22/63 Report of the independent international factfinding 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

GE.13-10742

Human Rights Council Twenty-second session

Agenda item 7

Human rights situation in Palestine and other

occupied Arab territories

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*

Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 19/17,

in which the Council decided to establish an independent international fact-finding mission

to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the human rights of the

Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

* The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only.

Contents

Paragraphs Page

I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1–9 3

A. Mandate .......................................................................................................... 1–2 3

B. Terms of reference and methods of work ....................................................... 3–9 3

II. Applicable law ........................................................................................................ 10–17 4

III. Context ................................................................................................................ 18–30 6

IV. Implications of Israeli settlements on the rights of Palestinians .............................. 31–99 8

A. Right to self-determination ............................................................................. 32–38 8

B. Equality and right to non-discrimination ........................................................ 39–95 10

C. Impact of businesses ....................................................................................... 96–99 20

V. Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 100–111 21

VI. Recommendations ................................................................................................... 112–117 22

Annexes

I. Timeline: Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem ....... 24

II. Locations of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem .. 39

I. Introduction

A. Mandate

1. In its resolution 19/17, the Human Rights Council decided to establish an

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.

2. On 6 July 2012, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed three high-

level experts as members of the fact-finding mission: Christine Chanet (Chairperson),

Asma Jahangir and Unity Dow.

B. Terms of reference and methods of work

3. The members of the mission convened for the first time in Geneva in August 2012,

and held meetings with the representatives of concerned permanent missions and other

relevant stakeholders. The mission adopted its terms of reference in the light of the mandate

conferred on it by the Human Rights Council, which it considered had clearly instructed it

to investigate all the human rights implications of the Israeli settlements for the Palestinians

in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The mission interpreted its mandate to require it to

conduct its investigations within the legal framework of international human rights law,

together with other relevant bodies of international law. The mission notes that the Israeli

settlements also have other implications, including for the rights of those residing inside the

settlements and in Israel.

4. For the purpose of its work, the mission understands ―Israeli settlements‖ to

encompass all physical and non-physical structures and processes that constitute, enable

and support the establishment, expansion and maintenance of Israeli residential

communities beyond the Green Line of 1949 in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see

annex I).1 The mission did not differentiate between ―settlements‖, ―settlement blocks‖,

―outposts‖ or any other structures that have been erected, established, expanded and/or

appropriated or any land or natural resources appropriated.

5. Guided by the principles of ―do no harm‖, independence, impartiality, objectivity,

discretion, transparency, confidentiality, integrity and professionalism, the mission

carefully analysed all available information that it considered relevant and credible.

6. To ensure the greatest availability of such information, the mission issued a public

call for written submissions, which it also directly shared with representatives of Israeli

settler communities. In response to the call, it received 62 submissions. The mission

analysed information received from Governments, intergovernmental organizations,

international and national non-governmental organizations, professional bodies, academics,

victims, witnesses and the media. The mission did not receive any testimony or submission

on an anonymous basis. All information received was treated with due confidentiality.

7. The mission had expected to undertake field visits to Israel and the Occupied

Palestinian Territory in order to observe directly the situation on the ground. It addressed

1 These include, inter alia, the ―wall‖ (denoting the physical barrier constructed by Israel since 2002);

checkpoints, closure obstacles, bypass roads, tunnels and the permit system; legal systems;

commercial and industrial infrastructure; and planning and zoning regimes. See annex II.

five requests for cooperation to the Government of Israel through the Permanent Mission of

Israel in Geneva. The Government did not respond to the mission‘s requests. The mission

regrets the fact that the Government did not respond and that, consequently, it did not have

access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Alternative arrangements were

made to obtain direct and first-hand information in the form of a series of meetings held

with a wide range of interlocutors from 3 to 8 November 2012 in Jordan.

8. During its visit to Jordan, the mission listened to and collected information on a

wide range of relevant issues from more than 50 people affected by the settlements and/or

working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. It met with victims of human

rights violations, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, officials from the

Palestinian Authority, and representatives of international and non-governmental

organizations and United Nations agencies. The mission kept a record of all testimony

given.

9. The present report is the result of the mission‘s consideration and analysis of all the

submissions and information it received and gathered.2 The mission points out that a

number of interlocutors requested explicitly that their identity not be disclosed. The mission

is grateful to all those who extended their cooperation to it.

II. Applicable law

10. The international legal framework applicable to the issue before the mission is

primarily provided for in international human rights law and international humanitarian

law.

11. Israel is bound to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the full range of the social,

economic, cultural, civil and political human rights of all persons within its jurisdiction as a

result of its being party to 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 Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the

Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol thereto on the involvement of children in

armed conflict, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial

Discrimination. Israel is also bound by relevant international human rights rules that are a

part of customary international law.

12. The rights protected by human rights treaties must be available to all individuals in

the territory of or subject to the jurisdiction of Israel, except where the State has lawfully

derogated from them. The treaty bodies of the United Nations that monitor the

implementation of the applicable human rights treaties have consistently concluded that the

treaties to which Israel is a party are applicable with regard to acts carried out by Israel in

the Occupied Palestinian Territory.3 This was confirmed by the International Court of

Justice in 2004.4 Furthermore, the human rights obligations of Israel apply in both peace

and times of armed conflict. In the latter situation, they continue to apply alongside

2 For a list of sources consulted by the mission in the course of its work, see

www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session19/Pages/IsraeliSettlementsInTheOPT.aspx.

3 For a compilation of selected conclusions and recommendations made by human rights mechanisms,

see www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session19/Pages/IsraeliSettlementsInTheOPT.aspx.

4 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 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), paras.

109-113.

international humanitarian law to provide complementary and mutually reinforcing

protection.

13. A situation of military occupation prevails in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. As

the occupying Power, Israel is bound under international humanitarian law by a set of

obligations which are provided for in the Hague Regulations of 1907, annexed to the

Convention with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, which are recognized

as part of customary international law, and the Geneva Convention relative to the

Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention), to

which Israel is a High Contracting Party.

14. The applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian

Territory was decisively established by the International Court of Justice,5 and has been

recognized and consistently reaffirmed by, inter alia, the Commission on Human Rights,

the Human Rights Council, the Security Council and the General Assembly.6 Under the

Fourth Geneva Convention, Palestinians living under occupation are ―protected persons‖

and thus the focus of the obligations of Israel under humanitarian law therein.

