jerusalem, separating the Palestinian areas of the city
from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.
43. On 25 February 2020, the Prime Minist er of Israel further announced that the
Government would advance plans for the construction of over 3,400 housing units in
the 12 km2 area known as E1, adjacent to Ma‘aleh Adumim settlement, between East
Jerusalem and Jericho.85 Two plans for E1 settlement were deposited for objections
in early March 2020.86 Construction in the E1 area would effectively cut the West
Bank into two parts. On 9 March 2020, the Minister of Defence of Israel advanced a
plan for a so-called “sovereignty road”, between the southern and northern, West
Bank for Palestinians. The road would bypass the Ma‘ale Adumim settlement and
areas around it, effectively preventing Palestinians from entering E1. The Minister
stated that its construction would enable settlement construction in E1.
44. On 6 May 2020, the Minister of Defence of Israel announced his intention to
advance some 7,000 housing units south of Bethlehem, in the area known as E2, as
__________________
82 See https://peacenow.org.il/en/plan-advanced-for-a-new-settlement-in-atarot-in-the-heart-ofpalestinian-
east-jerusalem.
83 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_30_march_2020_2334.pdf. According to Ir Amim, the tenders had not been published for
bidding as at the end of the reporting period.
84 According to Ir Amim, the master plan and a detailed outline plan for Har Homa were discussed
in March 2020, but not yet approved by the Jerusalem planning and building comm ittee.
85 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_30_march_2020_2334.pdf and https://peacenow.org.il/en/netanyahu-promotes-the-constructionin-
e1#inbox/_blank.
86 Ir Amim, on file, and https://peacenow.org.il/en/road-allow-e1-construction-is-being-promoted.
A/75/376
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part of the Efrat settlement.87 Israel declared the area State land in 2004 and allocated
it for settlement development in December 2018.88 If constructed, it threatens to carve
up the West Bank89 and fragment its southern part.
B. Demolitions and evictions paving the way for settlement expansion
45. In East Jerusalem, demolitions and seizure decr eased, but continued at the high
levels seen since 2016, with 122 demolitions that displaced 249 people. 90 These
included 52 self-demolitions,91 which have increased since 2018, likely owing to more
severe fines and charges imposed by Israeli municipal autho rities92 and the
amendment to the Planning and Building Law enabling expedited demolitions.93
46. In Bethlehem Governorate,94 demolitions and seizure reached the highest levels
since the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began systematicall y
recording demolitions in 2009, with 110 structures demolished and 130 people
displaced in the reporting period, compared with the yearly average of 26 demolitions
for 2010–2018.95
47. The recent demolitions took place near areas of Bethlehem and East Jer usalem
where the expansion of the settlements ring around East Jerusalem had been
announced or advanced.96
Self-demolition in East Jerusalem
48. Multiple Palestinians in East Jerusalem were forced t o carry out selfdemolitions,
as it is almost impossible for them to obtain building permits, owing to
the discriminatory Israeli zoning and planning regime 97 and the imposition of large
fines and charges. The amendment to the Planning and Building Law ena cted in 2017,
which applied to all structures as of Oct ober 2019, limits the possibility to freeze
demolition orders to one year, and only in exceptional circumstances, making the
retroactive legalization of construction more difficult. The amendment furth er limits
legal recourses against demolitions, reinforc ing the discriminatory zoning and
planning regime.98
__________________
87 See https://peacenow.org.il/en/bennett-announces-intention-to-build-new-settlement-in-e2.
88 A/74/357, para. 8.
89 A/70/351, para. 19.
90 This includes only areas of East Jerusalem located in Jerusalem Govern orate and excludes areas
located in Bethlehem Governorate. During the previous reporting period, 197 demolitions
occurred, displacing 253 people. From 2009 to 2016, an average of 76 demolitions were
conducted annually and the trend subsequently increased.
91 Compared with 52 in the previous reporting period (see A/74/357, para. 31).
92 A/74/357, para. 31.
93 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, www.ochaopt.org/content/new-legislationimpedes-
challenges-demolitions-and-seizures-west-bank and Humanitarian Bulletin: occupied
Palestinian territory, September 2019, p. 5.
94 Including areas in East Jerusalem located in Bethlehem Governorate.
95 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. See www.ochaopt.org/data/demolitio n.
96 The most affected communities and neighbour hoods were Jabal al-Mukabbir (45 demolitions),
Za‘atarah (20), Bayt Hanina (19), Sur Bahir (16), Walajah (16), Khidr (12), Bayt Jala (12),
Nahalin (12), Isawiyah (12) and Silwan (12), all located near area s where such expansion is
taking place.
97 A/HRC/34/38, para. 26.
98 A/HRC/43/67, para. 32.
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49. On 9 June 2019, a woman demolished her house in Sur Bahir, East Jerusalem, 99
to avoid paying hefty fines and charges. A demolition order had been issued in 2012
and frozen until April 2019, when it wa s confirmed in court, giving the woman 45
days to demolish her house on the grounds of lack of a building permit. The
demolition led to the displacement of the woman and her six children (including five
minors), exacerbating their economic difficulties as the family depends on widow
allowances. The demolition also placed them at higher risk of prevalent
discriminatory social practices against women and female-headed households.
50. On 1 February 2020, a family (four adults and three children) in Jabal
al-Mukabbir neighbourhood was forced to demolish their house, built on their private
land. Following the family’s appeal of a demolition order issued seven years earlier,
the Jerusalem Municipal Court confirmed the demolition in February 2019, issuing a
fine of 35,000 new shekels (approximately $10,000) and ordering the family to obtain
a building permit before 27 December 2019, which they were denied. The family
reported being informed that the Municipality would charge 100,000 new shekels
(approximately $29,000) for the demolition, mainly to pay for protection by Israeli
security forces. The house lay directly above the planned route of a n underground
tunnel, which is part of the eastern ring road that would connect several settlements
in East Jerusalem and its periphery.
Evictions under the Absentee Property Law and on the basis of ownership prior
to 1948
51. Two of the main laws that have been used as grounds for evicting Palestinians
from their properties in East Jerusalem in favour of settler organizat ions are the
Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters Law of 1970. 100
The Absentee Property Law,101 enacted in 1950, allows the confiscation of property
from Palestinians in areas where “the law of the State of Israel applies”, if the own er
of the property fled or otherwise was outside that area after 27 November 1947. 102
Since Israel annexed East Jerusalem, property in East Jerusalem owned by
Palestinians residing outside the city has been determined by Israeli authorities to be
“absentee property” on the basis of claims initiated by settler organizations, and in
some cases transferred or sold to settler organization s.103 Notwithstanding the
illegality of annexation under international law, the Supreme Court of Israel accepted
such confiscations in a decision on 15 April 2015, while stipulating that the law
should be invoked extremely rarely in East Jerusalem, and only with the express
permission of the Attorney General in each case. 104 The Legal and Administrative
Matters Law permits claims for restitution of property in East Jerusalem owned by
Jewish persons before 1948, but not for Palestinian claims of ownership in West
Jerusalem before 1948. It is estimated that hundreds of properties have been taken
over by settlers in East Jerusalem since t he 1980s under the two laws, as well as
through archaeological or tourism projects and transactions involving Palestinian
property, including fraudulent purchases.105
__________________
99 Most of Sur Bahir is located within an area unilaterally annexed by Israel as part of the Israeli
Jerusalem municipality. Other parts are located in Areas A, B and C of the West Bank, but the
Barrier encloses them to the Jerusalem side of the Barrier. See www.ochaopt.org/content/threatdemolitions-
east-jerusalem.
100 A/70/351, paras. 30 and 31.
101 Informal English translation available at www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/Public/files/
Discriminatory-Laws-Database/English/04-Absentees-Property-Law-1950.pdf.
102 A/70/351, paras. 30–31.
103 Ibid. See also https://law.acri.org.il//pdf/unsafe-space-en.pdf, p. 35.
104 CA 2250/06 Custodian of Absentees’ Property and others. v Daqaq Nuha and ot hers.
105 A/70/351, paras. 29–36 and 49–51; A/HRC/34/39, para. 46.
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52. On 10 July 2019, the Israeli authorities evicted a Palestinian family (one woman
and four children) in Wadi Hulwah in Silwan, East Jerusalem. Two days before the
eviction, the High Court of Justice rejected the fa mily’s request for leave to appeal.
Since the early 1990s, the settler organization Elad had attempted to take over the
property through four law suits, three of which were dismissed by the Jerusalem
District Court as being partially based on f orged documents.106 In 2009, the District
Court determined that two persons owning one fourth of the property should be
considered “absentees” under the Absentee Property Law because they resided
outside East Jerusalem. The evicted woman is the daughter of one of the p ersons
considered an “absentee”. The Custodian of Absentees’ Property then sold the
so-called absentee property to Elad. During the legal procedures, Elad reportedly
bought another 50 per cent of the property from owners living abroad, who likely
would have been considered “absentees” if they had not sold the property, meaning
that they would have received no compensation.
53. Nearly 100 families comprising around 700 Palestinians residing near the Old
City of East Jerusalem, in Silwan, have been undergoin g similar legal processes. On
30 September 2002, the Custodian of Absentee Property released the land where the
families live to the Benvenisti Trust, the administration of which was taken over the
same year by the settler organization Ateret Cohanim, on t he basis of the assertion
that it owned the properties before 1948.107 On 21 November 2018, the Supreme Court
of Israel denied a petition by the families against the release of the land to the settler
organization. In January and February 2020, the Jerusale m Magistrate Court issued
three decisions ordering the eviction of nine of the households (more than 45 persons).
The decisions have been appealed, while another 22 eviction cases are pending.
54. Under international humanitarian law, private property in o ccupied territory
must be respected and cannot be confiscated by the occupying Power. 108 The
application of the Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters
Law in East Jerusalem is seemingly inconsistent with this obligation. International
humanitarian law also requires the occupying Power to respect, unless absolutely
prevented, the laws in force in the country. 109 Furthermore in practice, the measures
taken by Israel facilitate the transfer by the occupying Power of its population into
parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The transfer of parts of an occupying
Power’s civilian population into the territory that i t occupies is prohibited under
international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime. 110 In addition,
confiscations under the Laws are carried out solely on the basis of the nationality or
origin of the owner, rendering them inherently discriminatory.
55. Approximately 200 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem, comprising 877
persons, including 391 children, face similar risks of forced eviction due to cases filed
in Israeli courts, primarily by Israeli settler organizations.111 Forced evictions
frequently violate the rights to adequate housing and to privacy and other human
rights. They are a key factor in a coercive environment that may lead to forcible
transfer, which is prohibited by the Fourth Gene va Convention and a grave breach of
the Convention.112
__________________
106 Jerusalem District Court cases HC 325/96, TA 1185/96 and TA 1544-09.
107 See https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-court-ruled-to-evict-another-8-families-in-batan-al-hawasilwan.
108 Hague Regulations, art. 46.
109 Hague Regulations, art. 43; and Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 64.
110 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49 (6). See also Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, art. 8 (2) (b) (viii).
111 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as at January 2019.
112 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49 and 147; A/74/357, paras. 35 and 77; and A/HRC/34/39,
para. 46, and the relevant footnotes.
A/75/376
16/18 20-12868
Demolition immediately followed by establishment of an outpost
56. An extended family of five adults and two children was subjected to two
demolitions in the Makhrur area of Bethlehem near Har Gillo settlement. On
26 August 2019, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished the family’s restaurant
and residence in their private property in Area C, owing to the lack of a building
permit, under orders from 2005 and 2010. The following day, settlers started
establishing an agricultural outpost without a permit a few hundred metres from the
demolished structures. The outpost remained there as at the end of the reporting
period. Following the demolition, five members of the family lived in a tent suppl ied
by humanitarian organizations, on the site of their property. On 4 March 2020, the
Israeli Civil Administration confiscated the tent and razed the grounds where the
demolition had taken place. This occurred at the beginning of the COVID -19
outbreak, putting the family at further risk of contracting the dis ease, without shelter
and access to water.
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
57. After the President of the United States announced, in April 2019, that he
recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan, plans to further
expand Israeli settlements have continued. This included the Government decision,
in June 2019, to establish a settlement called “Trump Heights”. 113 Several States
condemned the United States announcement a nd the consequences of recognizing
illegal annexation. The Secretary-General reaffirmed the validity of Security Council
resolution 497 (1981), in which the Council decided that the Israeli decision to impose
its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan was null and
void and without international legal effect.
58. A human rights organization from the occupied Syrian Golan 114 continued to
raise serious concerns about the impact on Syrian villages, in particular, Majdal
Shams and Masadah, of a renewable energy project implemented by an Israeli energy
company, involving the construction of wind turbines. It stated that the project would
involve building 31 wind turbines on land owned by Syrian farmers and would
severely affect their human rights, restrict access to their farming lands and their
ability to expand their already limited built -up areas and endanger wildlife. In January
2020, the Israeli National Infrastructure Committee a pproved the construction of 25
wind turbines. Syrian inhabitants in the area are facing a severe housing crisis, which
the project would further exacerbate. Moreover, the areas where they live constitute
only 5 per cent of the overall area of the occupied Syrian Golan, while 95 per cent of
the territory is unavailable as it is being used by the Israeli military and over 34 illegal
Israeli settlements.
__________________
113 See https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2019/Pages/Government -approves-establishment-of-new-
Golan-Heights-community-Ramat-Trump-16-June-2019.aspx.
114 See https://golan-marsad.org/as-syrians-commemorate-yet-another-year-of-occupation-israeltightens-
it-grip-on-the-golan/.
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VI. Conclusions and recommendations
59. The establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian G olan amount to the transfer by Israel
of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, which is prohibited under
international humanitarian law,115 as consistently confirmed by the competent United
Nations organs, including the International Co urt of Justice, the General Assembly,
the Security Council and the Human Rights Council.
60. The stated intention of the Government of Israel to annex parts of the occupied
West Bank, if implemented, would constitute a most serious violation of internation al
law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and would have no legal validity. It
would be a major obstacle to the achievement of the two -State solution and threaten
efforts to advance regional peace and our broader efforts to maintain internationa l
peace and security.
61. During the reporting period, advancements of new and existing settlements
increased, as did the number of tenders announced , while the rate of settlement
housing construction starts decreased. The plans for settlements in East Jerusalem and
surrounding areas, including in E1, are of particular concern as they would isolate
East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and threaten to fragment the contiguit y
of the West Bank.
62. Settlements have significant adverse effects on Pal estinians’ rights, including
their rights to life, freedom of movement, privacy, family life, an adequate standard
of living, work and education and on the exercise of their right to self-determination.
63. Settler violence remained high in the reporting p eriod, continuing an overall
upward trend since 2016. Israel largely failed to uphold its obligation as the occupying
Power to ensure, as far as possible, public order and life and protect the Palestinian
population against all acts or threats of violence. A large number of incidents occurred
in the same locations,116 suggesting that much of the violence emanates from specific
groups of settlers. While efforts have been made by the I sraeli authorities in recent
years to prevent, investigate and prosecute particular incidents of settler violence,
overall, a climate of impunity continued to prevail owing to persisting deficiencies in
the justice system to hold settlers accountable for v iolence against Palestinians and
damage to their property.
64. Forced evictions resulting from demolitions in the circumstances prevailing in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a key factor in the creation of a coercive
environment. They have a negative impact on a wide range of human rights and
increase the risk of forcible transfer.117 The transfer of property pursuant to the
application of the Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters
Law in East Jerusalem also facilitates the tr ansfer of its population into the occupied
territory, in violation of internat ional humanitarian law.
65. The Secretary-General recalls Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in which
the Council decided that the decision of Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and
administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and without
international legal effect.
__________________
115 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49 (6).
116 A/HRC/28/44, para. 49; A/71/355, paras. 18 and 46; and A/72/564, paras. 19–22.
117 A/HRC/34/39, paras. 40–57.
A/75/376
18/18 20-12868
66. On the basis of the present report, the Secretary-General recommends that
Israel:
(a) Immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in th e
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in compliance with
relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334
(2016), and halt any planned steps towards annexation of any part of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, in compliance with the principle of
inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.