15. International humanitarian law establishes obligations on Israel concerning, inter

alia, humane treatment and physical integrity of the Palestinians as protected persons;

respect for their basic rights to education, a fair trial, family, health, religion, and work;

maintenance of public order and safety; respect for existing laws; respect for and protection

of real and personal property; and the management of public property, including natural

resources.

16. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also prohibits the occupying Power

from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory that it occupies. This

prohibition has attained the status of customary international law. The mission notes that

the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

violate this provision and are, thus, illegal under international law.7

17. The mission also considered, where necessary, other international law frameworks

and principles. In a situation of prevailing impunity, the law on State responsibility for

internationally wrongful acts, including third-State responsibility, is relevant. International

criminal law enables the pursuit of individual criminal responsibility for conduct that

amounts to international crimes. In this regard, on 3 December 2012, Palestine addressed

identical letters to the Secretary-General and the Security Council. Citing article

8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it stated that ―Israeli

settlement activities‖ constitute war crimes, and that Israel must be held accountable for

such acts.8

5 Ibid., para. 101.

6 See for example Commission on Human Rights resolutions 6 (XXIV), 6 (XXV) and 2001/7; Human

Rights Council resolutions 7/18, 10/18 and 19/17; Security Council resolutions 271 (1969), 446

(1979), 641 (1989), 681 (1990) and 799 (1992); and General Assembly resolutions 2546 (XXIV), ES-

10/2, 36/147 C, 54/78, 58/97, ES-10/18 and 66/225. 7 See for example the advisory opinion of 9 July 2004, para. 120; Security Council resolution 471

(1980); General Assembly resolutions 3092 (XXVIII), 47/172 and 66/225; Commission on Human

Rights resolution 2000/8; Human Rights Council resolutions 13/7 and 16/31; and Council of the

European Union, Conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process, 3166th Foreign Affairs Council

Meeting, 14 May 2012.

8 A/ES-10/573 - S/2012/899.

III. Context9

18. Israeli settlements are located beyond the Green Line of 1949 and include structures

in East Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank. The Oslo Accords established Area A,

comprising approximately 18 per cent of the West Bank and encompassing urban

Palestinian areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority; Area B, representing

some 22 per cent of the vast majority of Palestinian rural areas, under Palestinian civil

control, while the Israeli army has security control; and Area C, comprising an estimated 60

per cent of the territory, under full Israeli control for security, planning and construction

purposes. Settlements are generally located among the more vulnerable sections of

Palestinian society, predominantly agrarian villages.

19. The mission was informed that settlers may be divided broadly into three categories.

The first are those who have moved on quality-of-life grounds and live in settlements close

to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The second, ultra-Orthodox Jews, who constitute more than 25

per cent10 of the settler population, live in settlements largely isolated from other Israelis;

ultra-Orthodox Jews seem also to be motivated by economic incentives and cheaper

housing and are generally found in settlements closer to the Green Line. A third group

seems to be motivated by political and religious ideologies; they live in the central part of

the West Bank, often very close to Palestinian communities.

20. Since 1967, the Governments of Israel have openly led and directly participated in

the planning, construction, development, consolidation and/or encouragement of

settlements by including explicit provisions in the fundamental policy instrument (basic

policy guidelines), establishing governmental structures and implementing specific

measures. These specific measures include (a) building infrastructure; (b) encouraging

Jewish migrants to Israel to move to settlements; (c) sponsoring economic activities; (d)

supporting settlements through public services delivery and development projects; and (e)

seizing Palestinian land, some privately owned, requisitioning land for ―military needs‖,

declaring or registering land as ―State land‖ and expropriating land for ―public needs‖.

21. Government investment in the settlements has not been made explicit in the public

budget, but allocated through hidden provisions in a process described by the former Head

of the Israeli Civil Service Commission, Itzhak Galnoor (1994-1996), as (in 2007)

―partially secretive‖ and (in 2011) as ―a political tool‖. Government investment, excluding

military expenses, has fluctuated over the years, with an estimated peak of $795.8 million

in 2005.11 Quasi-governmental organizations, funded by the Government, including the

World Zionist Organization, also provide funds to the settlements.

22. A governmental scheme of subsidies and incentives has been put in place to

encourage Jewish migrants to Israel to move to settlements and to boost their economic

development. Settlements have been defined as ―national priority areas‖, and benefit from

housing and education subsidies and direct incentives to the industrial, agricultural and

tourism sectors.

23. Various sources refer to settlement master plans, including the Allon Plan (1967),

the Drobles Plan (1978) – later expanded as the Sharon Plan (1981) – and the Hundred

Thousand Plan (1983). Although these plans were never officially approved, they have

9 See also annex I.

10 Dror Etkes and Lara Friedman, ―The Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the West Bank‖, October 2005,

available from http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/ultra-orthodox-jews-west-bank. 11 Jeremy M. Sharp, ―U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel‖, Congressional Research Service report, 12 March

2012, available from www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf.

largely been acted upon by successive Governments of Israel. The mission notes a pattern

whereby plans developed for the settlements have been mirrored in Government policy

instruments and implemented on the ground.

24. The first settlement established was Kefar Ezyon, in September 1967. In the early

years, the establishment of settlements followed a typical pattern. The settlers had access to

the highest ranking Government officials, played on their emotional ties to the land and

encouraged these officials to lead and participate in establishing and expanding settlements

through, inter alia, the seizure of land for ―military purposes‖.

25. In June 1967, Israel illegally annexed 70 km 2 of land incorporating East Jerusalem

and a number of nearby Palestinian villages into the expanded boundaries of the Jerusalem

municipality of Israel. It promptly built 12 Israeli ―neighbourhoods‖ that enveloped nearby

Palestinian quarters and villages. An outer layer of settlements beyond the municipal

boundaries were then built, thereby severing the geographical continuity of the city from

the rest of the West Bank. Since the 1970s, the Jerusalem municipality of Israel has openly

pursued a policy of ―demographic balance‖, most recently seen in the city master plan also

known as ―Jerusalem 2000‖. The master plan calls for a 60/40 demographic balance in

favour of Jewish residents.