(b) Review the application of planning laws and policies, as well as the
Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters Law, to
ensure that they are in accordance with the obligations of Israel under
international humanitarian law and international human rights law;
(c) Immediately halt demolitions and forced evictions and cease any
activity that would further contribute to a coercive environment and/or lead to
a risk of forcible transfer;
(d) Take all measures to ensure the protection of Palestinians an d their
property from settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, incl uding
East Jerusalem, including through the issuance and enforcement of clear orders
to the Israeli Security Forces to protect the Palestinian population;
(e) Ensure that all incidents of settler and Israeli Security Forces’ violence
against Palestinians and damage to their property be systematically investigated,
that perpetrators be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate
sanctions, and that victims be provided with effective remedies, including
adequate compensation, in accordance with international standards;
(f) Immediately cease and reverse all settlement development and related
activities in the occupied Syrian Golan, and end discriminatory land, housin g
and development policies, in compliance with relevant United Nations
resolutions;
(g) Immediately remove all mines and minefields in the occupied Syrian
Golan, which pose a risk to the local population.
United Nations A/76/336
General Assembly
Distr.: General
23 September 2021
Original: English
21-13474 (E) 081021
*2113474*
Seventy-sixth session
Agenda item 55
Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the
rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the
occupied territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General*
Summary
The present report, prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/97,
provides an update on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, from 1 June 2020 to 31 May
2021, and highlights their impact on human rights.
* The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent
information.
A/76/336
2/19 21-13474
I. Introduction
1. The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/97,
provides an update on the implementation of the resolution from 1 June 2020 to
31 May 2021. It is based on direct monitoring cond ucted by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and on information provided by other United Nations entities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The
report should be read in conjunction with recent related reports of the Secretary -
General and of the High Commissioner submitted to the Assembly and to the Human
Rights Council.1 The quarterly reports of the Secretary-General to the Security
Council on the implementation of resolution 2334 (2016) concerning the same period2
also provide relevant information.
2. The report contains an update on settlement advancement and its impact on the
human rights of Palestinian people. Section IV focuses in particular on the combined
impact of Israeli-declared military firing zones and settler outpost activities near
Palestinian communities. It also contains an update on Israeli settlements in the
occupied Syrian Golan.
3. During the reporting period, Israeli settlement activities continued in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan.
Demolitions of Palestinian property and settler violence reached the highest level s
since the United Nations began systematic recording. 3 In most settler violence
incidents monitored, Israeli security forces failed to protect the Palestinian
population, and in many cases used force against Palestinians. Widespread impunity
for this violence remained a serious concern. These developments further exacerbated
the coercive environment in many Palestinian communities described in previous
reports and increased the risk of forcible transfer. 4
II. Legal background
4. International human rights law and international humanitarian law are
concurrently applicable in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely, Gaza and the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan. This includes
the application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), which is binding upon Israel as
the occupying Power. A detailed analysis of the legal framework applicable in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syri an Golan can be found in
previous reports of the Secretary-General.5
__________________
1 A/HRC/46/65, A/HRC/46/63, A/HRC/46/22, A/75/376 and A/75/336.
2 See Security Council briefings, available at https://unsco.unmissions.org/security-council-briefings-0.
3 According to data extracted from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs databases
systematically recording demolitions and settler violence incidents since 2009 and 2017
respectively.
4 A/HRC/46/22, para. 4; A/75/376, para. 26; A/HRC/34/38, para. 48; and A/HRC/40/43, para. 14.
5 A/HRC/34/38 and A/HRC/34/39.
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III. Activities related to settlements
A. Settlement expansion
Land designation, planning and tenders
5. Advancement of plans for settlement construction slowed, with plans for some
6,800 housing units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, advanced or
approved by the Israeli authorities, compared with 11,700 housing units in the West
Bank and 1,500 in East Jerusalem during the previous reporting period. This inclu ded
6,200 units in Area C and 600 in East Jerusalem. Of them, about 2,700 in Area C and
540 in East Jerusalem had reached the final stages of approval by 31 May 2021. 6
6. Israeli authorities issued tenders for 1,900 units in Area C settlements and 200
in East Jerusalem, compared with 1,700 and 1,500, respectively, during the previous
reporting period.
7. Official data on settlement construction starts in Area C indicates an increase
from 1,301 units in the previous reporting period to 1,506 7 units.
8. On 17 and 18 January, Israeli authorities advanced plans for some 800 housing
units and tendered some 1,900 units in Area C settlements, many deep inside the West
Bank. On 20 January, winning bids for tenders for some 1,200 units in Giv ‘at Hamatos
were announced.8 On 20 May, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved
with conditions9 the Har Homa E plan for 540 housing units in occupied East
Jerusalem. These plans, if further advanced, would isolate occupied East Jerusalem
from the rest of the West Bank and significantly undermine the possibility of a
contiguous Palestinian State.10
9. Settlers established 12 new outposts, 11 continuing a decade-long trend of
increase.12 Nine of them were agricultural farms, which have a devastating impact on
surrounding Palestinian communities. 13 On 3 May, settlers re-established and rapidly
built “Evyatar” outpost on lands of Palestinian villages of Bayta, Qabalan and Yatma.
By 31 May it included some 40 structures housing over 200 settlers. 14
10. On 4 September, the Israeli Civil Administration issued expropriation orders for
two archaeological sites on privately owned Palestinian property in Dayr Sim‘an and
Dayr Qal‘ah.15 Under international humanitarian law, private property must be
__________________
6 Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
7 Ibid.
8 See Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, statement during a
Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, 25 March 2021. Available at
https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -_25_march_2021_2334.pdf.
9 Ir Amim, “Tender published for infrastructure works on Givat Hamatos and approval of Har
Homa E plan issued in the public record”, 1 June 2021 (available at https://mailchi.mp/iramim/
tender-published-for-infrastructure-works-on-givat-hamatos-approval-of-har-homa-e-planissued-
in-the-public-record?e=f7e1245427) and “District Committee conditionally approves Har
Homa E plan for 540 HU”, 5 May 2021.
10 Ibid.; and S/2021/584.
11 Peace Now, on file.
12 A/75/376, para. 10.
13 Sect. IV below; A/75/376, para. 10; and A/HRC/40/42, para. 39.
14 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-in-just-a-month-illegal-settler-outpost-sprouts-upon-
palestinian-lands-1.9882850.
15 See https://alt-arch.org/en/expropriation-orders-west-bank.
A/76/336
4/19 21-13474
respected and cannot be confiscated, unless the seizure is required by imperative
military necessity.16 All seizure of historic monuments is prohibited. 17
11. The Secretary-General recalls that the establishment and expansion of
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, have no
legal validity and are flagrant violations of international law. Outposts are also
considered illegal under Israeli domestic law. 18
B. Consolidation of settlements
12. Despite an agreement within the governing coalition in Israel to present to the
Knesset a proposal to annex parts of the occupied West Bank starting 1 July, on
13 August, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United St ates of America jointly
announced that “Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty” over the West Bank, as
part of the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates. 19
13. In November, the Knesset “Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria” recommended
the possibility of renewing the settlement of land titles in the West Bank. 20 Settlement
of titles constitutes an irreversible act of sovereignty by a permanent regime, and so
subverts the principle that occupation is inherently temporary. 21 In occupied East
Jerusalem, land registration procedures began in the Umm Harun section of Shaykh
Jarrah. Palestinian families concerned were not notified, thus seriously undermining
their ability to legally defend their property rights.22
Legislative developments, including regularization of outposts
14. On 9 June, the Israeli High Court of Justice struck down as unconstitutional a
2017 law enabling the wide-scale expropriation of private Palestinian land and the
retroactive regularization, under Israeli law, of thous ands of housing units in
settlements and unauthorized outposts. The Court ruled that the law violated the rights
of Palestinians in the West Bank to property and equality. 23 Despite this decision,
serious concerns remain in relation to existing alternative legal mechanisms available
to retroactively legalize, under Israeli law, outposts and unauthorized structures in
settlements.24
15. On 29 November, the High Court of Justice legalized the declaration as State
land of 224 dunums in the settlement of Kokhav Ya‘aqov, built on private and
__________________
16 Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 1907 (Hague Regulations), art. 46. See also
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “Rule 40: respect for cultural property”, and
“Rule 51: public and private property in occupied territory”, Customary International Humanitarian
Law database. Available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1.
17 Hague Regulations, art. 56.
18 Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Summary of the opinion conce rning unauthorized outposts ”,
Talya Sason, advocate, 10 March 2005; and A/72/564, para. 62.
19 See https://il.usembassy.gov/joint-statement-of-the-united-states-the-state-of-israel-and-theunited-
arab-emirates.
20 See Shlomy Zachary, “Renewing settlement of title in Area C in the West Bank: a breach of
international law and violation o f Palestinians’ rights”, April 2021. Available at https://s3-euwest-
1.amazonaws.com/files.yesh-din.org/Renewing+settlement+of+title+report+2021/
Renewing+settlement+of+title_ENG.pdf.
21 Hague Regulations, arts. 43 and 55.
22 See https://mailchi.mp/ir-amim/in-a-first-since-1967-israel-underhandedly-initiates-landregistration-
procedures-in-sheikh-jarrah-to-advance-jewish-settlement?e=5dfcd834de.
23 Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, statement during a
Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, 24 June 2020. Available at
https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -_24_june_2020_2334_0.pdf.
24 A/HRC/46/65, paras. 16 and 17; and www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-gantz-nissenkorntell-
staff-to-find-way-to-legalize-buildings-on-palestinian-land-1.8917013.
A/76/336
21-13474 5/19
traditional village lands of the Palestinian town of Ka fr Aqab, Ramallah.25 The ruling
may lead to further declarations of State land concerning two outposts and buildings
in more than 20 settlements.26
16. Five plans retroactively regularizing outposts were advanced. On 16 December
and 10 May, the Knesset advanced, in a preliminary vote, bills aimed at legalizing
approximately 65 outposts and mandating that they should be treated as authorized
settlements in the interim, with their residents receiving all municipal services. 27 On
26 August, the High Court of Justice ordered the evacuation of approximately 40
structures in the unauthorized settlement outpost of Mitzpe Kramim. 28 Israeli
authorities demolished structures and dismantled or prevented construction in at least
four outposts.29
C. Impact of settlements on human rights
Settlement-related violence
17. Settler violence against Palestinians intensified, with 430 in cidents of settler
violence resulting in deaths, injury and/or property damage, 30 compared with 337 in
the previous reporting period, continuing the increase since 2017. The severity of the
violence also intensified. Four Palestinians were killed and 145 i njured by settlers,31
including 8 with live ammunition. Two more Palestinians, including a woman, were
killed in circumstances where it was not possible to determine whether the perpetrator
was Israeli security forces or settlers. Two Israelis known or bel ieved to be settlers
were killed and, according to Israeli sources, 99 were injured by Palestinians. 32
Incidents of damage to Palestinian property increased to 327, with 9,477 trees and
199 vehicles vandalized.33
18. Additionally, Israeli security forces intervened with force, which in many cases
monitored by OHCHR may have been unnecessary and/or disproportionate, against
Palestinians in the aftermath of settler attacks or when they demonstrated against
settlement expansion and outposts.34 During this period, settlers killed two
Palestinians, and Israeli security forces killed 23 Palestinians, including six children,
in the context of demonstrations and clashes related to settlement expansion, and
some 6,313 were injured.35
__________________
25 See https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts \17\260\054\
r42&fileName=17054260.R42&type=4 (Hebrew).
26 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-high-court-rejects-petition-against-declaringwest-
bank-area-state-land-1.9338816.
27 Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, statement during a
Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, 21 December 2020 (available at
https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -
_21_december_2020_2334.pdf ); and https://main.knesset.gov.il (Hebrew).
28 See www.jpost.com/israel-news/court-orders-evacuation-of-homes-in-mitzpe-kramim-outpost-
640240.
29 Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. After the end of the
reporting period, on 9 June, Israel declared the area of “Evyatar” a closed military zone and
ordered the outpost evacuated.
30 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
31 Compared with none killed and 116 injured in the previous reporting period.
32 Compared with 1 killed and 21 injured in the previous reporting period. United Nations, Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, based on information provided by Israeli
authorities. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs count s as injured people
treated at a medical facility or on site by paramedic personnel.
33 Compared with 266 incidents, including 8,591 trees vandalized in the previous reporting period.
34 A/76/333, paras. 11 and 12.
35 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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6/19 21-13474
19. As in previous reporting periods, settler violence appeared designed to terrorize
Palestinians and take over land. Severe violence occurred in the vicinity of
settlements and outposts, targeting the homes and livelihoods of rural Palestinians
and intimidating Palestinians from acces sing their land. While consolidating the
presence and expansion of Israeli settlements, settler violence contributed to making
the daily lives of Palestinians in their homes and communities untenable. Systematic
and increasingly severe settler violence con tributes to the creation and worsening of
the coercive environment, which is pressuring Palestinians to stay away from areas
that they have traditionally used for their livelihoods or move from their places of
usual residence.36
20. Settler violence increased during the olive harvest. The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 40 incidents of settler violence against
farmers across the West Bank, with 26 Palestinians injured, including 16 injured by
Israeli security forces intervening following a settler attack.37 At least 1,700 trees
were vandalized and considerable quantities of olives stolen, predominantly in Nablus
and Ramallah Governorates.38 Sixteen incidents took place on agricultural lands in
the vicinity of settlements, which are only accessible to Palestinian landowners and
farmers with prior Israeli security forces coordination. Palestinian farmers also had
difficulties in obtaining Israeli authorization to access their land in restricted areas
behind the Wall. While the enhanced presence of Israeli security forces was a
welcome and positive step, long-standing gaps in the enforcement of the rule of law
on violent settlers remained of major concern.39
21. In December, settler violence surged across the West Bank following the murder
of a settler woman by a Palestinian on 21 December and the death of a 16 -year-old
Israeli boy in a car crash while fleeing Israeli police after allegedly ston ing Palestinian
cars on 22 December. There were 46 incidents of settler violence in December 2020,
compared with 11 in December 2019.40 Continuing well into January, settlers carried
out daily stone-throwing attacks, blockades and demonstrations along Road 60,
attacks on Palestinian vehicles and homes, including armed and violent
confrontations, and Palestinians held at gunpoint. On 17 January, approximately 20
Israeli settlers entered from the direction of Yitzhar settlement to the Palestinian
village of Madama and attacked a house in the outskirts where a woman was at home
with four children including an infant. The group of settlers, with their faces covered,
threw large stones at the 6- and 11-year-old girls in the yard of the house. As the
mother came outside, she was pelted with stones, as was the house, where they
retreated. The 11-year-old girl was hospitalized with injuries to her face, the mother
and the 6-year-old had light injuries and the windows of the house were broken. The
family did not file a complaint, out of fear of losing work permits to Israel. No
information is available regarding any investigation into the attack. Israeli political
and security authorities managed to calm the tension and violence in February
following concerted efforts, which included a meeting of the Central Command chief
of the Israeli security forces and the Head of the Israeli Civil Administration with
settler groups.41
22. There was a further serious surge in ideological and nationalistically motivated
violence starting in April. The threat of significant evictions in Shaykh Jarrah and
__________________
36 A/HRC/43/67, paras. 57 and 58.
37 See www.ochaopt.org/content/2020-olive-harvest-season-low-yield-amidst-access-restrictionsand-
settler-violence#ftn1.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair s.
41 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-in-attempt-to-stem-violence-israeli-army-brassmeet-
with-radical-settlers-1.9560600.
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Silwan for the benefit of settler organizations, Israeli movement restrictions in and
around the Old City of East Jerusalem during Ramadan, and nationalistically
motivated incitement and violence by Palestinians and Israelis contributed to the
rising tension. These confrontations resulted in a serious escalation that spread to
other East Jerusalem neighbourhoods and, in the course of May, to the entire
Occupied Palestinian Territory, triggering the largest escalation between Israel and
Palestinian armed groups in Gaza since 2014, and widespread protests and violence
between the Jewish and Palestinian communities also inside Israel. 42
23. In May, 86 settler violence incidents against Palestinians in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, occurred.43 Two Palestinians were killed by settlers and
another two Palestinians were killed in circumstances where settlers and Israeli
security forces shot live ammunition towards Palestin ians simultaneously. Another 35
Palestinians, including three children, were injured by settlers, five of them with live
ammunition. In the same period, there was one Israeli settler killed, and ten, including
one child, injured by Palestinians.44 On 3 May, a Palestinian killed an Israeli man and
injured two others in a drive-by shooting attack at Za‘tarah checkpoint, south of
Nablus.
24. On 14 May, Israeli settlers reportedly arriving from Hagai settlement
overlooking Rihiyah village, south of Hebron, set fire to 500 dunums of cultivated
land. As the Palestinian landowners ran to the location, a group of armed settlers shot
a 26-year-old Palestinian man in the head with live ammunition. The man fell, injured,
and, according to eyewitnesses, was subsequently beaten by the settlers, who also
fired live ammunition towards other Palestinians who attempted to approach. When
Israeli security forces arrived, they used tear gas, rubber-coated metal bullets and live
ammunition to disperse the Palestinians, but did no t apprehend any of the settlers. An
ambulance evacuated the injured man to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Israeli security forces had not opened an investigation into the killing as at 31 May. 45
On 16 May, a dozen Israelis believed to be settlers, of whom at least five carrying
firearms, drove in four vehicles around Bayt Hanina and Shu’fat neighbourhoods in
East Jerusalem. They set up an armed checkpoint and aimed at and fired towards cars
and people passing by. Palestinian youths gathered and thr ew stones towards them.
The settlers fired live ammunition towards the Palestinians and seriously injured two
Palestinian men. Israeli police started investigating, and arrested seven suspects, one
of whom was indicted.
25. As the occupying Power, Israel h as the obligation to take all the measures in its
power to restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and life in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and, in all circumstances, to protect the Palestinian population
against all acts or threats of violence.46 Israel also has the obligation to respect and
ensure the human rights of the Palestinian population, including their rights to life
and security of person.47
__________________
42 See A/76/333.
43 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
44 Ibid.
45 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-two-weeks-on-police-haven-t-begun-probingalleged-
settler-killing-of-palestinian-1.9931965.
46 Hague Regulations, arts. 43 and 46; and Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention), art. 27.
47 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004. See also A/HRC/34/38, paras. 6–9 (with full references).
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Accountability for settler violence
26. The Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights have repeatedly reported on the prevailing climate of impunity with regard to
settler violence and takeover of private Palestinian land. 48 This overall climate persisted,
despite the increased severity of settler violen ce on the one hand, and some reported
steps taken by the Israeli authorities on the other. Of added concern were the monitored
cases in this reporting period where Israeli security forces were witnessed and recorded
attacking Palestinians side by side with the settlers, including with firearms.
27. In the latest available (August 2020) report, the Ministry of Justice of Israel
listed 93 investigations into alleged “ideologically -based offences” by settlers for the
period between January 2019 and July 2020. Two indictments were filed for crimes
committed against Palestinians, including for cases opened in previous years, and five
defendants were convicted, all for incidents that had taken place in 2014 and 2015. 49
The Ministry of Justice did not provide information on the number of complaints
submitted by Palestinians; therefore the number of investigations opened cannot be
compared with the number of complaints. In this same period, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 341 in cidents of settler attacks against
Palestinians, including two killings and 113 injuries. 50
28. In May 2021, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din published its
research into accountability for ideologically motivated offences 51 committed by
Israeli settlers in Palestinian towns and villages in Area B of the West Bank from 2017
to 2020. Of the 63 incidents documented by the organization, mostly alleged property
incidents (41) and stone throwing offences (14). Israeli police had opened
investigations into 38 incidents, and no indictments had been filed. 52
29. In September, Lod District Court sentenced two perpetrators of the Duma arson
attack in 2015, for which they had been convicted in May 2020. 53 On 23 February,
Israeli authorities indicted a 17-year-old Israeli boy accused of throwing stun
grenades into Palestinian homes in Sartah. 54 On 6 September, an Israeli man was
indicted on charges of aggravated assault after he allegedly shot and injured two
Palestinians near Bidya.55 In November, three Israelis, including two children, were
indicted for attacking Palestinians harvesting their olives a month earlier. 56 On
__________________
48 A/74/357, para. 27; A/70/351, para. 23; A/HRC/25/38, paras. 42–47; A/HRC/43/67, paras. 26–29;
A/HRC/31/43, para. 37; and A/HRC/34/39, para. 18.
49 Israel, Ministry of Justice, “Investigation and prosecution of ideologically motivated offences
against Palestinians in the West Bank”, August 2020. Available at https://www.justice.gov.il/
Units/YeutzVehakika/InternationalLaw/MainDocs1/InvestigationandProsecutionofOffencesAgain
stPalestinians.pdf.
50 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
51 Yesh Din, “Settler crime and violence inside Palestinian communities, 2017 –2020”, May 2021,
p. 6. Available at https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.yesh-din.org.
52 Ibid. See also Yesh Din, “Law enforcement on Israeli civilians in the West Bank: Yesh Din
figures 2005–2019” (December 2019). Available at http://din-online.info/per42e.html.
53 A/HRC/46/65, para. 28.
54 Wennesland, statement during a Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East ,
25 March 2021 (see footnote 8). See also www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-17-indicted-for-stungrenade-
attack-on-palestinians-vandalism/.
55 See www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-man-indicted-for-shooting-injuring-2-palestinians-in-westbank-
brawl/.
56 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-settler-two-teens-indicted-for-attackingpalestinian-
olive-farmers-1.9324925.
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29 December, the State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment against two individuals,
one of them a minor, in relation to planning a “pr ice tag” operation.57
30. Regarding fatal settler violence in this period, there was no information publicly
available on any investigation into the killing on 5 January of a 25 -year-old resident
of Bayt Ummar, after reportedly attempting to throw a knife at Israeli security forces
personnel, by a settlement guard in Gush Etzion the killing of a 26 -year-old
Palestinian by a settler in Urif on 14 May, or the killings of a man in Salfit on 14 May
and a 37-year-old woman near Qiryat Arba‘ on 19 May in circumstances where it has
not been possible to ascertain whether the perpetrator was a settler or a member of
the Israeli security forces. Regarding the killing on 5 February of a 32 -year-old
Palestinian man from Ras Karkar, who entered a settlement outpost at night and
reportedly attempted to break into a house, unarmed, and was shot by settlers, an
Israeli security forces spokesperson stated that since the Israeli security forces had
ruled the incident an attempted terror attack, no criminal investigation had been
launched. Reportedly, one of the suspects had previously been indicted for aggravated
assault in September 2020 and had had his gun confiscated in July 2020. 58 Regarding
the Palestinian man killed by settlers in Rihiyah on 14 May, Israeli authorities have
not announced the opening of an investigation and, in response to a question from
media, Israeli Police stated that “no complaint was filed with the police and the details
of the incident as stated are not known to us”. 59
31. Failure to protect Palestinians and deficiencies in the justice system to hold
settlers accountable for violence against Palestinians include: the application of
different legal systems to settlers and Palestinians; 60 the persistent and prevailing lack
of thorough and impartial investigations; 61 the very low rate of indictments and
convictions; frequently delayed processes; and lenient charges. Few complaints were
submitted by Palestinians owing to distrust of the Israeli legal system and fear of
reprisals.62 While efforts have been made by the Israeli autho rities in recent years to
prevent, investigate and prosecute particular incidents of settler violence, overall,
these deficiencies sustain a climate of impunity for settler violence, encouraging
attacks to continue. Additionally, documented cases in this r eporting period, of attacks
against Palestinians by settlers shooting side by side with the Israeli security forces,
add to this climate.
Demolitions, forced evictions and displacement
32. Demolitions and forced evictions as referred to below entail nu merous human
rights violations, exacerbate the coercive environment and raise concerns about the
risk of forcible transfer. They also continue to raise concern about compliance with
international humanitarian law provisions that are binding on the occupyin g Power,
including the prohibition of the destruction of property and institutions dedicated to
education.63
__________________
57 See www.srugim.co.il/?p=521119 (Hebrew). For the definition of “price tag operations”, see
A/HRC/40/42, para. 30.
58 See www.timesofisrael.com/man-said-to-have-shot-infiltrator-dead-already-on-trial-for-shootingpalestinian.
59 See www.972mag.com/ismail-tubasi-settler-violence-west-bank/. See also
www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/ .premium-1.9930536?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_
medium=email&utm_content=author-alert&utm_campaign=%D7%94%D7%92%D7%A8%20%
D7%A9%D7%99%D7%96%D7%A3&utm_term=20210623 -05:54 (Hebrew).
60 A/HRC/43/67, para. 29; and A/68/513, para. 12.
61 A/HRC/40/42, para. 55; A/71/355, para. 50; A/HRC/34/38, para. 38; and A/HRC/37/43, para. 23.
62 A/75/376, para. 33.
63 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49 and 147; and Hague Regulations, arts. 46 and 56. See also
A/HRC/34/38, paras. 21 and 33.
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33. Demolitions and confiscations spiked in the reporting period, despite the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Representing the highest number since
the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs started recording
demolitions,64 Israeli authorities demolished 964 structures in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, displacing 1,241 Palestinians, including 655 children, a nd
affecting another 5,789.65 East Jerusalem (162), and in Area C, Tubas (195) and
Hebron Governorates (192) were most affected. 66 Among the structures demolished
were 216 donor-funded structures provided as humanitarian aid, and – amid the
COVID-19 pandemic – 95 water, sanitation and hygiene for all (WASH) structures.
Five schools received stop-work or demolition orders in Area C and East Jerusalem. 67
34. In occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinians were increasingly being forced to
demolish their own structures following demolition orders, to avoid higher fines and
bearing the costs of the demolition.68 Self-demolitions accounted for 74 demolitions,
compared with 52 in the previous period, displacing 224 Palestinians, including 116
children, in this period.69 In February, the Jerusalem Municipality rejected a master
plan by the Bustan neighbourhood community, submitted as part of ongoing
negotiations to create a housing solution for the residents. 70 The Municipality also
opposed a request with the Local Affair s Court to extend a demolition freeze to 68
homes. In March, the Court decided to grant extensions to 52 demolition cases
pending the planning process with the municipality. In total, 100 inhabited houses in
Bustan neighbourhood, home to 1,550 Palestinians, remained under threat of forced
eviction.
35. In addition, at least 218 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem, comprising
970 persons, including 424 children, are at risk of forced eviction owing to cases filed
in Israeli courts, primarily by Israeli settler organizations.71 From September to
February, Israeli courts ordered the eviction of 13 Palestinian families and upheld
rulings to evict a total of 10 Palestinian families from their homes in Batn al -Hawa,
Silwan, for the benefit of settler organiza tions.72 Appeals are pending either with the
District Court or the Supreme Court. 73 On 10 February and 2 March, the Jerusalem
District Court rejected appeals against evictions from 13 Palestinian households in
Sheikh Jarrah.74 The families’ request for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court
was pending consideration at the end of the reporting period. 75 The threat of evictions
__________________
64 According to data extracted from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs databases
systematically recording demolitions since 2009.
65 Demolished, seized or forced to demolish by owners. United Nations, Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
66 Ibid.
67 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on file: 8 in East Jerusalem and 45 in Area C.
68 A/75/376, para. 48.
69 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
70 Ir Amim, “Reignited plan for ‘King ’s Garden’ park threatens to displace over 1,000 Palestinians
from Al Bustan, Silwan”, 25 March 2021; and Norwegian Refugee Council, on file.
71 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, household survey 2020;
A/75/367, paras. 40–56.
72 See Ir Amim, “Court rules to uphold eviction order of 8 families from Batan al -Hawa”,
24 November 2020; https://peacenow.org.il/en/district-court-rejects-the-appeal-of-8-familiesfrom-
batan-al-hawa-ordering-their-eviction; Ir Amim, “Magistrate Court rules to evict four more
families from Batan al-Hawa, Silwan”, 31 December 2020; and Ir Amim, “Old City Basin watch:
Israeli courts rule to evict 11 Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah and Batan al -Hawa”,
17 February 2021.
73 Leave to appeal to Supreme Court of Israel No. 8694/20 and No. 8858/20.
74 The Ja’uni, Askafi, Al-Kurd and Abu Hasna families and Hamad family. See Peace Now, “The
District Court rejects the appeal of 31 people ordering them to evict their homes in Shiekh Jarrah
in favor of settlers”, 4 March 2021.
75 A/76/333.
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gave rise to significant protests by Palestinians and solidarity movements, counter -
protests and provocations by settlers and significant use of force, including against
entirely peaceful protesters by Israeli security forces in April and May 2021. 76
36. Pursuant to international humanitarian law, private property in occupied
territory must be respected and cannot be confiscated by the occupying Power. 77 The
eviction proceedings in these and other similar cases are based on the application of
two Israeli laws, the Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters
Law, which is seemingly inconsistent with this obligation.78 Therefore, evictions, if
ordered and implemented, would be contrary to the obligations of Israel under
international law.
Palestinian communities at risk of forcible transfer
37. Palestinian communities across Area C, in East Jerusalem and in the H2 zone of
Hebron, remain at risk of forcible transfer as a result of a coercive environment. 79 At
particular risk are Bedouin and herder communities, including 18 communities in and
around East Jerusalem, among them Khan al-Ahmar/Abu al-Helu80 and communities
in the Jordan Valley and those located in lands designated by Israel as closed military
zones, examined below.
IV. Coercive environment: Palestinian herding communities
located between a firing zone and an outpost in Area C
38. Since the 1970s, approximately 18 per cent of the West Bank, nearly 30 per cent
of Area C, has been designated by Israel as closed “military firing zones” for the purpose
of military training.81 Those areas are also home to some 6,200 Palestinians in 38 mostly
Bedouin or herding communities. The communities are among the most vulnerable in
the West Bank and their rights to an adequate standard of living and health, including
water and sanitation, have been gravely restricted. 82 Palestinian presence in the firing
zones is formally prohibited without prior coordination with the Israeli authorities,
which is rarely granted, and Israel prohibits Palestinian residential and infrastructure
construction.83 Residents face restrictions on grazing livestock inside firing zones, and
Israeli authorities frequently carry out demolitions and confiscate Palestinian -owned
property and livestock. During the reporting period, 276 Palestinian -owned structures
in firing zones, including 141 that were donor-funded, were demolished, displacing 500
Palestinians, including 284 children and 108 women. 84
39. In November and February, in the largest single demolition ever recorded by the
United Nations, Israeli authorities demolished or seized a total of 165 structures in
Humsa Al Bqai’a, located in firing zone 903, displacing 311 Palestinians, including
__________________
76 Ibid.
77 Hague Regulations, art. 46.
78 A/75/376, paras. 40–56.
79 A/72/564, paras. 36–58; and A/HRC/34/39, para. 44. Regarding Khan al-Ahmar/Abu al-Helu, see
A/74/357, paras. 12 and 36.
80 A/73/410, para. 22; A/74/357, para. 36; A/HRC/37/43, paras. 24 and 25; and A/HRC/43/67,
para. 33.
81 A/73/410, para. 26, 28, 44, 45; and A/72/564, paras. 41–48.
82 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Palestinian communities
at risk of forcible transfer: the case of eastern Nablus ‘firing zone’”, 9 August 2018.
83 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Noga Kadman, Acting the
Landlord: Israel’s Policy in Area C, the West Bank (Jerusalem, B’Tselem, 2013); and Nir Shalev
and Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, The Prohibited Zone: Israeli Planning Policy in the Palestinian
Villages in Area C (Bimkom, 2008).