26. Studies on settlements commissioned by the Office of the Prime Minister in 2005

(the Sason report) and 2012 (the Levy report) document the Government‘s authorization in

the establishment and expansion of settlements up to 1992, and indicate that settlements

built afterwards with no Government authorization (―outposts‖) were established with the

―full knowledge of all [authorities], starting with the government ministers and prime

minister, and until the lowest enforcing agencies (…) the denial had but one goal only: to

withstand criticism by various factors, mostly international‖.12 Sason concluded that

―unauthorized outposts violate[s] standard procedure, good governing rules (…) endanger

the principle of the rule of law [and thus] urgent measures must be taken to change [this]

reality‖.13 In contrast, the findings of the Levy report suggested the retroactive authorization

of ―outposts‖.

27. In September 2005, through the ―disengagement plan‖, Israel dismantled 21

settlements in the Gaza Strip (and four in the West Bank), evacuated the settlers residing

there and withdrew the army, while maintaining exclusive control of the airspace of Gaza

and continued to conduct military activities in the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip. The

―disengagement plan‖ was presented in Israel as an essential step to preserve its control

over the settlements in the West Bank. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been

quoted as saying ―in the framework of the ‗disengagement plan‘, Israel would strengthen its

control of those parts of the land that will constitute an inalienable part of the State of Israel

in any future agreement.‖14

28. Since 1967, some 250 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have

been established, either with or without Government authorization. The number of settlers

is estimated at 520,00015 (200,00016 in East Jerusalem and 320,000 in the rest of the West

12 Yehudit Karp, ―A harsh indictment‖, Haaretz, 27 November 2012. 13 Talya Sason, ―Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts‖, 10 March 2005.

Available from

www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Law/Legal+Issues+and+Rulings/Summary+of+Opinion+Concern

ing+Unauthorized+Outposts+-+Talya+Sason+Adv.htm.

14 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, Lords of the Land: the War for Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied

Territories, 1967-2007 (New York, Nation Books, 2007). 15 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement

Policies‖, Update December 2012. Available from

Bank). According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, over the past decade, the settler

population has grown at a much higher rate than the population in Israel itself, with a yearly

average growth of 5.3 per cent (excluding East Jerusalem), compared with 1.8 per cent in

Israel.

29. After years of court orders, the Migron and Ulpana ―outposts‖ were evacuated in

2012. Settlers responsible for appropriating private Palestinian land without Government

authorization were, however, provided after the evacuation with new homes in nearby

settlements. The Government paid for the transfer of their property and the rental on the

new homes.

30. The Government in office since April 2009 has contributed to the consolidation and

expansion of settlements. Government spending on the settlements during 2011 was 38 per

cent more than in 2010. 17

On 14 November 2012, the Minister for Finance, Yuval Steinitz,

stated ―we‘ve doubled the budget for Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. We did this in a

low-profile manner, because we didn't want parties either in Israel or abroad to thwart the

move.‖18

IV. Implications of Israeli settlements on the rights of Palestinians

31. The mission notes that the impact of settlements on the human rights of the

Palestinians is manifested in various forms and ways. These are interrelated, forming part

of an overall pattern. The structure of the report is intended to reflect this reality.

A. Right to self-determination

32. The mission notes that, in its resolution 67/19, the General Assembly reaffirmed

―the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State

of Palestine on the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967‖.

33. In a report on the issue, the Secretary-General warned that (the demographic and

territorial presence of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was put

at risk by the continued transfer by Israel, the occupying Power, of its population into the

occupied territory, observing that Israel had transferred approximately 8 per cent of its

citizens into the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the 1970s. He also recalled that 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. 19

34. The establishment of the settlements and the creation of dozens of enclaves have

also caused the fragmentation of the West Bank. The mission heard that the establishment

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ocha%20opt%20settlements%20FactSheet%20D

ecember%202012%20english.pdf. 16 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns‖,

Update December 2011. Available from

www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_Jerusalem_FactSheet_December_2011_english.pdf

17 Chaim Levinson, ―Israeli government spent NIS 1.1 billion on settlements in 2011, reports show‖,

Haaretz, 31 July 2012.

18 ―Like a thief in the night‖ Haaretz editorial, 14 November 2012.

19 A/67/375, para. 12.

of Ma‘ale Adummim and its expansion has had a much wider significance than the local

impact of most settlements by severing territorial continuity between Palestinian

communities.20 The Wall ―where it is built or planned, truncates and chops up Palestinian

space with ‗fingers‘ extending deep into the West Bank. (…) Its ―route threatens to divide

the West Bank into two separate areas and cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West

Bank‖.21

35. The Government of Israel has full security and administrative control over the

settlement areas, and effectively controls the external borders of the Occupied Palestinian

Territory. Regional councils composed exclusively of representatives of Israeli settlers

exercise planning functions in settlement areas. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor local

Palestinian communities have any control over the governance, administration and planning

of these areas.

36. The settlements, including the associated restrictions, impede Palestinian access to

and control over their natural resources. In his report, the Secretary-General noted that

Palestinians had virtually no control over the water resources in the West Bank.22 Eighty-

six per cent of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea is under the de facto jurisdiction of the

settlement regional councils. Settlements exploit mineral extraction and fertile agricultural

lands, denying Palestinians access to their natural resources.

37. In December 2012, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported

that, while the fenced areas of settlements cover only 3 per cent of the West Bank, in reality

43 per cent of the territory is allocated to local and regional settlement councils.23 There are

approximately 150,000 Palestinians living in Area C in close proximity to more than

320,000 Israeli settlers. In East Jerusalem, some 200,000 settlers have been introduced into

Palestinian areas with a Palestinian population of about 390,000. The negative impact of

Israeli settlements on the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people extends,

however, to the Palestinian people as a whole.

38. The mission considers that the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,

including the right to determine how to implement self-determination, the right to have a

demographic and territorial presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the right to

permanent sovereignty over natural resources, is clearly being violated by Israel through the

existence and ongoing expansion of the settlements. The transfer of Israeli citizens into the

Occupied Palestinian Territory, prohibited under international humanitarian law and

international criminal law, is a central feature of the practices and policies of Israel.