84 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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63 women and 179 children. Among the demolished or seized structures, 94 were
donor-funded, including structures that had been provided as humanitarian aid in
response to previous demolitions.85 Homes, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities
and livelihood structures were demolished, and tents, food, water tanks and fodder
for the community’s livestock were confiscated, despite repeated calls by the
international community for such actions to stop in accordance with international
law.86 In February, Israeli authorities confiscated all water tanks, leaving the
community with no drinking water or water for its livestock. Israel claims that the
community settled in the area “illegally” in 2010 long after it was designated a firing
zone in 1972 and that its presence there endangers its members. The community
disputes that claim and states that the village existed on the location prior to the
occupation of the area in 1967. Decade-long petitions and appeals by the community
against the demolitions ended without a final verdict from the High Court of Justice,
after the military commander for the West Bank rejected in October 2020 the
community’s request for the area to be excluded from the firing zone, in an attempt
to legalize the structures. There was no time for any further legal action on behalf of
the community before it was verbally ordered to leave the area in early November
and the demolitions and confiscations were carried out. The community has
repeatedly rejected proposals to be moved to another location, stating its wish to
remain. Such actions by Israel placed the community under extreme pressure to move
and are therefore a key factor in a coercive environment, raising a n imminent risk of
forcible transfer. Forcible transfer is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention
and thus amounts to a war crime.87
40. In some firing zones, such as Masafer Yatta 918, the lives of Palestinians were
further affected during militar y drills and communities were sometimes temporarily
evacuated from their homes. Shelling has taken place near homes and military tanks
have caused damage to Palestinian property, land and crops. 88 For example, from 1 to
3 February, Israeli security forces held a training operation in Jinba in which military
tanks damaged water tanks, electricity cables and solar panels supplying electricity
to a school and a clinic.89 In other firing zones, such as Nablus 904 A, military drills
were not conducted during the reporting period. In fact, almost 80 per cent of the
firing zone land designated for training was not used for such purposes. 90 Palestinians
nevertheless continue to be subjected to the Israeli regulations and policies pertaining
to firing zones, increasing the pressure to move and the risk of forcible transfer. 91
41. The aforementioned communities have also been affected by the settlement
expansion and outposts in their vicinity. Israeli authorities have ratified declarations
of “State land” within the firing zones. The ratifications, by a body known as the Blue
Line team, were performed in order to allocate land for settlement expansion or to
__________________
85 Ibid.; and United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “West Bank
demolitions and displacement: an overview”, February 2021.
86 Ibid.; and United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “United Nations
reiterates its call for demolitions to end and for internatio nal law to be respected”, 5 February 2021;
Lynn Hastings, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, statement on the
demolition at Humsa – Al Bqai’a, 9 July 2021; and Peter Stano, Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy of the European Union, statement on the Israeli demolition of Palestinian
structures, Brussels, 5 November 2020.
87 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49 (1) and 147; and Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, art. 8 (2) (b) (viii).
88 Monitoring by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR). See also Land Research Centre, “Palestinian crops vandalized, people terrified and
houses shacked by Israeli Military Trainings in Masafer Yatta, south east Hebron governorate”,
3 February 2021.
89 Ibid.
90 Kerem Navot, A Locked Garden: Declaration of Closed Areas in the West Bank (2015).
91 See A/72/564, paras. 41 and 47.
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retroactively “legalize” unauthorized outposts and farms. 92 Military documents
obtained by Israeli media from the Israeli security forces during the reporting period
further demonstrate how Israeli soldiers, in a discriminatory practice, have expelled
Palestinian shepherds from the firing zones while allowing settlers to remain and even
build outposts and infrastructure, despite lack of official approval by the Israeli
security forces.93
42. Israel continued to facilitate and provide incentives for illegal outpost activity,
such as agricultural farms, including near and even in firing zones. On 16 December,
Israeli media disclosed that in 2018 and 2019, 1.6 million shekels ($490,000) of
public Israeli State funds had been transferred to the Amana settlement movement for
the development of unauthorized outposts. 94 On 11 February, the former Israeli
Minister of Settlement Affairs stated to Israeli media that in “Area C we aspi re to
apply Israeli sovereignty. The purpose of the agricultural farms is to keep that option
open for us”.95 He noted that the settler farms “are meant to help us keep our finger
on the pulse throughout the area … that Jewish shepherd won’t be able to pre vent
Palestinian construction, but he can report it”. 96
43. The outpost farms are often strategically placed either as extensions of existing
settlements, along key roads and junctures restricting Palestinian access and
movement,97 or along the edges of firing zones often on hilltops, hemming in
Palestinian land.98 The unauthorized farms in the firing zones all have pending
demolition orders against them, but the orders are rarely executed. 99 Some
unauthorized outposts have infrastructure services, includi ng water and electricity.100
Documented cases of discriminatory law enforcement between the Palestinian
communities and settler farms in the firing zones suggest that Israel is enforcing the
firing zones as a means of taking over Palesti nian land for the benefit of settlement
expansion and that the settler farms further facili tate that aim.101
44. The outposts are also a source of settler violence and intimidation of Palestinians.
Cases monitored by OHCHR in the firing zones included physical violence, shooti ng
with live ammunition, torching of fields and livestock, theft and vandalization of
property, trees and crops, stone-throwing and tenacious intimidation of herders and their
families. In several documented cases, Israeli security forces stood idly by and took no
action to prevent the violence; instead, they responded to settler-related violence by
ordering Palestinians to leave the area, including Palestinian -owned land, or even
actively supported the settlers. In addition, Israeli security forces are a f urther source of
tension and violence, including when Palestinians protest against settlement expansion
and new outposts (see para. 49 below).
__________________
92 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. See also A/72/564, para. 47;
and Kerem Navot, Blue and White Make Black: The Blue Line Team in the West Bank (2016).
93 Hagar Shezaf, “Israeli soldiers expel Palestinians while letting settlers stay, military documents
reveal”, Haaretz, 8 February 2021; and Amira Hass, “Analysis: six lies about Israel ’s wild West
settlement outposts”, Haaretz, 15 February 2021.
94 Hagar Shezaf, “Israeli settler group funneled half a million dollars in public money to illegal
settlements”, Haaretz, 16 December 2020.
95 Oded Shalom and Elisha Ben-Kimon, “The Hague price”, Ynet News, 11 February 2021.
Available at www.yediot.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5885532,00.html.
96 Ibid.
97 Kerem Navot and B’Tselem, This Is Ours – And This, Too: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West
Bank (2021).
98 Hass, “Analysis: six lies about Isra el’s wild West settlement outposts”.
99 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Kerem Navot, on file.
100 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Palestinian communities
at risk of forcible transfer: the case of eastern Nablus ‘firing zone’”.
101 Shezaf, “Israeli soldiers expel Palestinians while letting settlers stay”; and Hass, “Analysis: six
lies about Israel’s wild West settlement outposts”.
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A. Case study: firing zone 904 A and its vicinity
45. Firing zone 904 A in Nablus Governorate covers some 14,0 00 dunums with a
population of 310 Palestinians in four communities, all considered at risk of forcible
transfer.102 Israeli authorities have demolished 515 structures in the communities
since the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began re cording
demolitions in 2009. Several Palestinian families have left since Israel declared the
area a firing zone in 1967. For example, after all its residents were displaced, Ad
Dawa community no longer exists.103 A total of 10 settler outposts are located inside
and along the boundaries of the firing zone, with at least 755 dunums of land inside
the firing zone being used for agricultural purposes. 104 While Israel prohibits
Palestinian residential and infrastructure construction, settlers have constructed di rt
roads across the firing zone linking the Itamar outposts with the “Allon Road” in the
Jordan Valley.105 Israeli security forces have also installed a road gate on the eastern
edge, next to Afjam, further disrupting access by herders and farmers. 106
46. The most affected community in the firing zone is Khirbat Tana, with some 170
residents. The community has experienced 398 demolitions since the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began recording in 2009, the highest number
of demolished structures of any community in the West Bank. On 17 March, Israeli
authorities demolished eight structures, displacing 18 Palestinians, including nine
children. A total of 95.8 per cent of the of the community’s remaining structures have
pending demolition or stop-work orders.107 The Israeli Civil Administration does not
recognize Khirbat Tana as a village because of its location within the firing zone and
therefore will not consider it for master planning and also prohibits Palestinian
construction in the area.108 In 2016, the Ministry of Defence of Israel claimed, in
response to mass demolitions in Khirbat Tana, that residing in structures located
inside the firing zone posed a danger to the lives of Palestinian residents. 109 Yet, no
military training has been conducted in firing zone 904 A since June 2019. 110
47. Many Palestinians in surrounding communities own agricultural land within the
firing zone. Access to their lands requires prior coordination with the Israeli
authorities and permits are rarely granted. For example, the community of Yanun is
restricted by firing zone 904 A to the west and encircled by outposts on three other
sides, restricting the grazing land and cutting off access to services in Nablus. The
population of Yanun declined from 30 families in 2001 to six famil ies as at 31 May
2021.111
48. Most settler violence in firing zone 904 A is related directly to property damage
and land takeover. For example, on 11 January, in Tell al Khashaba, eight Israeli
settlers ploughed Palestinian-owned lands with a tractor, claiming to own the lands.
Israeli security forces arrived and a settler brought forth a map with plans for building
in the area, including a road from the settlement of Gitit. In response to ensuing
__________________
102 Khirbat Tana, Al Ja’waneh, Tell al Khashabeh and Afjam; United Nations, Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
103 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
104 A/72/564, para. 48 and according to Kerem Navot, on file.
105 Ibid.
106 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Palestinian communities
at risk of forcible transfer: the case of eastern Nablus ‘firing zone’”.
107 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitaria n Affairs, on file.
108 A/72/564, para. 43.
109 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Third large -scale
demolition in Khirbet Tana in 2016”, 21 March 2016.
110 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
111 Ibid.
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clashes between settlers and Palestinians, Israeli security forces arrested one
Palestinian, who was detained for 14 days and released on bail. Israeli police fined
four Palestinians, but none of the settlers, for non -compliance with the COVID-19
measure of wearing masks, and Israeli security forces expelled the Palestinians from
the area, whereas the settlers remained. The local community filed a complaint with
the Binyamin police. Israeli authorities subsequently arrived in the village with a land
surveyor and informed the community that a plan to expand Gitit settlement had been
authorized in 1997. On 13 January, 15 settlers returned to the land with a bulldozer
and two tractors, accompanied by a settlement guard from Gitit. During ensuing
clashes between settlers and the landowners, Palestine TV captured on video 112 two
Israeli settlers brutally beating an elderly man and his 47-year-old son with a wooden
stick. The victims were taken to hospital with injuries. Israeli security forces
responded by firing live ammunition in the air and striking Palestinians with rubber -
coated metal bullets, tear gas and pepper spray and subsequently escorted the settlers
away. When the Israeli surveyor returned to the area, he marked off 1,200 dun ums of
land and settlers placed iron bars to mark the plot. Since 13 January, Israeli security
forces have prevented any Palestinian, including the landowners, from entering the
lands. According to the village council, the livelihoods of at least 50 families were
affected.
49. In addition to failing to protect Palestinians from settlers, in some instances,
Israeli security forces were a further source of tension and violence, including when
Palestinians protested the illegal settler activity on their land. For example, on
19 March, Israeli security forces shot in the head and killed a 46 -year-old Palestinian
man during a demonstration in Beit Dajan, just west of firing zone 904 A, where some
250 Palestinians were protesting against a new outpost farm established on
Palestinian-owned land. When clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli
security forces, the victim, who had a slingshot, was seen moving uphill towards one
of the soldiers. The soldier shot him in the forehead from a distance of approximately
30 metres and, according to eyewitnesses, continued firing live bullets towards
Palestinians attempting to help. The victim was pronounced dead while being
transported to hospital.
B. Case study: firing zone 918 and its vicinity
50. Firing zone 918 in Masafer Yatta, Hebron Governorate, covers some 30,000
dunums with a Palestinian population of some 1,300 in 14 vill ages.113 Since the
declaration of the closed military zone in the 1980s, residents have been at risk of
forced eviction, demolition and forced displacement. After all its residents were
displaced, two villages, Khirbet Sarura and Kharoubeh, no longer exist. 114 The herder
communities in Masafer Yatta rely on livestock for their livelihood. Most residents
live in tents or caves in extremely poor conditions, none are connected to water or
electricity networks and, currently, all rely on food assistance. 115 Nine outposts and
settler farms are located in and near the firing zone 116 and have been a constant source
of violence, intimidation and “land grabs”. 117
51. In 1999, Israeli authorities issued eviction orders against approximately 700
Palestinian residents for “illegally living in a firing zone”, in contradiction of an
existing Israeli military order stipulating that the restrictions regarding the firing zone
__________________
112 See www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Itv19MCfP4Q.
113 Norwegian Refugee Council, 2021, on file.
114 Ibid.
115 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
116 Kerem Navot, on file.
117 OHCHR monitoring.
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would not be applied to existing residents of the area. 118 In 2000, the Association for
Civil Rights in Israel filed petitions to the Israeli High Court of Justice on behalf of
200 families and the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction permitting the
villagers to return to their homes. In 2012, Israel declared its intention to demolish
eight of the communities, which were home to more than 1,000 Palestinians. 119 At a
hearing in August 2020, the State argued that the Palestinian communities had not
been permanent residents of the area when it was declared a firing zone and therefore
did not have the right to continue living in their homes. 120 In July 2020, the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel submitted to the Court a transcript of a 1981
hearing in which the then Minister of Agriculture instructed Israeli security forces to
create training zones in the area to displace the Palestinian residents. 121 As at 31 May,
a ruling in the case was pending. In parallel, communities in Masafer Yatta have been
subject to several waves of demolitions and demolition orders since 1999, including
against villages outside the firing zone. The Norwegian Refugee Council provided
legal representation to the families with pending demolition orders and on
24 December secured an interim injunction for 60 days, following the ruling of the
High Court of Justice in the eviction case.
52. During the reporting period, 54 Palestinian structures were demolished in firing
zone 918,122 displacing 100 Palestinians, including 55 children and 26 women, and
affecting some 1,911 others. On 25 November, the Civil Administration demolished
the homes of 44 Palestinians, 22 of whom were minors, and cut off entire communities
from the water supply.123
53. On 1 January, Israeli security forces shot a 24-year-old unarmed Palestinian man
in the neck with live ammunition while he attempted to retriev e an electricity
generator seized by Israeli security forces in the community of Ar Rakeez on the edge
of the firing zone. The generator was the family’s only source of electricity. The
victim was paralysed from the neck down and, at the end of the reporti ng period,
remained in critical condition. An initial internal probe by the Israeli security forces
found that the shooting was accidental, an account disputed by Palestinian
eyewitnesses. The Israeli security forces have opened a further inquiry into the
incident.124
54. During the reporting period, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs recorded 103 incidents of settler violence in firing zone 918 and its vicinity,
resulting in the injury of 85 Palestinians and the vandalization of at lea st 1,589
Palestinian-owned trees. On 19 December, dozens of settlers, some masked and with
firearms, trespassed on Palestinian-owned farmland in Suseya. Settlers physically
attacked Palestinians, injuring an 82-year-old Palestinian man with kicks in the
abdomen. When Israeli security forces arrived, they forcibly dispersed the
Palestinians and did not arrest anyone. Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights filed
a complaint on behalf of the family but no information was available at the end of the
reporting period as to whether an investigation had been opened. On 20 December,
approximately 30 settlers, some armed and masked, attacked 12 Palestinians on the
__________________
118 A/HRC/24/30, para. 28.
119 Ibid.
120 B’Tselem, “Masafer Yatta communities whose land was d eclared a ‘firing zone’”, 13 September
2020.
121 Akevot, “Document exposed by Akevot: Ariel Sharon instructed IDF to create training zone to
displace Palestinians”, 9 August 2020; and Ofer Aderet, “Document reveals Ariel Sharon’s plan
to expel 1,000 Palestinians”, Haaretz, 9 August 2020.
122 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
123 B’Tselem, “Wave of demolitions in West Bank: Masafer Yatta, South Hebron Hills, 25 November
2020”, 26 November 2020.
124 Hagar Shezaf, “Funding Issues Delay Rehabilitation for Palestinian Man Paralyzed by Israeli
Army Gunfire”, 24 February 2021.
A/76/336
21-13474 17/19
same land, injuring several of them. Israeli security forces intervened by ordering the
Palestinians to leave the area.