20 ―The Hidden Agenda: The Establishment and Expansion Plans of Ma‘ale Adummim and their Human

Rights Ramifications‖, B‘Tselem, December 2009, available from

www.btselem.org/download/200912_maale_adummim_eng.pdf.

21 See ―Arrested Development: the Long Term Impact of Israel‘s Separation Barrier in the West Bank‖,

October 2012 (available from

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/201210_arrested_development_eng.pdf), and

―By Hook and by Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank‖, B‘Tselem, July 2010 (available

from www.btselem.org/download/201007_by_hook_and_by_crook_eng.pdf).

22 A/67/375, para. 14.

23 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement

Policies‖ (see footnote15).

B. Equality and right to non-discrimination

1. Inequality and discrimination in the application of the law

39. Information presented to the mission demonstrates that distinct legal systems exist in

the Occupied Palestinian Territory and are applied separately to Israeli settlers and

Palestinians. Broadly, Israelis in Area C are subject to Israeli domestic law enforced by the

police and courts in Israel. A patchwork of Israeli military orders and Ottoman, British and

Jordanian legislation is applied to Palestinians, who are also subject to a military court

system with a wide jurisdictional reach.

40. By ―channelling‖ Israeli civil law into the territory of settlements, ―legal zones‖

have been established within the West Bank where Israeli laws apply to settlers in order, for

example, to regulate the status and authority of governmental institutions within

settlements. These laws do not apply to Palestinians. Other Israeli laws are applied

personally to Israelis in the West Bank, giving them preferential legal status over

Palestinians. A matrix of military orders applies personally, by law or by practice, only to

Palestinians to regulate and control most aspects of daily life, including by restricting an

extensive range of rights. Israelis and Palestinians are also treated differently by the same

laws; for instance, some military orders designate areas in the Occupied Palestinian

Territory as ―closed military zones/areas‖. With the exception of military training or firing

zones, only Palestinians are prohibited from entering such areas unless they have a permit,

even if the area encompasses Palestinian land, thereby denying Palestinians access to or

ownership of land. The so-called ―seam zone‖ is closed to Palestinians, while Israelis and

foreign visitors have unrestricted access. Certain other Israeli laws expressly discriminate

against Palestinians. In 2012, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

reiterated its concern about the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary

Provision) that suspends, with rare exceptions, family reunification between an Israeli

citizen and a person residing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with a severe impact on

family rights.

41. The mission again noted the extraterritorial personal application of Israeli

legislation, with the application of Israeli criminal law to Israelis in the West Bank with

respect to offences they allegedly committed there.

42. According to the Secretary-General, lack of accountability permeates all types of

acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against property and persons. 24

The situation

today closely resembles that described by the inquiry conducted in 1984 into action taken

with regard to settler violence headed by the then Israeli Deputy Attorney General, Yehudit

Karp. According to Yesh Din, an Israeli non-governmental organization that monitored 869

cases between 2005 and 2012, more than 91 per cent of all investigations concluded into

complaints of criminal offences against Palestinian persons and property in the Occupied

Palestinian Territory were closed without an indictment being served, mostly owing to

investigative failures.25 This is despite the fact that attacks and intimidation by settlers

against Palestinians are often carried out in daylight and in the presence of Israeli army or

police personnel, who frequently do not stop the violence or are ineffective.

43. The mission was informed that, when acts of violence are committed by Palestinians

against settlers, these are appropriately addressed, indicating that the lack of law

24 A/67/375, para. 39. 25 Yesh Din, ―The impact of the settlements on Palestinian rights in the West Bank‖, November 2012,

available from www.yesh-din.org/userfiles/file/Position%20Papers/Yesh%20Din%20Position%20to%

20UN%20FF%20Mission.pdf.

enforcement experienced by Palestinians is largely a matter of political will. Between 90 to

95 per cent of cases against Palestinians are investigated and go to court.

44. The failure to conduct effective investigations and prosecutions of settler violence

impedes Palestinians‘ access to an effective remedy. This is compounded by the multiple

barriers presented to Palestinians by the court system, including time, cost, language and

procedural barriers coupled with inadequate notification of relevant orders and declarations.

Fear and lack of confidence in the courts also act as deterrents to seeking redress.

Palestinians are also significantly limited from seeking compensation from the State of

Israel for certain conduct by its agents pursuant to the Civil Torts (Liability of the State)

Law 2005, as amended in 2012.

45. The Supreme Court of Israel sitting as the High Court of Justice does not offer

Palestinians a clear avenue for recourse. The High Court has consistently deferred to the

Government of Israel on matters relating to the settlements, and has rendered the question

of the legality of the settlements non-justiciable. While on occasion the Court has found in

favour of Palestinian petitioners, it has both substantially limited its oversight role and

provided a legal space in which the settlements have been developed. Additionally, where

judicial rulings have favoured the Palestinian petitioners, there is a consistent lack of

enforcement of them.

46. Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory endure a discriminatory

application of a military court system that does not comply with international standards of

fair trial and administration of justice.26 In testimony to the mission, a witness explained

that ―two individuals in the West Bank may commit the same offence. One is investigated

by the police in the West Bank and brought before a military court, and can be detained up

to eight days without seeing a judge. The Israeli who has done the same is investigated and

brought before a civilian judge, and enjoys all the safeguards of a modern criminal process.

Both face different penalties. The prevailing legal systems in Occupied Palestinian

Territory translate into stark inequality before the law.

47. Palestinians are routinely subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, including

administrative detention, mass arrests and incarceration. It is estimated that more than

700,000 Palestinians, including children, have been held in Israeli military detention since

the beginning of the occupation, many in prisons located within Israel.27 In 2012,

approximately 4,100 Palestinians were in Israeli military detention, of whom 143 were aged

between 16 and 18 years, and 21 were below 16 years old.28 It is well documented that the

military court system does not ensure Palestinians basic fair trial guarantees, including

minimum standards of independence, clear evidentiary or procedural rules, the presumption

of innocence or the duty to hear witnesses or examine all material evidence.