Conclusions from case studies
55. As the occupying Power, Israel cannot use the territory under occupation for
military activity without ample justification. 125 Israeli firing zones serve the primary
purpose of military training and, in the absence of active hostilities in the occupied
West Bank, do not meet the threshold of imperative military reasons or absolute
necessity for military operations that may justif y any evacuation of the population or
seizure or destruction of private property. Some firing zones are rarely even used for
military purposes.
56. Israel continued to demolish and seize Palestinian structures in and near military
firing zones, including internationally funded humanitarian projects. Under
international humanitarian law, private property in occupied territory must be
respected and cannot be confiscated by the occupying Power. 126 The destruction or
seizure of private property can be justified under international humanitarian law only
where rendered absolutely necessary by military operations; and the forcible removal
of the civilian population under occupation from a given area can be justified only if
the security of the population or imperat ive military reasons so demand and, even
then, only for temporary periods of time until hostilities in the area in question have
ceased.127 Furthermore, Israel executes a planning policy that does not permit
residents to build their homes legally or connect to basic, vital infrastructure. Closed
military zones further limit Palestinian privately owned pastureland and impose
severe restrictions on Palestinian movement and livelihoods, raising concerns of
violations of human rights.128
57. In the light of the above, the Israeli regulations, policies and practices affecting
Palestinians in Israeli-declared firing zones or their vicinity exacerbate the coercive
environment129 that places these communities under extreme pressure to move, raising
an imminent risk of forcible transfer. Documented cases of transfers of land from
firing zones to settlements exacerbate those concerns. 130
V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
58. Settlement expansion and Israeli commercial activity in the occupied Syrian
Golan continue to raise concerns regarding the impact on the health, environment and
agriculture of Syrian citizens in the area. During the reporting period, Syrians in the
occupied Golan continued to voice their concerns about the impact of a large -scale
wind-turbine project on Syrian farming lands and quality of life. On 7 December
2020, a group of 300 Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan protested against access
restrictions regarding their lands in preparation for the instalment of the wind
turbines. Israeli police reacted to the protests by using force, including rubber bullets
__________________
125 Hague Regulation, arts. 46 and 52; and Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 53.
126 Hague Regulation, art. 46.
127 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 53 and 49.
128 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 12; and International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11.
129 A/HRC/24/30, paras. 28–29.
130 A/73/410, para. 28.
A/76/336
18/19 21-13474
and tear gas, and arrested eight Syrians. 131 Work on the turbines started in January
2021 despite objections by the Syrian population and human rights organizations. 132
VI. Conclusions and recommendations
59. The establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan amount to the transfer by
Israel of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, which is
prohibited under international humanitarian law,133 as consistently confirmed by
the competent United Nations organs, including the International Court of
Justice, the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights
Council.134
60. Settlements have significant adverse effects on the rights of Palestinians,
including their rights to life and security of person, freedom of movement,
privacy, family life, an adequate standard of living, work and education, and on
the exercise of their right to self-determination.
61. Israel has failed to uphold its obligation as the occupying Power to ensure,
as far as possible, public order and life and to protect the Palestinian population
against all acts or threats of violence. A climate of impunity has continued to
prevail owing to persisting deficiencies in the justice system with respect to
holding settlers accountable for violence against Palestinians and damage to
their property.
62. Forced evictions resulting from demolitions in the Occupied Palesti nian
Territory are a key factor in the creation of a coercive environment. They have a
negative impact on a wide range of human rights and increase the risk of forcible
transfer.
63. The application of the Absentee Property Law and the Legal and
Administrative Matters Law is seemingly inconsistent with international
humanitarian law.135 The measures taken136 in East Jerusalem to facilitate the
transfer by the occupying Power of its population into parts of the Occupied
Palestinian Territory are prohibited under international humanitarian law and
may amount to a war crime.137
64. The Secretary-General recalls Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in
which the Council decided that the decision of Israel to impose its laws,
jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null
and void and without international legal effect.
65. On the basis of the present report, the Secretary-General recommends that
Israel:
__________________
131 Al-Marsad, “Israeli police fired rubber bullets and tear gas against Syrian civilians in the
occupied Golan”, 10 December 2020 ; and Middle East Eye, “Syrians in occupied Golan Heights
protest over Israel wind farm project”, 7 December 2020.
132 Sara Toth Stub, “Renewable project stirs concern over local rights in the Golan Heights”,
US News, 17 February 2021.
133 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49.
134 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory
Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136; Security Council resolutions 465 (1980) and 2334 (2016);
General Assembly resolutions 71/97 and 72/86; and Human Rights Council resolution 31/36.
135 A/75/376, paras. 51–55.
136 See paras. 31–33.
137 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49 (6); Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
art. 8 (2) (b) (viii); and A/75/376, paras. 54–55.
A/76/336
21-13474 19/19
(a) Immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in compliance with
international law, including relevant United Nations resolutions, such as Security
Council resolution 2334 (2016);
(b) Immediately halt demolitions and forced evictions and cease any
activity that would further contribute to a coercive environment and/or lead to
a risk of forcible transfer;
(c) Review the application of planning laws and policies, as well as the
Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters Law, to
ensure that they are in accordance with the obligations of Israel under
international humanitarian law and international human right s law;
(d) Review the regulations, policies and practices pertaining to Israeli -
declared military firing zones in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and ensure
that they are in accordance with international humanitarian law and
international human rights law;
(e) Take all measures to ensure the protection of Palestinians and their
property from settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, including through the issuance and enforcement of clear orders
to the Israeli security forces to protect the Palestinian population;
(f) Ensure that all incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli security
forces against Palestinians and damage to their property are promptly,
effectively, thoroughly and transparently investigated, t hat perpetrators are
prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and that
victims are provided with effective remedies, including adequate compensation,
in accordance with international standards;
(g) Immediately cease and reverse all settlement development and related
activities in the occupied Syrian Golan and end discriminatory land, housing and
development policies, in compliance with relevant United Nations resolutions;
(h) Immediately remove all mines and minefields in the occupied Syrian
Golan, which pose a risk to the local population.
United Nations A/77/493
General Assembly
Distr.: General
3 October 2022
Original: English
22-22620 (E) 241022
*2222620*
Seventy-seventh session
Agenda item 47
Israeli Practices and Settlement Activities Affecting the
Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the
Occupied Territories
Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the Occupied Syrian Golan
Report of the Secretary-General*
Summary
The present report, prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/82,
provides an update on Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, from 1 June 2021
to 31 May 2022.
* The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent
information.
A/77/493
2/19 22-22620
I. Introduction
1. The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/82,
provides an update on the implementation of the resolution from 1 June 2021 to
31 May 2022. It is based on direct monitoring and information-gathering conducted
by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and on information provided by Government
sources, United Nations entities and non -governmental organizations. The report
should be read in conjunction with related reports of the Secretary -General and of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted to the Assembly and
the Human Rights Council.1
2. The report contains an update on settlement advancement and its impact on the
human rights of the Palestinian people. Section IV highlights in particular the growing
establishment of farm outposts with intensive settler violence worsening the coercive
environment and forcing Palestinian herder families to leave their homes in what
could amount to forcible transfer. It also contains an update on Israeli settlements in
the occupied Syrian Golan.
II. Legal background
3. Both international human rights law and international humanita rian law
concurrently apply in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely, Gaza and the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan. This includes the
application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Person s
in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention) which is binding upon Israel as the
occupying Power. A detailed analysis of the applicable legal framework can be found
in previous reports of the Secretary-General.2
III. Update on settlement activities
A. Expansion
Land designation, planning and tenders
4. Advancements of plans for settlement construction increased, with plans for
some 9,200 housing units in the occupied West Bank (7,200 in Area C, 2,000 in East
Jerusalem), advanced or approved by the Israeli authorities, compared with 6,800
housing units in the previous reporting period. Of them, about 1,900 in Area C had
reached the final stages of approval by 31 May 2022.
5. Israeli authorities issued tenders for 1,400 units in Area C settlements and 400
in East Jerusalem, compared with 1,900 and 200, respectively, during the previous
reporting period. Official data on settlement construction starts in Area C indicates
an increase from 1,506 units in the previous reporting period to 2, 396 units. In a rare
move, on 28 October and 1 November, Israeli authorities advanced plans for some
6,000 housing units for Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood
of Isawiyah and some 1,300 housing units for Palestinians in Area C.
6. Settlement advancements continued, further consolidating a ring of settlements
around East Jerusalem. On 4 and 18 October and on 8 November, the Israeli Civil
Administration held discussions on objections to two settlement housing plans for a total
of nearly 3,500 units in the strategic E1 area immediately east of East Jerusalem. On
__________________
1 A/HRC/49/85, A/76/336 and A/HRC/49/25.
2 A/HRC/34/38 and A/HRC/34/39.
A/77/493
22-22620 3/19
5 January, Israeli authorities published tenders for some 300 settlement housing units in
the East Talpiot neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. On 10 and 24 January, the Jerusalem
District Planning Committee advanced plans to build some 800 and 400 housing units,
respectively, in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gillo. On 17 January, the same
Committee advanced a plan for some 1,200 housing units next to Ramat Rachel – a
significant number of which are intended for construction in East Jerusalem. 3 These
plans, if approved, would further isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the
West Bank, sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank and
significantly undermine the possibility of a viable and contiguous Palestinian State.
7. Settlers established 16 new outposts, 11 are still standing as at 31 May 2022. 4
Such outposts, illegal under Israeli law, are sometimes rebuilt if demolished. 5 In
February 2022, following an official land survey, the Attorney General of Israel allowed
authorities to declare land in the Evyatar outpost as “State land” and authorizing
accelerated planning procedures for the establishment of a settlement there. 6 As at
31 May 2022, the site remained under control of the Israeli security forces.
8. Meanwhile, Palestinians are still unable to gain access their lands at the Homesh
outpost, evacuated in 2005 and now a closed military zone, while the Israeli security
forces failed to enforce a ban on settlers accessing the site and even provided security
for large settler marches there on 23 December and 16 January. 7 Clashes with
Palestinians around such marches were common, with scores of Palestinian injuries.
For example, on 19 April, restrictions on Palestinian movement owing to a settler
gathering resulted in clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians. On
30 May, the Government acknowledged to the High Court of Justice that the Homesh
outpost was illegal and should be eva cuated, but did not set a timeline for doing so,
asking the Court not to intervene.8
9. In a decision of 28 February related to privately -owned Palestinian property in
Hebron originally requisitioned by the Israeli security forces but now slated for a new
Jewish settlement, the High Court of Justice observed that “civilian Jewish presence is
part of the Israel Defense Forces regional security doctrine in the area.” 9 The judgment
risks leading to further expropriation of private Palestinian land for settlementexpansion
on the pretext of security – impermissible under international law.
10. The establishment and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant
violation of international law.10 In particular, it amounts to the transfer by Israel of its
population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, prohibited under international
humanitarian law.11
__________________
3 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -_
22_march_2022_2334.pdf.
4 Peace Now, on file.
5 Hagar Shezaf, “A huge security force evacuated two West Bank outposts. Settlers began
rebuilding them the next day”, Haaretz, 25 March 2022.
6 A/HRC/49/85, para. 42 and Hagar Shezaf, Jonathan Lis and Jack Kh oury, “In last days in office,
Israel’s Attorney General okayed settlement at illegal outpost”, Haaretz, 2 February 2022.
7 David Israel, “1,200 Yeshiva students bypass army blockade to celebrate Seder Tu B’Shvat in
Homesh”, Jewish Press, 17 January 2022; and Hagar Shezaf, “Footage Casts Doubt on Israel’s
Claim to Enforce Ban on Evacuated Outpost”, Haaretz, 2 June 2022.
8 See https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts/19/210/028/
v54&fileName=19028210.V54&type=4 (Hebrew).
9 See https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts/19/520/084/
f15&fileName=19084520.F15&type=4 (Hebrew).
10 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory , Advisory
Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136; see also Security Council resolutions 465 (1980) and 2334
(2016); General Assembly resolutions 71/97 and 72/86; and Human Rights Council resolution 31/36.
11 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva
Convention), art. 49 (6).
A/77/493
4/19 22-22620
B. Consolidation, including regularization of outposts
11. The process of settlement of land title – in which land ownership claims are
examined and conclusively registered in the state’s land registry – began in East
Jerusalem in 2018, after Jordanian efforts were suspended following the occupation
in 1967.12 The Israeli settlement of land title procedure is largely being promoted in
areas where the State and/or settlers have a particular interest and likely have some
capacity to prove land ownership rights in the framework of the proceedings. 13 The
process is also reportedly furthering claims of State bodies, including the Custodian
of Absentee Property, likely to constitute a threat to ownership rights of East
Jerusalem residents.14 Concerns have been raised that the procedure is being used to
advance takeover of land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. 15
12. Concerns have also been raised that the title-settlement procedure was being
implemented without transparency and without the knowledge of affected Palestinian
residents and community councils, effectively d enying Palestinians the opportunity
to file claims.16 On 30 June 2021, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition
on similar grounds against the completion of the settlement process in the Umm
Harun neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. 17
13. The Government of Israel continued to consolidate settlement blocs with
networks of bypass roads and the wall. Construction began on the Qalandiya
underpass highway, which will shorten the connection between Israel and some
settlements deep inside the West Bank.18 Private Palestinian land could be possibly
seized to construct the highway. 19 On 22 May, Israeli authorities issued an
expropriation order for 55 dunums of Palestinian owned land in At -tur village, east of
Jerusalem, for the construction of the “Eastern Ring Road”.20 The road will reportedly
not be accessible to West Bank Palestinians without permits, and is expected to
accelerate development of new settlements in the West Bank. 21 The Government also
reportedly plans an expansion of Route 55 on Palestini an-owned land near Qalqilyah,
access to which could be denied to Palestinian vehicles. 22 Under international
humanitarian law, private property must be respected and cannot be confiscated,
unless confiscation is required by imperative military necessity. 23 As the occupying
__________________
12 A/76/336, para. 13 and A/HRC/49/85, para. 11.
13 Ir Amim, “Settlement of land title in East Jerusalem: a means of dispossessing Palestinians from
their lands and homes”, March 2022.
14 Noa Dagoni, Monitor report on the implementation of Government decision 3790 for investment
in East Jerusalem, Quarterly report No. 2 for 2021. Land registration , Ir Amin.
15 Ir Amim, “KKL-JNF and Israeli authorities are misusing land registration proced ures to advance
land takeover processes of an alarming magnitude ”, 17 August 2021.
16 Ir Amim, “Settlement of land title in East Jerusalem: a means of dispossessing Palestinians from
their lands and homes”, March 2022.
17 https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts \21\960\029\
e06&fileName=21029960.E06&type=4 (Hebrew).
18 Peace Now, “Works began on paving the Qalandiya underpass” , 16 August 2021. Available at:
https://peacenow.org.il/en/works -begun-on-paving-the-qalandiya-underpass.
19 Ir Amim, “Civil administration advances huge road construction plans, pushing forward the de -
facto annexation of Greater Jerusalem, including its fourth settlement bloc.”
20 https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/t122122/he/%D7%A6%D7%95%20%D7%94%D7%
A4%D7%A7%D7%A2%D7%94%20%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%
AA%200122.pdf (Hebrew).
21 Peace Now, “Confiscation order for the Eastern Ring Road was issued” , 14 June 2022. Available
at: https://peacenow.org.il/en/confiscation -order-for-the-eastern-ring-road-was-issued.
22 Hagar Shezaf, “Highways to annexation: across the West Bank, Israel is bulldozing a bright
future for Jewish settlers”, Haaretz, 11 December, 2020.
23 Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 1907 (Hague Regulations), arts. 43, 46 and 55;
Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 47; and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “Rule 51:
public and private property in occupied territory”, Customary International Humanitarian Law
database. Available at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1.
A/77/493
22-22620 5/19
Power, Israel must abstain from introducing irreversible changes particularly if
detrimental to the rights and prerogatives of the occupied population. Meanwhile,
Palestinians’ rights to freedom of movement and access to services and live lihoods
continued to be arbitrarily infringed, including owing to discriminatory restrictions
on access to key roads on grounds of security of settlers. 24
14. On 12 April, Israeli authorities declared approximately 22,000 dunums of land
south of Jericho as a “Nature Reserve”, 25 including 6,000 dunums of private
Palestinian-owned land.26 As a result, the landowners now cannot cultivate without
pre-approval from an Israeli Nature Reserve Officer. As at 31 May, Israel had declared
48 nature reserves covering approximately 95,000 acres (approximately 7 per cent of
the West Bank or 12 per cent of Area C). 27
15. On 15 May, the High Court of Justice upheld the Government’s controversial
plan to construct a cable car connecting West Jerusalem to a settler organizat ion centre
near an old city gate as Palestinians residents in Silwan are facing home demolitions
and forced evictions. 28 Settler organizations also continued their consolidation of
property in East Jerusalem when, on 27 March, accompanied by Israeli police , they
took over part of a historic Greek Orthodox Patriarchate building in the old city, 29 as
well as various properties in Silwan on 2 and 15 July and 6 October. 30
16. Four plans retroactively regularizing outposts were advanced. 31 Other apparent
steps to consolidate settlements and “legalize” outposts included the Ministry of
Defense reportedly mobilizing the Jewish National Fund to purchase hundreds of
dunums of private Palestinian land in the West Bank. 32 A senior Israeli official
announced on 24 October that settlement housing will be included in the
Government’s new long-term rental housing programme, further extending Israeli
domestic law to the West Bank.33 On 12 April, the Office of the Attorney General
preliminarily legally approved connecting ou tposts built on State-land in the West
Bank to the Israeli electricity grid. Although this decision will also mean electricity
for some Palestinian communities in Area C, it is a step towards the regularization of
dozens of outposts.34 Outposts are also considered illegal under Israeli domestic law. 35
__________________
24 “Settlers for Apartheid: settlers prevented the opening of a road to Palestinians”, 13 April 2022.
Available at: https://peacenow.org.il/en/keidar-road.
25 See https://www.gov.il/he/departments/publications/reports/og363 (Hebrew).
26 Peace Now, “The Minister of Defense approved the declaratio n of the largest nature reserve in 25
years in the West Bank”, 25 May 2022.
27 S/2022/504, para. 5.
28 Jerusalem Legal and Human Rights Centre, “The cable car: another instrument for colonial
control in the Old City”, available at: https://www.jlac.ps/details.php?id=u72v7ka2360yjidx4vf8r.
29 S/2022/504, para. 3.
30 See Peace Now, “Settlers took over another house in Wadi Hilweh Silwan”, 2 July 2021.
Available at: https://peacenow.org.il/en/settlers -took-over-another-house-in-wadi-hilweh-silwan;
“Details … Leaking a property to Elad settlement association in Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in
Silwan”, 15 July 2022. Available at: https://www.silwanic.net/index.php/article/news/78335 ; and
Al Jazeera “Israeli settlers take over home in Jerusalem’s Silwan”, 7 October 2021. Available at:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/7/settlers -take-over-home-in-jerusalems-silwan.
31 Peace Now, on file.
32 Hagar Shezaf, “Israel recruited the Jewish National Fund to secretly buy Palestinian land for
settlers”, Haaretz, 15 July 2021.
33 Hezki Baruch, “Judea and Samaria to be included in government’s affordable rent project ”,
Israel National News, 24 October 2021.
34 Netael Bandel, Hagar Shezaf and Jonathan Lis, “Israel okays connecting illegal West Bank
outposts to Israel”, Haaretz, 12 April 2022.
35 See https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/state/Law/Pages/Summary%20of%20Opinion%20
Concerning%20Unauthorized%20Outposts%20-%20Talya%20Sason%20Adv.aspx .
A/77/493
6/19 22-22620
C. Demolitions, forced evictions and risk of forcible transfer
17. Israeli authorities demolished or confiscated 871 Palestinian -owned structures in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, forcibly evicting 1,140 Palestinians (271 men,
275 women, 594 children).36 Increasing numbers of Palestinians in East Jerusalem were
forced to “self-demolish” their properties (118 structures compared to 74 in previous
period) to avoid having to pay Israeli authorities for the cost of the demolition. 37
18. Israeli Civil Administration data made public in December revealed that fewer
than 1 per cent of Palestinian construction permits (24 of 2 ,550) were approved
between 2016 and 2020.38 In 2019–2020 the rate of approved requests for Palestinians
was even lower (0.65 per cent), while demolition orders for Palestinian -owned
structures in the Area C was at its highest in five years (797). 39
19. On 4 May, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition agai nst eviction orders
issued to Palestinian residents of 12 herding communities in the Israeli -designated
Firing Zone 918 in Masafer Yatta.40 The petition had been ongoing since 2012. 41 The
judgment is inconsistent with international law, including its narro w interpretation of
the prohibition of forcible transfer to cover only mass transfers and for privileging
Israeli military law over international law obligations. 42 With the Israeli security
forces now enabled to implement eviction orders and use the site for active military
training 1,144 residents (282 men, 293 women, 299 boys, 270 girls) are at imminent
risk of forced evictions and forcible transfer. 43 On 11 May, demolitions in Khirbet Al
Fakhiet and Markaz communities resulted in forced eviction of 49 p eople (20 male,
29 female), including 24 children, while other steps towards clearing of the area
continued.44 Israel, as the occupying Power, must cease forced evictions and possible
forcible transfer of Palestinian families from their homes in Masafer Ya tta, in line
with its obligations under international law. 45
20. Demolitions also continued in Humsa al-Buqay‘ah, Tubas (Israeli-designated
firing zone 903) in July and December. On 7 July, Israeli authorities demolished or
confiscated 30 structures for lacking permits, including 16 homes, leading to the forced
eviction of 42 people (20 male, 22 female), including 24 children. On 15 July, one of the
families was once again forcibly evicted following confiscation of their donor -funded
structure. Further confiscations of tents and fencing material took place on 5 December.
Those incidents continued a wave of previous demolitions which had begun in
November 2020 and intensified with five rounds of demolitions in February 2021. 46 The
42 people whose homes were demolished in July 2021 moved just outside the firing zone
and remain there, raising concerns that forcible transfer may have taken place. 47
__________________
36 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
37 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
38 8,356 permits for settlement housing units were issued. See Hagar Shezaf, “Israeli demolition
orders for Palestinians in West Bank’s Area C hit five -year record”, Haaretz, 7 December 2021.
39 Ibid.
40 See https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=HebrewVerdicts/13/130/
004/n89&fileName=13004130.N89&type=2 (Hebrew).
41 A/76/336, paras. 50 and 51.
42 A/76/336, paras. 55 and 56. See also “UN experts alarmed by Israel High Court ruling on
Masafer Yatta and risk of imminent forcible transfer of Palestinians”, Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, press release, 16 May 2022.
43 A/HRC/49/85, para. 26.
44 After 1 June there have been further demolitions, military training and restrictions.
45 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, art. 11, and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 7
(1997) on forced evictions.
46 A/HRC/49/85, para. 29.
47 Ibid.
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21. The coercive environment has deteriorated in Ibziq, Tubas (Israeli -designated
firing zone 901). Two rounds of demolition took place on 4 and 31 August, leading to
the displacement of 27 people (13 male, 14 female), including 19 children. In
December, residents were reportedly forced to temporarily move out of their homes
five times while Israeli soldiers and tanks operated near their homes and fields. 48 On
28 December, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished three residential structures
and 13 other structures, leading to the displacement of 15 Palestinians (six male, nine
female), including five children. The Israeli security forces returned with tanks on
2 January and reportedly destroyed hundreds of dunums of crops, access roads and
farmland.49 On 4 January, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished four residential
structures and eight animal shelters – which the families had rebuilt after the previous
December demolition. These demolitions and forced evictions intensify the
environment coercing people to leave their homes, raise the risk of forcible transfer
and violate a range of human rights, including the right to adequate housing. 50
22. The Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, on land slated for the strategic E1
settlement plan, remains under risk of forcible transfer. 51 On 1 February, the
community leader told United Nations officials that the Israeli Civil Administration
had suggested relocation of the community to a site 300 meters away. He reiterated
that the community would only accept return to their Negev pre -1948 lands as an
alternative to the current site. The Israeli High Court of Justice has ordered the Israeli
authorities to explain by September 2022 why the demolitions approved in 2018 had
not been implemented, 52 amid media reports of a potential agreement. 53 Any such
“agreement” would raise questions of the extent of genuine consent, given the
coercive environment within which the community live, 54 and of its compliance with
international humanitarian law.55
East Jerusalem
23. Over 300 Palestinian residents of al-Walaja, on the southern border of
Jerusalem, remain under threat of home demolitions, forced eviction and possible
forcible transfer. While 38 homes in the Jerusalem portion of al-Walaja are
temporarily protected by a Supreme Court decision of 30 March that extended an
injunction until 1 November, 56 12 structures not covered by the injunction are at
imminent risk. Five such structures were demolished, most recently on 11 May – part
of 30 homes demolished since 2016. These demolitions are taking pla ce alongside
construction of settlements and the wall around the village and creating territorial
contiguity between Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. 57
__________________
48 Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, “Harassment of Khirbet
Ibzik community continues: residents evacuated from homes; military trains in their fields with
tanks; Civil Administration destroys homes of three families”, December 2021. Available at:
https://www.btselem.org/photoblog/202112_demolitions_military_training_and_temporary_
evacutaions_in_jordan_valley.
49 See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO0NHRMYNVQ.
50 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11.
51 A/HRC/49/85, para. 28.
52 https://supremedecisions.court.gov.il/Home/Download?path=
HebrewVerdicts/19/870/023/o29&fileName=19023870.O29&type=4 (Hebrew).
53 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-701184.
54 A/72/564, paras. 37–40.
55 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 8.
56 Ir Amim, “Demolition freeze in Al-Walaja case remains in place to allow for further urban
planning progress”, 31 March 2022.
57 Ahmad Al-Bazz, “Al-Walaja: a Palestinian village facing demolitions”, Norwegian Refugee
Council, 20 December 2021.
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24. Within occupied East Jerusalem, 970 Palestinians, including 424 children, are
facing the threat of home-demolition and forced eviction, mostly in the
neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. On 10 and 11 May, demolitions in
Silwan forcibly evicted 33 people (19 male and 14 female), including 18 children.
Approximately 74 Palestinians, including 42 children, also remain at risk of
impending forced eviction and possible forcible transfer following a demolition order
in Wadi Qaddum, in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. As with most
demolitions, the demolition was ordered owing to the lack of a building permit,
virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain. The Jerusalem Municipality had not
responded to urgent requests by lawyers of the at -risk families as at 31 May.58
25. Tensions remained high in Sheikh Jarrah until 1 March, owing to planned forced
evictions. On 29 December, the Salem family received an eviction notice based on a
settler’s claim under the Legal and Administrative Matters Law of 1970 – a
discriminatory law under which only Jewish property owners who lost their pr operty in
East Jerusalem in 1948 can claim it.59 A challenge of the eviction order was rejected by
the Israeli Enforcement and Collections Authority on 30 January. However, on April 25,
the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ordered the Salem family’s challenge b e reheard. This
remains pending along with an injunction on the implementation of the eviction order as
at 31 May.60 Four other Sheikh Jarrah families also received a reprieve, on 1 March the
Supreme Court of Israel allowed them to stay in their homes as protected tenants, until
the conclusion of the process of settlement of land titles. The ruling may provide a
precedent and protect other families similarly facing eviction. However, on 19 January,
12 Palestinians (six male, six female), including five children, were displaced when their
house was demolished – the Salhieh family had moved there before 1967.
26. Pursuant to international humanitarian law, private property in occupied
territory must be respected and cannot be confiscated by the occupying Power. 61 The
eviction proceedings in these and other similar cases are based on the application of
two Israeli laws, the Absentee Property Law and the Legal and Administrative Matters
Law, which is seemingly inconsistent with this obligation. 62 Therefore, evictions are
contrary to the obligations of Israel under international law.
27. Demolitions, following the discriminatory Israeli planning-regime, and resulting
forced evictions entail numerous human rights violations. 63 They also affect Palestinian
women and girls disproportionally. 64 The Human Rights Committee has concluded:
“such systematic practice of demolitions and forced evictions based on the
discriminatory policies has led to the separation of Jewish and Palestinian communities
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which amoun ts to racial segregation”.65 They also
breach the obligations of Israel as the occupying Power, 66 and further exacerbate the
coercive environment increasing the risk of forcible transfer. Along with forcible
transfer, extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly are also a grave breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention and thus amount to war crimes. 67
__________________
58 Ir Amim, “Urgent: Nearly 100 Palestinians are under threat of immediate displacement from
Waddi Qaddum, East Jerusalem”, 30 May 2022.
59 A/HRC/49/85, para. 32.
60 Nir Hasson, “Israeli Court orders rehearing in Sheikh Jarrah Family’s Case, postponing
eviction”, Haaretz, 26 April 2022.
61 Hague Regulations, art. 46.
62 A/75/376, paras. 40–56.
63 A/72/564, paras. 25, 49–50.
64 CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/6, paras. 32–33.
65 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/5, para. 42.
66 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 53.
67 Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 49, 53 and 147; Hague Regulations, arts. 46 and 56.
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IV. Impact of settlements on human rights
A. Settlement-related violence
Settler violence
28. Settler violence against Palestinians intensified, with 575 incidents of settler
violence resulting in Palestinian deaths, injuries and/or property damage occurred in
the reporting period, compared with 430 in the previous perio d, marking an alarming
continued increase since 2017.68 Two Palestinians (one man, one boy) were killed and
197 were injured by settlers (compared with 4 killed and 145 injured during the
previous reporting period).69 In addition, two Palestinians (one woman, one boy) were
killed either by settlers or by Israeli security forces. Three settlers (all men) were
killed by Palestinian attackers and, according to Israeli sources, 131 were injured
(compared with 2 killed and 99 injured during the previous reportin g period). 70
Damage to Palestinian property increased, with 12,985 trees and 518 vehicles
vandalized. Monitoring by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) shows that settler violence also had an impact on women’s
mobility, further reinforcing negative aspects of traditional gender roles.
29. On 17 August 2021, four settlers abducted and assaulted 15 -year-old Tareq
Zubeidi from Silat Ad-Dhahr village, Jenin. He told OHCHR that while out with friends
near the evacuated Homesh outpost they were accosted by settlers, one armed with a
gun. While the others managed to run, Tareq was caught, kicked and beaten with sticks.
He was then tied to the front of a car and driven towards Homesh, where he said he was
again beaten, including by other settlers. He also said the settlers used pepper spray on
him and burned the soles of his feet; his injuries – visible when interviewed by
OHCHR – were consistent with burns from a car’s cigarette lighter and with his
testimony. In addition to the physical pain, the assault left him with fear and anxiety.
30. The family had reportedly called the police about the abduction, 71 but did not
file a formal complaint owing to a lack of faith in the Israeli justice system and fear
of reprisal, particularly cancellation of Israeli work permits. Following media
coverage, 72 an Israeli security forces statement said that they had responded to a
report about Palestinians throwing stones and had seen Israeli settlers pursuing a
Palestinian whom the soldiers had then returned to his family.
31. On 30 August, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East
Peace Process referred to this “heinous act” saying he expected that the Israeli
authorities would undertake an investigation. 73 None has been announced yet. The
incident illustrates the Palestinian predicament: settl ers abuse with little or no action
from the Israeli security forces and Palestinians, fearing retribution, rarely file official
complaints. When investigations take place, action against settlers is rare. Such
impunity encourages further attacks.
__________________
68 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
69 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on file.
70 Unlike United Nations-documented Palestinian injuries, these were not confirmed by medical
sources.
71 Jack Jeffery and Imad Isseid, “Palestinian teen recalls alleged beating, torture at hands of
settlers” The Times of Israel, 10 September 2021.