48. Most children are arrested at friction points, such as villages near settlements or on

roads used by the army or settlers and that run by a Palestinian village. From point of arrest,

they face multiple violations of their rights to liberty and security and fair trial through

interrogation, arbitrary detention and abuse, trial and sentencing. Approximately 90 per

cent of children plead guilty and are given custodial sentences. The mission heard

testimony that ―in short, pleading guilty is the quickest way out of the system, whether the

26 See CCPR/CO/78/ISR, para. 12, and CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 7. 27 A/HRC/7/17, para. 45. See also B‘Tselem, ―Statistics on Palestinians in the custody of Israeli security

forces‖ (2008 to 2012).

28 B‘Tselem, ―Statistics on Palestinians‖ (see footnote 27).

offence was committed or not.‖ Approximately 60 per cent of Palestinian children serve

their sentences inside Israel.29

49. The legal regime of segregation operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has

enabled the establishment and the consolidation of the settlements through the creation of a

privileged legal space for settlements and settlers. It results in daily violations of a

multitude of the human rights of the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

including, incontrovertibly, violating their rights to non-discrimination, equality before the

law and equal protection of the law.

2. Settlers violence and intimidation

50. All spheres of Palestinian life are being significantly affected by a minority of

settlers who are engaged in violence and intimidation with the aim of forcing Palestinians

off their land. There was consistency in testimonies with regard to the following facts:

attacks and intimidation regularly take place during daylight hours; the identity of

perpetrators are well known, or perpetrators could easily be identified; the frequent

presence of police and army at the scene; the involvement and presence of settlement

security officers; the frequent existence of video and photographic footage of the incidents;

and the lack of accountability for the violence.

51. The mission heard testimonies on incidents of settler violence and intimidation

dating back to 1973. A report of the Security Council Commission established under

resolution 446 (1979)30 drew attention to settler attacks on property and acts of intimidation

that restricted access to water and obstructed children‘s schooling. The Commission noted

that the intent of these attacks was to pressure Palestinians to leave the land. Palestinian

deaths and injuries as a result of settler attacks have been recorded since 1980; the mission

notes the statistics compiled by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that

show that, in the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, Israeli settlers injured 147

Palestinians, including 34 children.

52. The mission heard numerous testimonies on violent attacks by settlers, including

physical assaults, the use of knives, axes, clubs and other improvised weapons, as well as

shootings and the throwing of Molotov cocktails. The testimonies also recounted the

psychological impact of intimidation by armed settlers trespassing on Palestinian land, at

Palestinian water springs or in the midst of Palestinian neighbourhoods in Hebron and East

Jerusalem. In some cases, testimonies described years of violence and intimidation directed

at the same Palestinian family living in proximity to settlements that had pushed it to

abandon its properties.

53. The mission heard testimony of the impact of settler violence on children, and notes

an increasing trend in their death and injuries. In a submission to the mission, Defence of

Children International –Palestine had documented 127 cases in the West Bank, including

East Jerusalem, including four fatalities, since 2008. Settler attacks on schools and

harassment of children on their way to school has followed an upward trend since 2010.

Testimonies from residents of the village of Al Twanyi describe how children must have

Israeli army escorts on their way to and from school to protect them from settler attacks.

These escorts are not always provided by the Israeli army or, when provided, are often

erratic.

29 See Defense for the Children International – Palestine Section, ―Children prosecuted in Israeli

military courts: update‖, 2 October 2012, available from www.dci-palestine.org/documents/children-

prosecuted-israeli-military-courts-%E2%80%93-update.

30 S/13679.

54. The mission also notes the impact of violence and intimidation on the lives and

livelihoods of Palestinian farmers, by preventing the access of Palestinians to their land

close to settlements through violence and intimidation; burning, uprooting and attacking

Palestinian crops; settlers taking over the land and planting their own crops; and fencing off

and building on Palestinian agricultural lands. The olive industry is a primary source of

income for Palestinian farmers; the olive harvest is therefore a particularly vulnerable

period of the year for Palestinian farmers and their crops.31 From 2005 to 2012, Yesh Din

monitored 162 investigations into vandalism against Palestinian trees (predominantly olive

trees); only one investigation led to an indictment.32 Figures for 2012 (until mid-October)

show that, during that period, more than 7,500 trees had been damaged or destroyed by

settlers.33

55. The mission heard testimonies on ―price-tag‖ attacks, a phenomenon considered

distinct from other forms of settler violence. The attacks aim at exacting a price on the

Palestinian population living close to settlements for any political or legal move that the

settlers interpret as being contrary to their interests. The mission understands that the intent

is to deter Israeli authorities from taking any action perceived to be against settlers‘

interests while at the same time to provoke Palestinians into a reaction. An-Najah

University identified 119 price-tag incidents from 2008 to September 2012.34 The attacks

most commonly involve vandalism and the burning of property, cars and houses, and are

often accompanied by racist graffiti. The Department of State of the United States of

America categorized three price-tag attacks on mosques and a Muslim cemetery as terrorist

incidents.35

56. The mission is concerned that specific programmes devised to deal with the impact

of settler violence on physical and mental health have had to be developed by non-

governmental organizations as a result of the failure of Israeli authorities to stop settler

violence and of the persistence of impunity in this regard. The mission notes with particular

concern the situation of children and the impact on their development.

57. Violence, verbal and physical abuses, inhumane and degrading treatment, forced

evictions, land and property grabbing, the destruction of property and housing and many of

the issues for which testimonies and information was gathered gravely affect the right to the

enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Depression,

anxiety, symptomatic stress, mood disorder and behaviour problems, and post-traumatic

stress disorders are some of the most current conditions reported by specialists. Impunity, a

feeling of injustice, the recurrence of events and anticipation of renewed abuses, especially

on relatives and children, compound these conditions.

31 The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture estimates that 3.5 million olive trees have been destroyed

since the second intifada.

32 Yesh Din, ―Police investigation of vandalization of Palestinian trees in the West Bank‖, October

2012, available from www.yesh-din.org/userfiles/file/datasheets/DS%20Trees%20Oct,%202012%20

Eng.pdf.

33 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Olive Harvest Factsheet, October 2012,

available from

www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_olive_harvest_factsheet_october_2012_english.pdf.

34 An-Najah University, ―Outposts and Price Tag Violence: A Blow upon a Bruise ‖, September 2012,

available from www.najah.edu/sites/default/files/shared-uploads/outposts_and_price_tag_violence_-

_a_blow_upon_a_bruise_-_sept_2012.pdf.