72 Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, “Shackled, beaten, strung up on a tree: Palestinian teen brutally
attacked by settlers”, Haaretz, 26 August 2021; “Israeli settlers abduct, brutally assault 15 -yearold
boy”, Defense for Children International, Palestine, 27 August 2021. Available at:
https://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_settlers_abduct_attack_15_year_old_palestinian_boy.
73 See https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing_ -_
30_august_2021_0.pdf
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32. Some settler attacks were met with wide condemnation. 74 However, most
everyday attacks that harass, injure and terrorize, rarely garner attention. Settler
attacks on Israeli security forces led to sharp political reactions in Israel. 75 In
November, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff was reported to have issued an
unambiguous directive that soldiers must act to stop violent attacks, including by
settlers. Little, however, appears to have changed in practice so far. 76
Israeli Security Forces use of force
33. In addition to settler violence, there were many instances where Israeli security
forces used force to restrict and suppress Palestinian demonstrations against the
settlement enterprise and outposts, including in Beita. 77 As a result, at least eight
Palestinians were killed (three men, five boys) and 8,241 injured (7,321 men, 10
women, 910 children). In many incidents monitored by OHCHR, the use of firearms
by Israeli security forces appears to have been unnecessary or disproportionate,
including using firearms without warning, where there was no threat to life or of
serious injury or without first resorting to less extreme means, including less -lethal
weapons.78
34. On 5 November, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 15 -year-old Palestinian
boy in Deir Al-Hattab, Nablus. Four boys had joined protests against a recently
established outpost. Confrontations ensued. Subsequently, one boy was shot in the
stomach with live ammunition. The use of firearms causing death of persons not
posing an imminent threat to life or of serious injury may constitute a violation of the
prohibition of the arbitrary deprivation of life and may, depending on the
circumstances, amount to an act of wilful killing, a war crime in the context of
military occupation.79
35. Incidents where Israeli security forces are actively supporting or joining settler
attacks against Palestinians appear to be growing. 80 On 3 July, Israeli security forces
shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man in his brother ’s house in Qusra villa ge,
south-east of Nablus, while he defended himself against an attack from 20 –30 settlers,
including a settlement guard. An Israeli security forces statement said that the man
was shot after he threw a suspicious object that exploded near soldiers. 81 According
to eyewitnesses, there was no explosion. In addition to raising concerns about
excessive use of firearms, this incident also highlights the role of Israeli security
forces participating in, and providing security cover for settlers carrying out, acts,
that may amount to criminal offences, against Palestinians and their property.
36. Settler and Israeli security forces activities and use of firearms are increasingly
interwoven, with their distinction becoming increasingly difficult to discern. In one
attack in Tuwani village, Hebron, on 26 June, a settler was recorded on video firing a
__________________
74 A/HRC/49/85, para. 20.
75 Judah Ari Gross, “Gantz orders ‘aggressive’ crackdown on settler violence after soldiers attacked”,
The Times of Israel, 14 October 2021.
76 Amos Harel, “Settler attacks on Palestinian spike, reflecting Israel’s systemic failure”, Haaretz,
19 November 2021.
77 A/HRC/49/85, paras. 42–49.
78 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , art. 6; CCPR/C/GC/36, para. 12; and
principles 9, 10 and 14 of the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials.
79 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 6 and Fourth Geneva Convention,
art. 147.
80 A/76/336, para. 44; A/HRC/49/85, para. 54; and S/2022/504.
81 Jack Khoury, “Palestinian shot dead by Israeli army amid clashes near evacuated settlement
outpost”, Haaretz, 3 July 2021.
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rifle at Palestinians82 which, according to eyewitnesses, had been handed to him by a
soldier in an Israeli security forces vehicle. Israeli security forces later claimed that
he had snatched the rifle but, while the soldier was reportedly questioned, no action
was apparently taken against the settler. 83 Similarly, on 24 April, three Palestinians
aged 16, 58 and 60 were injured by live ammunition near Surif, Hebron, after a
confrontation ensued following settlers blocking a road. One injured man told
OHCHR that both settlers and Israeli security forces were firing and it was not clear
who had injured him. The spokesperson for the Israeli security forces claimed that
there had been no injuries, saying soldiers used only “protest dispersal methods”. 84
Firearms must never be used simply to disperse an assembly. 85 Israeli Police opened
an investigation in September.86 No further update was available as at 31 May.
37. At least two other Palestinians were killed in circumstances where it was not
possible to determine whether the perpetrator was a member of the Israeli security
forces or a settler. On 16 June, a 29-year-old woman was shot and killed near Hizma
checkpoint, north-east of Jerusalem, by a man who was either off -duty Israeli security
forces personnel or a settler. In the second instance, a 16-year-old was shot and killed
in the old city of Jerusalem on 17 November by a settler and Israeli security forces.
These follow two similar killings monitored by OHCHR in May 2021.87
38. As the occupying Power, in most settler-related violence, Israel has repeatedly
failed in its responsibility to protect the Palestinian population and their property
against violence, and in many cases has used arbitrary force against Palestinians. 88
Widespread impunity for this violence remained a serious concern. Those
developments further exacerbated the coercive environment in many Palestinian
communities described in previous reports and increased the risk of forcible transfer.
39. Systematic and increasingly severe settler violence with the acquiescence and
support of Israeli security forces (including arbitrary use of force and firearms) puts
at risk Palestinians’ rights to life and security of the person, and contributes to a
worsening coercive environment for them.89
40. Nine instances of attacks with participation or involvement of civilian security
coordinators against Palestinians or their property were reported. 90 The Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also verif ied instances
where settlement guards participated in settler attacks on Palestinians. 91 Civilian
security coordinators and settlement guards are often paid for, trained, and armed by
Israeli security forces, granted certain law enforcement powers, and sub ject to the
military discipline system.92 As such, they are agents of the State, with Israel bearing
responsibility for their actions. 93 Yet, as civilians officially hired by the Israeli
__________________
82 See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkXiR1d3tKg .
83 Yaniv Kubovich and Hagar Shezaf, “After four months, Israel probe s incident of settler who
fired soldier’s weapon at Palestinians”, Haaretz, 28 October 2021.
84 Basil Adra, “After blocking West Bank road, settlers open fire and wound Palestinians”, 27 April
2022. Available at: https://www.972mag.com/settlers-soldiers-shoot-palestinians-surif/.
85 CCPR/C/GC/37, para. 88.
86 Yaniv Kubovich and Hagar Shezaf, “After four months, Israel probes incident of settler who
fired soldier’s weapon at Palestinians”, Haaretz, 28 October 2021.
87 A/HRC/49/85, para. 22.
88 Hague Regulations, arts.43 and 46; Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27.
89 A/HRC/49/85, para. 19; A/76/336, para. 19.
90 Yesh Din, on file.
91 For example, on 14 July, 25 February and 23 March in Yitzhar, Esh Kodesh and Maskiyot
respectively.
92 Yesh Din, “The Lawless Zone: the transfer of policing and secu rity to the civilian security
coordinators in the settlements and outposts”, 17 September 2014.
93 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 29; CCPR/C/GC/36, para. 15, International Law Commission
Draft Articles on State Responsibility, art. 8.
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regional settlement councils and living within the settlements and ou tposts, civilian
security coordinators and guards invariably identify with the goals of their
communities and often appear to expand their role beyond security to de facto
expansion of settlement lands, leading to regular friction with Palestinians. 94 Former
soldiers have also claimed that, in practice, the civilian security coordinators often
direct lower ranking Israeli security forces personnel and commanders.95
Accountability
41. According to official Israeli statistics, there were 19 indictments of Israelis for
“ideologically-based offences” in the West Bank in 2021, following 87 investigations
undertaken by Israeli police.96 The increase in indictments is welcome (there were
five in 2020, eight in 2019). There is still a lack of transparency with r espect to details.
The 87 investigations are a limited proportion of the 575 documented instances of
settlers causing injury or damage. One indictment appears to be of a 19-year-old
settler on 22 November for assaulting three Israeli human rights activists who were
assisting Palestinians in the olive harvest. 97 An Israeli who harms a non-Palestinian
in the West Bank is six-times more likely to be indicted ( 19 per cent) than if they
harmed a Palestinian (3 per cent).98
42. On 7 February, research was released showing that 92 per cent of the 1,395
investigative files studied relating to settler violence against Palestinians between 2015
and 2021 were closed without an indictment, while only approximately 3 per cent of
investigations led to convictions.99 This is consistent with Israeli police data: charges
were filed in under 4 per cent of settler violence cases from 2018 to 2020. 100 In contrast,
90 per cent of investigations of Palestinians (between 2014 and 2018) led to indictments
in military courts, with 96 per cent of the cases prosecuted resulting in conviction, most
of which were based on plea deals (99.6 per cent from 2018 to April 2021). 101
43. The number of complaints being filed by Palestinians is reportedly decreasing. 102
In its consideration of the periodic report submitted by Israel, the Human Rights
Committee noted with concern “the underreporting by victims for lack of trust in the
authorities and fear of reprisals, and the lack of access by victims to justice and
effective remedies”.103 The Committee noted that States must exercise due diligence,
investigate ex officio and punish private acts, such as violence, that would impair the
enjoyment of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and
caused harm.104
44. In a rare development, on 27 April the Jerusalem Magistrates Court convicted
seven Israeli men and acquitted another of incitement to violence and terror for their
__________________
94 A/HRC/28/44, para. 22.
95 Avshalom Zohar Sal, “The Israeli occupation problem isn’t just a few violent settlers”, Haaretz,
20 January 2022; and Breaking the Silence, “Settler violence in the West Bank. Soldiers’
Testimonies 2012–2020”. Available at: https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/inside/wp -
content/uploads/2021/07/OnDuty-Testimonies-En.pdf.
96 See https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/dynamiccollectorresultitem/hr -0007/he/human-rightsreplay_
investigation-and-prosecutionof-offences-against-palestinians.pdf.
97 Hagar Shezaf, “Israeli charged for assault on activists helping Palestinians during olive harvest”,
Haaretz, 22 November 2021.
98 Yesh Din, “Law enforcement on Israeli civilians in the West Bank (settler violence). Yesh Din
figures 2005–2021”, December 2021.
99 Ibid.
100 Hagar Shezaf, “Charges are pressed only in 4% of settler violence cases”, Haaretz, 7 February 2022.
101 Hagar Shezaf and Maya Horodniceanu, “Israel’s other justice system has rules of its own”,
Haaretz, 25 April 2022.
102 Hagar Shezaf, “Charges are pressed only in 4% of settler violence cases”, Haaretz, 7 February 2022.
103 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/5, para. 24.
104 CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13, para. 8.
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actions during a 2015 “hate wedding”. The men were recorded dancing at a wedding
with weapons and stabbing pictures of a Palestinian toddler killed in a previous settler
attack in Duma. 105 The appeal against acquittal of five children acquitted by the
Jerusalem Juvenile Court in September 2021 remained pending.106
45. Two settlers were also reportedly held in administrative detention in March and
April for 7 and 10 weeks, respectively. One was initially arrested for a violent attack
on Palestinians and Israeli activists near Burin in January. 107 The incident, recorded
on video, also led to the injury of some Is raelis and attracted wide condemnation. 108
The other detainee had previously been released after completing a one -year sentence
in juvenile detention in January 2022 for attacking a Palestinian.109 Upon his release,
a convoy of settlers drove through Huwwara h village, injuring three Palestinians and
damaging 20 vehicles and two storefronts by stone-throwing. Video recordings show
the Israeli security forces, which had accompanied the settler convoy, standing by
during the violence.110
46. In its authoritative interpretation on the right to life, the Human Rights
Committee has stressed that instances “in which a serious risk of deprivation of life
was caused by the use of potentially lethal force” be investigated. 111 Where the Israel
Defense Forces are required to carry out investigations according to their own
policy, 112 there is lack of transparency. Although Israeli security forces have
reportedly said that they were “looking into the incident” on 5 November when a child
was shot (para. 34 above), no criminal investigation has been announced. 113 Between
1 January 2017 and 31 October 2021, 428 Palestinians (including 91 children) were
killed by Israeli security forces in law enforcement operations in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory. OHCHR is aware of 82 criminal investigations opened, of which
at least 13 were closed without further action. Only five resulted in indictments –
three leading to convictions for minor offences. Impunity remains pervasive for
incidents of excessive use of force by Israeli security forces in law enforcement.
47. In March, the Human Rights Committee raised concerns about: “(a) a significant
increase in the number and severity of settler violence in recent years; (b) the
involvement of Israeli security forces in such violence; and (c) a very low rate of
indictments and convictions of perpetrators, fostering a general climate of
impunity.”114 Such conclusion raises serious concerns of the adherence by Israel to its
obligations under international human rights law and as an occu pying Power.
__________________
105 Hagar Shezaf, “‘Wedding of hate’: seven Israelis convicted of incitement to terrorism” Haaretz,
27 April 2022.
106 A/HRC/49/85, para. 21.
107 Josh Breiner, “Israeli settler suspected of terrorist activities to be placed in administrative
detention”, Haaretz, 11 March 2022.
108 The Times of Israel, “Coalition members condemn latest settler attack, with some calling to raze
outposts”, 22 January 2022.
109 Hagar Shezaf, “Rare administrative detention for Jewish Israeli approved by Defense Minister
Gantz” Haaretz, 11 April 2022.
110 Hagar Shezaf, “Three Palestinians reportedly wounded as settlers hurl stones in West Bank”,
Haaretz, 24 January 2022; Tovah Lazaroff, “Huwara shop owner recalls attack: the soldiers stood
and looked”, The Jerusalem Post, 25 January 2022.
111 CCPR/C/GC/36, para. 27.
112 ReliefWeb “New investigation policy regarding Palestinian casualties from IDF fire in Judea and
Samaria”, 6 April 2011.
113 Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, “A rock hit an Israeli soldier. he responded by shooting at the
Palestinian protesters, killing a boy”, Haaretz, 11 November 2021.
114 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/5, para. 24.
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B. Case study: farm outposts, settler violence, and apparent forcible
transfer in Al-Ganoub
48. Settlement-related violence has been linked to broader takeovers of land in the
West Bank, 115 including for farm outposts. 116 Farm outposts have grown rapidly,
there’s a total of 77, with 66 having been established over the last decade and 46
between 2017 to 2021.117 Farm outposts are strategically deployed and extensively
backed by Israeli authorities,118 despite being illegal even under Israeli law. While
largely built on “State lands”, the few residents of these outposts and their herds use
a much larger area of pastureland, reportedly leading to the takeover of between
25,000119 and 60,000 acres (nearly 7 per cent of Area C).120
49. Israeli security forces play a significant role in ensuring the protection of such
outposts and settlers, including by providing security cover during attacks against
Palestinians.121 In addition to broader Area C limitations and regular demolitions and
forced evictions, 122 the violent settler attacks, combined with restrictions on
pastureland and water resources are key elements of the coerc ive environment, which
is effectively forcing Palestinian herders to move out of those areas. 123
50. Al-Ganoub is a small herder community, near Sa’ir, north -east of Hebron,
located in Area C. The coercive environment, and settler violence in particular, ha ve
led seven families to move from their homes and community since mid -2018 – most
recently in May 2022 – while the 14 remaining families live under serious threat of
possible forcible transfer.
51. In 1983, the settlement of Asfar (also called Metzad) was established south of
Al-Ganoub, initially as a military outpost on privately -owned Palestinian land.
Following Israeli authorities’ allocation of “State land”, the settlement municipal
boundaries comprise nearly 4,000 dunums. Settlers also apparently expanded their
control over 3,600 dunums outside municipal boundaries, much of which is privately -
owned by Palestinians.
52. In 1992, the Asfar settlers established a residential outpost on a nearby hilltop,
again on land previously requisitioned for “security needs”. Although it was
abandoned, in 2000, it was repopulated by different settlers and named Pnei Kedem. 124
These settlers now cultivate more than 350 dunums of mostly privately-owned
Palestinian land. Recently, four new farm outposts have been establish ed in the area:
Pnei Kedem farm (2018); Pnei Kedem east, (2020), Pnei Kedem north (2021, with an
additional extension further north) and Metzad farm ( 2020).125
__________________
115 A/76/336, para. 48 and “State Business: Israel’s misappropriation of land in the West Bank
through settler violence”, November 2021, B’Teselem.
116 A/76/336, paras. 41–43.
117 Kerem Navot, “The Wild West: grazing, seizing and looting by Israeli settlers in the West bank”,
May 2022, p. 17. Available at: https://www.keremnavot.org/_files/ugd/a76eb4_
169d342c74c9428bbdf6a07e2706eff5.pdf.
118 Yesh Din, “Plundered pastures”, December 2021.
119 Ibid.
120 Kerem Navot, “The Wild West: grazing, seizing and looting by Israeli settlers in the West bank”,
May 2022, p. 17. Available at: https://www.keremnavot.org/_files/ugd/a76eb4_
169d342c74c9428bbdf6a07e2706eff5.pdf.
121 A/76/336, paras. 44 and 49.
122 A/72/564 and A/73/410, para. 32.
123 See “Unshattered: Palestinian herders struggling under military occupation and settler violence.
A photo essay from the Hebron Hills”. Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/unshattered.
124 United Nations Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “ The humanitarian impact of
de facto settlement expansion: the case of Asfar”, 13 December 2016.
125 See http://maps.keremnavot.org/herding/?lang=en .
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53. Settler violence has been a concern for Al-Ganoub residents for decades, largely
by settlement and outposts guards, with support from Israeli security forces stationed
within the settlement-controlled area. 126 However, the intensity of the violence
significantly increased following the establishment and growth of the farm outposts.
On 8 February, approximately 50 settlers attacked 75-year-old community
representative Abdelfattah Shalaldeh (Abu Jamal) and his fa mily in Al Ganoub: “I
was playing with my grandchildren on our land that we inherited and owned before
the Ottoman time.” He told OHCHR that initially a group of 10–15 settlers with three
dogs started throwing stones at the family tent from a distance, and then attacked after
a larger group arrived. While his wife and grandchildren fled, Abu Jamal stayed
because he could not run and because he believed he wouldn’t be harmed owing to
his age. He was beaten by settlers armed with axes and batons and kicked wh ile on
the ground, while another group attacked his nephew who lives nearby and tried to
intervene.
54. The attack ended as the Israeli security forces arrived. Umm Jamal, Abu Jamal’s
wife, told OHCHR that the Israeli security forces were watching from a distance but
did not intervene until the settlers were leaving. According to eyewitnesses, the
settlers were not stopped by the Israeli security forces, who instead threatened to
shoot some of the family who had arrived and begun to throw stones at the retr eating
settlers. The attack left Abu Jamal with multiple fractures in the face and hand, and
injuries on the head, neck and face. His nephew was taken to the hospital suffering
from internal bleeding in his stomach. The family filed a complaint with the Is raeli
police on 13 February, providing photos and videos, but had not received any update
as at 31 May.127
55. This was not an isolated incident. During the reporting period, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented five other such instances of settler
violence against herder families of Al -Ganoub causing injury and/or damage. These
ranged from attacks with knives and sticks (17 March), injuring livestock (22 January),
stealing livestock (27 March) and destruction of olive trees ( 2 February). Other
incidents of trespassing, harassment and threatening behaviour, including settlers
chasing herders and livestock away from pastureland with dogs, often remain
undocumented. Settler attacks effectively reduce pastureland and thus force the
Palestinian herders to move away. Abu Jamal told OHCHR that since 2018, the
pastureland surrounding the residential area in Al -Ganoub had decreased from a
radius of 1 km to merely 100 metres, while the farm outposts controlled 5,000 dunums
of pastureland that Al-Ganoub herders used to access.
56. Israeli authorities also use the discriminatory planning regime to put additional
pressure on Palestinian residents.128 On 4 August, Israeli security forces and Israeli
Civil Administration officials demolished a re sidential tent and destroyed a water tank
belonging to one family, resulting in the forced eviction of eight people, including
four children. Meanwhile demolition orders against the outposts are not enforced. 129
Unlike nearby settlements, Al-Ganoub residents have no access to water or electricity
networks, leaving them dependent on expensive water tankers and unreliable solar
panels.130 There has also apparently been a reduction in private services, as providers
of water, wood, fodder and taxis fear settler a ttacks near Al-Ganoub.
__________________
126 United Nations Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “ The humanitarian impact of
de facto settlement expansion: the case of Asfar”, 13 December 2016.
127 B’Teselem, “Al-Qanub, Hebron District: dozens of settlers attack family tent compound with
stones, injuring two family members”, 7 March 2022.
128 A/73/410, para. 32; A/HRC/49/85, para. 53.
129 Yesh Din, “Plundered pastures”, December 2021 , p. 14.
130 United Nations Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “ The humanitarian impact of
de facto settlement expansion: the case of Asfar”, 13 December 2016.
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57. The most recent family to leave Al-Ganoub on 6 May are Ziyad Shalaldeh and
Umm Abed, with their four children and his aged parents. Ziyad was born and lived
throughout in Al-Ganoub. The family lived in a large tent, with separate sections for
kitchen and dairy production, with 80 sheep in another structure. Ziyad showed
OHCHR documents to prove his ownership of seven dunums of land cultivated with
fruit trees and with two water cisterns – part of the 183 dunums of pastureland owned
by the extended family in Area C.
58. The family lived in an isolated part of Al-Ganoub with the path to them passing
through a training site for Israeli security forces and leading to the settlement, while
a farm outpost was only 100 metres away. This made them more susceptible to settler
attacks. For example, on 30 April, approximately 10 settlers with batons and pepper
spray trespassed into their yard and stole seven newborn goats and assaulted their
15-year-old daughter who tried to record the incident on video. Ziyad reported this
incident to the Office for the Coordinat ion of Humanitarian Affairs but said that
threats and chasing them off their lands had become so common in recent months that
he had not reported them, such as on 14 October when settlers chased him while he
was herding his sheep. He told OHCHR that, in Ma rch alone, settlers attacked the
family at least four times, stealing items including a fence and fodder stands and
frequently swimming in their cistern used for drinking -water.
59. Ziyad told OHCHR that the continuing anxiety caused by the attacks had lef t
the family no option but to move out. As the family was packing and loading their
belongings on 6 May, they were attacked by a group of around 40 masked settlers,
who tried to steal or damage their belongings. One sheep was killed, their solar panel
unit and a water-tank damaged, and other belongings were stolen. According to Ziyad,
the settlers piled their clothes and textiles in a nearby cave and burned them. Umm
Abed told OHCHR that she ran to the military camp 500 metres away, but the Israeli
security forces remained at a distance until the settlers themselves began to leave. The
soldiers did not pursue the settlers and merely told the family to file a complaint with
the Israeli police. Although the family filed a complaint, Ziyad said he had little ho pe
as Al-Ganoub residents have previously filed several complaints, without any action
taken.
60. Other families have resorted to other coping mechanisms, including moving to
areas furthest from the outposts within the same community. Others have moved out
temporarily. Yacoub and Asma Shalaldeh moved away from July 2021 to January
2022 with their five children. According to Yacoub, the violence intensified around
in 2016 and 2017 when one particular settler erected a tent in the area and led regular
attacks. By early 2018, the outpost had grown, and the settler claimed that the
pastureland and wells were guaranteed to him by the authorities. Yacoub’s brother,
Jamel, was one of the early ones to leave in July 2018 after an attack on his son by
the settlers. After another serious incident in early July 2021 – when Yacoub said he
was attacked by five masked settlers who stole five sheep while another 20 sheep
escaped – he, too, decided to move.
61. Both the Shalaldeh families moved to Al -Maniya, 13 kilometres away from
Al-Ganoub, near a landfill and sewage treatment plant. They told OHCHR that they
had no desire to leave Al-Ganoub but had no choice as the situation had become
unbearable for them.
62. The forced move away has significantly challenged Ziyad and Um m Abed’s
family, in particularly their ability to continue with their traditional way of life as
herders. Umm Abed told OHCHR that although they owned a plot of land at the edge
of Sa’ir town, living there was not feasible as animals weren’t permitted in t hat
residential area. Instead, they temporarily lived on a relative’s plot in Al -Maniya. The
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limited pastureland in Al Maniya, however, means that the family has to purchase
fodder to feed the animals, making it unsustainable in the long -term.
63. Although there have not been any settler attacks in Al -Maniya, Ziyad said that
they were facing threats of expulsion from the Israeli security forces and Israeli Civil
Administration along with restrictions on pastureland due to the nearby Israeli
military area. According to Ziyad, since moving, Israeli Civil Administration officials
have repeatedly told him to leave. On 30 May, Israeli Civil Administration threatened
to demolish his structure and confiscate his belongings. 131
64. Families in Al-Maniya are also struggling with deteriorated access to water and
education. In the absence of wells, Ziyad said they relied largely on expensive water
tanks, while the children have dropped out of school – it is 6 kilometres away – owing
to lack of transportation. The family also fears the health effects of living next to a
landfill site. Umm Abed told OHCHR that the younger children were constantly
vomiting owing to the smell.
65. The forced displacement has had a disproportionate impact on women and girls.
Asma Shalaldeh told OHCHR that the absence of toilet facilities at Al Maniya meant
that she and her daughter could only relieve themselves once a day – after dusk – as
they needed to find private space in the nearby hills. This became more difficult
during their menstrual periods. She also highlighted the lack of transportation, which
made all the women more reliant on the men, as they did not drive, reinforcing
traditional gender roles. This has also had an impact on access to health servi ces,
which are at a village 6 kilometres away. Asma also raised concerns about lack of
privacy owing to the regular intrusion by small observation drones apparently flown
by Israeli security forces, making them feel unsecure and forced to wear headscarves
even inside their own tent. Ziyad told OHCHR that they moved their teenage daughter
from Al Maniya to stay with relatives in Sa’ir owing to concerns about her safety.
66. Palestinian herding communities have a unique social and traditional way of
life, built around their herds, which relies on access to pastureland and water
resources. The coercive environment in Al-Ganoub – in particular the increasing
settler violence – is making it difficult for them to sustain their traditional way of life.
For some families, the increased threat to family members was the final straw which
forced them to leave their communities, even at significant costs to their livelihoods,
family and social ties. Such an involuntary move by members of the protected
population from their place of ordinary residence raises serious concern that forcible
transfer may have taken place.132
67. The Pnei Kedem farm outpost website states: “in conjunction with the Ministry
of Agriculture … we have created a business plan to raise a herd of 400 sheep. A herd
creates a permanent presence over a large area, thereby contributing to security.” 133
This is placed in a larger context: “The ranch is located in a strategic area, which
safeguards a local nature reserve, and encompasses lands providing for e ssential
future growth.”134 Such statements are consistent with the findings of other studies:
that farm outposts and subsequent violence are part of a long -standing Israeli plan for
Area C to clear the area by forcing Palestinian herders away and take over the land
for settlement expansion.135
__________________
131 On 14 June, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished the structures and forcibly evicted the
family – they now live in a small tent provided by the ICRC.
132 A/73/410, para. 58. See also International Criminal Court, “Elements of crimes”, The Hague, 2011.
133 See https://gush-etzion.org.il/project/pnei-kedem-ranch/.
134 Ibid.
135 According to Karem Navot, an organization that monitors Israeli policies in the West Bank; and
Yesh Din, “Plundered pastures”, December 2021 .
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V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan
68. Settlement expansion in the occupied Syrian Golan took a new dimension on
26 December 2021 when the Israeli Cabinet approved a special plan to build 7,300
residential units in existing settlements, including “Katzrin”, for 23,000 new Israeli
settlers within the next five years. The plan also includes the establishment of two
new settlements (“Asif” and “Matar”) with 2,000 units each.136
69. In his remarks to the Cabinet meeting on 26 December 2021, the Prime Minister
of Israel at the time stated that the goal of this plan was “to double the population of the
Golan Heights” in order “to advance the interests of the State of Israel”, stating that
“the Golan Heights [were] Israeli”137. The Secretary-General reaffirms the continuing
validity of Security Council resolution 497 (1981), by which the Council decided that
the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied
Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and without international legal effect. 138
70. The existing 34 settlements, as well as the plan to expand them and establish
new ones, and the Israeli commercial activity, including the large -scale wind turbine
project, continue to limit the Syrian population’s access to land and water, in violation
of a wide range of their human rights, including the rights to food, to health, and to
adequate housing.
VI. Conclusions and recommendations
71. The establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan amount to the transfer by
Israel of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, which is
prohibited under international humanitarian law, as consistently confirmed by
the competent United Nations organs, including the International Court of
Justice.139 It may also amount to a war crime.140
72. Settlement of titles constitutes an irreversible act of sovereignty by a
permanent regime and subverts the principle that occupation is inherently
temporary.141 Ongoing action in this regard in the occupied West Bank, including
East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law and increases the risk of illegal
appropriation of property and of possible forcible transfer.142
73. The steady increase in violence by settlers with the acquiescence and
support of Israeli security forces, and the continuing impunity for such acts
highlight the unwillingness of the Israeli authorities to uphold its obligations as
the occupying Power to ensure as far as possible public order and life and protect
the Palestinian population against all acts or threats of violence. Growing
instances of Israeli security forces using force in the context of settler attacks
__________________
136 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Cabinet approves special plan to develop the Golan Heights”,
26 December 2021. Available at: https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/cabinet -approvesspecial-
plan-to-develop-golan-heights-26-dec-2021.
137 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “PM Bennet’s remarks at the start of the special Cabinet meeting on
the Golan Heights”, 26 December 2021 . Available at: https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/
pm-bennett-s-remarks-at-the-special-cabinet-meeting-26-dec-2021.
138 A/74/357, para. 70.
139 A/76/336, para. 59.
140 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 49 (6). See also Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, art. 8 (2) (b) (viii).
141 Hague Regulations, arts. 43 and 55.
142 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.
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against Palestinians, or jointly using force, including firearms, in the same
incident is making distinction in violence increasingly difficult to discern.
74. There was an almost total failure to ensure accountability for apparent
unlawful killing of Palestinians, including in instances that raise concerns of
extrajudicial executions and wilful killing. This is indicative of the climate of
impunity which prevails with respect to Israeli security forces excessive force
against Palestinians, including in the contexts of settlement.
75. Systematic demolitions of Palestinian homes, based on discriminatory laws
and policies, are ongoing and result in forced evictions: a gross violation of
human rights.143 Forced evictions resulting from demolitions in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory are a key factor in the creation of a coercive environment.
They have a negative impact on a wide range of human rights and increase the
risk of forcible transfer.
76. Outposts, including farms, play a vital role in limiting Palestinian
pastureland, including on privately-owned land, and effectively add further
restrictions on Palestinian movement and livelihood. This adds to the coercive
environment and along with increasing settler violence is forcing some
Palestinians to leave their home, raising concerns of possible forcible transfer.
77. The Secretary-General recalls Security Council resolution 497 (1981), by
which the Council decided that the decision of Israel to impose its laws,
jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null
and void and without international legal effect.
78. The Secretary-General recommends that Israel:
(a) Immediately and completely cease and reverse all settlement activities
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in compliance
with international law, including relevant United Nations resolutions, such as
Security Council resolution 2334 (2016);
(b) Immediately halt demolitions and forced evictions and cease any
activity that would further contribute to a coercive environment and/or lead to
a risk of possible forcible transfer;
(c) Promptly review operations and policies of Israeli security forces to
ensure consistency with the obligations of Israel as occupying Power to protect
the Palestinian population;
(d) Ensure that all incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli securi ty
forces against Palestinians and damage to their property, are promptly,
effectively, thoroughly, and transparently investigated; that perpetrators are
prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and that
victims are provided with effective remedies, including adequate compensation,
in accordance with international standards;
(e) Immediately cease and reverse all settlement development and related
activities in the occupied Syrian Golan and end discriminatory land, housing and
development policies, in compliance with relevant United Nations resolutions;
(f) Immediately remove all mines and minefields in the occupied Syrian
Golan, which pose a risk to the local population.
__________________
143 Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/28, para. 1.

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Part II (A) 1- Israeli Settlements

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