35 United States Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011, available from

www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2011/.

3. Restrictions on religious freedom and related intolerance

58. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus all

host places of considerable religious significance for Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

While the impact of settlements is manifested in various forms throughout the West Bank,

the mission notes that both Jerusalem and Hebron have been targeted by particularly

aggressive settlement policies and practices owing to their religious significance.

Settlements have been established in the heart of both cities, disrupting the lives and the

development of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. In addition, major settlement

infrastructure has been built around Jerusalem and, to a lesser extent, Hebron, enveloping

them and severing social and economic ties with the rest of Palestinian society, while

linking the various settlements and the territory of the State of Israel.

59. The mission was also informed about archaeological excavations being conducted in

and around the Old City of Jerusalem and the construction there of a network of

underground tunnels, including those connecting settlement installations in the Palestinian

neighbourhood of Silwan with the Old City. It has been alleged that these archaeological

excavations are intended to emphasize Jewish cultural heritage while disregarding – or

worse undermining – the rich heritage of other cultures that have contributed to the

millenary history of the city.

60. The mission received numerous reports of Palestinians being denied access to places

of worship. Limited entry through checkpoints and area closures during holy days prevents

Palestinians from attending holy rituals at appointed times at places of worship. The

mission also learned that, since 2008, mosques and Christian churches have been targeted

in price-tag attacks, including at least nine price-tag arson attacks against Palestinian

mosques and 21 incidents where graffiti was used to desecrate mosques, churches and

burial grounds with provocative slogans of a racist or a sacrilegious nature, intended to

inflame the situation.36

61. The mission is concerned that policies and acts aimed at altering the composition of

Jerusalem and Hebron by erasing cultural heritage on the basis of religious affiliation,

together with redrawing municipal boundaries, are being carried out with the involvement

of the Government of Israel, with pernicious effects. It is further concerned that the

Palestinians‘ right to freedom of religion is being restricted by the settlements.

4. Dispossession and displacement

62. Dispossession and displacement featured in most of the submissions, reports and

testimony received by the mission. The information brought to light a number of different

mechanisms exploited to seize Palestinian land, as well as a discriminatory planning and

zoning policy that favours the development of settlements and, as the Committee on the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination concluded, breaches a range of fundamental rights of

Palestinians.37

63. Since the beginning of the occupation, Palestinians have seen over 1 million

dunams38 of their land seized, enabled by a combination of military orders and selective

interpretation of the Ottoman Land Code that ruled land tenure throughout the Ottoman,

Mandatory and Jordanian periods. In particular, land has been lost through seizure for

military needs, absentee property laws and the declaration of State lands.

36 An-Najah University, ―Outposts and Price Tag Violence‖ (see footnote34).

37 CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16, para. 25.

38 One dunam equals 1,000 m2.

64. Seized lands are placed within the jurisdictional boundaries of local and regional

settlement councils, used not only for urbanization but also as buffer zones surrounding

settlements or turned into recreational and nature areas to which Palestinians have no

access.

65. While the issue is critical throughout the West Bank, the mission notes the large

number of demolitions, demolition orders, forced evictions and ―relocation‖ plans in zones

identified for the consolidation of settlements, including around Bethlehem and the E-1

project, aimed at creating an urban continuum between East Jerusalem and Maale Adumim.

In this area, the Jahalin Bedouin community in Khan Al-Akhmar, which in the past has

experienced several demolitions, lives under the threat of forcible displacement.

―Relocation‖ plans are currently under discussion, including to a location near a landfill site

where, in 1996, Bedouins had already been relocated in connection with earlier settlement

expansions.

66. Bedouin communities in general are particularly vulnerable to displacement and

dispossession. Eighty per cent of them live in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea area and

around Hebron, constituting the majority of the population in closed military training and

firing zones. Many of these communities have already experienced multiple displacements.

Many are food insecure, do not have access to basic services, and are not connected to the

electricity grid, the road network or water systems. More than 90 per cent face water

scarcity, living with less than one-quarter of the minimum standards set by the World

Health Organization (WHO).39 The Israeli army routinely demolishes their shelters and

property, including those provided by or built with the assistance of aid agencies and

international donors. In the South Hebron hills, eight villages are at risk of eviction to make

way for a new firing zone.

67. The processes of dispossession and displacement in the vicinity of settlements and

the seam zone include preventing access of Palestinians to their agricultural lands, the

takeover and demolition of springs and wells, and movement restrictions. Settler violence

and intimidation also play a significant role.

68. In East Jerusalem, multiple factors, such as discriminatory building regulations, the

large number of demolition orders, residence permit restrictions, the acute housing shortage

and violence and intimidation from settlers, put enormous pressures on the city‘s

Palestinian population. Cases of forced eviction in East Jerusalem, such as in the Sheikh

Jarrah neighbourhood, were also reported to the mission, including following successful

appeals by settler organizations, some of which linked to Jewish property claims based on

their pre-1948 ownership. Numerous testimonies spoke of settlers taking over individual

houses inside the Old City.

69. Absence of proof of registration (land registration was discontinued by military

order in 1968) makes it extremely difficult for Palestinians to obtain recognition of tenure

or permits. Besides, Palestinians are excluded from consultative decision-making processes

and are not represented in the special planning committees, which are made up of settlers

and are entitled to issue and enforce building permits.

70. Testimonies confirmed that building permits are rarely if ever granted; in the past 20

years, 94 per cent of permit applications were denied. Building without a permit is an

offence under military orders, and the execution of a demolition order is accompanied by a

large fine. The mission heard in this regard about ―self-demolitions‖, namely, of residents

39 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli-declared

‗Firing Zones‘ in the West Bank‖, August 2012, available from

www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_firing_zone_factsheet_august_2012_english.pdf.

demolishing their own houses to avoid having to pay a fines. Self-demolitions are not

recorded in statistics on demolitions.

71. As corroborated by testimonies, many Palestinians are forced to build without a

permit, thus living under the constant threat that their home or property may be demolished.

Many families and entire communities are at risk of displacement. In East Jerusalem alone,

where 33 per cent of Palestinian homes lack building permits, at least 93,100 residents are

potentially at risk of being displaced.40

5. Restrictions on the freedom of movement

72. The mission received information according to which the vast majority of

restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians seem to be directly linked to the

settlements, and include ―restrictions aimed at protecting the settlements, securing areas for

their expansion, and improving the connectivity between settlements and with Israel

itself.‖41 The restrictions themselves come in many forms, including settler-only roads, a

regime of checkpoints and crossings (closure obstacles), impediments created by the wall

and its gate and permit regime, as well as administrative restrictions. The Office for the

Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports more than 540 closure obstacles in 2012.42

Although there have been significant easing measures in recent years (which have

improved connectivity between the main Palestinian cities and towns), movement

restrictions reportedly remain in place in areas around settlements.

73. The mission notes that restrictions on freedom of movement have a detrimental

impact on the access of Palestinians to their land, and have direct consequences for their

ability to work and earn a livelihood. The outer expanses of many settlements incorporate

Palestinian private property, and access to this land is regulated through the ―prior

coordination‖ regime whereby the Palestinian landowners are granted a permit for access to

their land for a limited number of days each year, normally coinciding with harvest time

and based on prior coordination with the Israeli authorities. This regime is in place for

Palestinian landowners in some 90 communities with land in the environs of some 55

settlements.43 In some cases, the prior coordination regime is applied to private Palestinian

land that has been unilaterally fenced off by settlers without authorization by the Israeli

authorities. The widespread access restrictions in and around the wall in the form of gate

and permit regimes particularly affect access to agricultural land in the seam zone and, as

previously noted, these restrictions only apply to the Palestinian population (see paragraph

40 above).

74. Israel has extended the prior coordination regime to situations where Palestinians

face potential settler violence and intimidation. This response has been ineffective in

preventing settler violence, while it places the burden of restricting access to land on the

victims of settler violence.

75. The mission notes that discrimination is particularly evident in the movement

restrictions in Hebron and the Jordan Valley, where large Palestinian populations are

subjected to permit regimes and areas off limits to traffic and, in some cases, pedestrian

40 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns‖

(see footnote 16).

41 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, West Bank Movement and Access Update,

September 2012 (available from

www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_movement_and_access_report_september_2012_english.pdf), p. 2.

42 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement

Policies‖ (see footnote 15).

43 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―West Bank Movement‖ (see footnote 41).

transit. In the H2 area of Hebron, there are 123 movement obstacles are in place to facilitate

the movement of approximately 550 Israeli settlers in Hebron and 7,000 in the nearby

settlement of Kiryat Arba, at the expense of the Palestinian population (170,000).43 The

mission notes that the presence of these settlements has a direct impact on Palestinian

livelihoods, as military orders have led to the closure of 512 Palestinian businesses, while at

least another 1,100 have closed owing to the restricted access of customers and suppliers.43

76. The human rights treaty bodies have expressed their deep concern at restrictions on

freedom of movement, describing them as being targeted at a particular national or ethnic

group and amounting to gross violations of economic, social and cultural rights.44

6. Restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

77. The mission notes that the settlements, including the wall, are the subject of

Palestinian demonstrations in places such as Bili‘in and Nabi Saleh, where the vast majority

of demonstrators are reported to be acting in a non-violent manner. The Israeli authorities

often respond to these demonstrations with restrictions on assembly, declaring areas closed

military zones, and employing violent means to suppress demonstrations by firing tear gas,

rubber bullets and, on occasion, live rounds. As in the case of closure obstacles that restrict

freedom of movement, restrictions on expression and assembly have at their core the aim of

ensuring that the daily life of Israeli settlers continues without interruption.45

78. The mission heard testimony that, since 2009, residents of Nabi Saleh, a village of

600 people, have protested every Friday against the takeover by nearby settlers of the

village‘s water spring. The witness described a litany of violent attacks by the Israeli army

on peaceful demonstrators that have resulted in one person being killed and more than 400

people being injured, including 195 children. On certain occasions, the army has reportedly

stopped demonstrations before they have begun by firing tear gas inside the village, forcing

all villagers to flee.46

79. The mission was informed that Israeli politicians, academics and civil society actors

voicing criticism of the settlements are discredited in public discourse. An example of this

includes the targeting of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military in the

Occupied Palestinian Territory and who voice dissent with the official line of the

establishment. The mission acknowledges the valuable contribution made by members of

Israeli civil society in highlighting the denial of human rights to the Palestinians by the

presence of the settlements.

7. Restrictions on the right to water

80. Information and testimonies corroborate the impact of settlement expansion on the

right to water of Palestinians, including, as pointed out by, inter alia, the Committee on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the great discrepancy between water allocation for

Palestinians and settlers, and inequitable access.

81. The capacity of the Palestinian Water Authority to develop new water resources is

hampered by the water management arrangements governed by the Interim Agreement and

the Joint Water Commission that it established, in which ―fundamental asymmetries – of

power, of capacity, of information‖ give Israel predominance in the allocation of West

44 CERD/C/ISR/CO/13 and E/C.12/1/Add.69.

45 A/67/375, para. 40.

46 B‘Tselem, ―Human Rights in the Occupied Territories‖ 2011Annual Report (available from

www.btselem.org/download/2011_annual_report_eng.pdf), p. 50.

Bank water resources, of which it withdraws 90 per cent.47 The mission learned that a large

number of Palestinian projects are rejected by the Commission. In Area C, additional

approval is required from the Israeli Civil Administration, even for such small-scale

projects as wells or rainwater collection cisterns.

82. The ability of the Palestinian Water Authority to transfer water to areas facing water

shortages is severely inhibited by territorial fragmentation, since almost every project

implies movement through Area C. The mission received testimony about water resources

damaged or destroyed by the construction of the wall or lost to the seam zone, cutting off

villages from their wells, springs and cisterns. In the Jordan Valley, deep-water drillings by

Mekorot, the Israeli national water company, and Mehadrin, an agro-industrial company,

have caused Palestinian wells and springs to dry up. Eighty per cent of the total water

resources drilled in the area is consumed by Israel and the settlements.

83. The lack of availability of Palestinian water resources has led to chronic shortages

among Palestinian communities in Area C and a dependence on Mekorot, to which

authority over the West Bank water resources was transferred from the military in 1982.

84. Mekorot supplies almost half the water consumed by Palestinian communities. The

mission heard that Palestinians do not have access to Israeli recycled water available to

settlements, and have to use water from the more expensive drinking water supply for

irrigation purposes. In the event of a water shortage, valves supplying Palestinian

communities are closed; this does not happen for settlements.

85. The mission heard of situations where villagers must travel several kilometres to

retrieve water when closer water resources serve neighbouring settlements. Settlements

benefit from enough water to run farms and orchards, and for swimming pools and spas,

while Palestinians often struggle to satisfy their minimum water requirements. According to

testimonies received, some settlements consume around 400 litres per capita per day

(l/c/d),48 whereas Palestinian consumption is 73 l/c/d, and as little as 10-20 l/c/d49 for

Bedouin communities, which depend on expensive and low-quality tanker water. In East

Jerusalem, houses built without a permit cannot connect to the water network.

86. Water shortages are further exacerbated by restrictions on movement, the destruction

of infrastructure, expropriations, forced evictions and settler violence, which also largely

contributes to diminishing access to water for Palestinians.

87. Forcible takeovers and vandalism by settlers increasingly impede access to water.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in March 2012, 30

springs in the vicinity of settlements were completely taken over by settlers and 26 were at

risk, with settlers fencing them off and threatening villagers. Some of the springs seized

have become ―tourist attractions‖ or recreational sites, and receive support from the

Government of Israel.

88. According to testimony received, the destruction of water infrastructure, including

rainwater cisterns, by Israeli authorities has increased since the beginning of 2010, doubling

in 2012 the number of acts committed in 2011. The denial of water is used to trigger

displacement, particularly in areas slated for settlement expansion, especially since these

communities are mostly farmers and herders who depend on water for their livelihoods. A

47 World Bank, ―West Bank and Gaza Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water Sector

Development‖, April 2009, para. 130.

48 The minimum recommended by WHO is 100 l/c/d.

49 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli-declared

‗Firing Zones‘‖ (see footnote 39).

number of testimonies highlighted that the cutting off from water resources often precedes

dispossession of lands for new settlement projects.

8. Impact on economic rights

89. The agricultural sector, considered the cornerstone of Palestinian economic

development, has not been able to play its strategic role because of dispossession of land

and the denial of access for farmers to agricultural areas, water resources and domestic and

external markets. This has led to a continuous decline in the share of agricultural production

in GDP and employment since 1967.

90. The expansion of settlements and the development of relevant infrastructure have

eroded Palestinian agricultural assets. Dwindling water resources, high transaction and

transport costs and shrinking markets have led to a decline in the size of agricultural

holdings. It has also resulted in a shift from irrigated to less profitable rain-dependent crops

and a decrease in productivity, given that the import of fertilizers into the West Bank is

banned for Palestinians. Besides the demolitions carried out by the authorities, villagers

suffer recurrent attacks from nearby settlements (especially during the olive harvest

season), the destruction of trees, water installations and livestock, putting them under

additional pressure to relinquish agricultural activities.

91. The wall has divided villages, cut off farmers from their lands and water and

curtailed trade with traditional markets, stifling the local economy. One example of this

pattern is the village of Nazelt Issa, where half of pre-existing businesses were destroyed to

build the wall, while other activities closed down, given that most of their trade was with

neighbouring villages now cut off by the wall. With few income-generating prospects left

in the village, unemployment is high, and young people leave to seek work.

92. The mission was informed by testimony received that ―Israeli settlement agriculture

is blooming‖. In the Jordan Valley, settlements set up in the 1960s and 1970s as farming

communities on land formerly cultivated by Palestinians have developed into a high-

technology irrigation agricultural zone and become major contributors to Israeli exports of

date palm fruits. In the central West Bank, many agricultural settlements have been

developed over the past decade, cultivating olives and grapes for winemaking in Israel.

Many Israeli cultivated areas correspond to lands that were cultivated by Palestinians until

the second intifada (2000-2005).

93. The inability of the Palestinian economy to expand and offer opportunities, high

unemployment rates and falling wages in the Palestinian labour market, inflation and

increasing poverty are factors that drive Palestinians to seek employment in the settlements

and in Israel, where wages are about twice as high as in the Palestinian private sector. A

stringent system of permits and quotas that determines employment in Israel and the

settlements lends itself to abuse by contractors and middlemen. Palestinians employed in

the settlements work primarily in the manufacturing industry and the construction sector.

Women are mostly engaged in domestic work and agriculture. 50

94. While wages might be higher, employment conditions in the settlements remain

precarious. Workers claiming their rights are easily dismissed, and supervision of

employers by the Israeli authorities in the settlements remains largely absent. In an audit

conducted in June 2011, the State Comptroller noted the ―lack of substantial supervision

and enforcement in the field of safety and hygiene‖, even in factories holding and using

50 International Labour Organization, ―The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories‖, June

2012 (available from www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/101stSession/reports/reports-

submitted/WCMS_181071/lang--en/index.htm), para. 87.

dangerous materials. It was noted that, between 2006 and 2010, only four audits were

conducted in the 20 industrial zones/settlements operating in the West Bank.

95. The employment conditions of Palestinian workers in settlements are subject to a

system characterized by legal uncertainties. Palestinians are contracted under the far less

favourable pre-1967 Jordanian labour laws, while Israeli citizens in the West Bank are

employed under Israeli labour laws. Although the High Court of Israel ruled in 2007 that

Israeli labour laws also applied to Palestinian workers, the ruling – which left open the

possibility for the parties to agree otherwise – is often not enforced. Numerous interlocutors

told the mission that this ―cheap labour‖ from the numerous Palestinian villages within

convenient commuting distance represented an additional incentive for enterprises to move

to the settlements.

C. Impact of businesses

96. Information gathered by the mission showed that business enterprises have, directly

and indirectly, enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the

settlements. In addition to the previously mentioned violations of Palestinian worker rights,

the mission identified a number of business activities and related issues that raise particular

human rights violations concerns. They include:

• The supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the

expansion of settlements and the wall, and associated infrastructures

• The supply of surveillance and identification equipment for settlements, the wall and

checkpoints directly linked with settlements

• The supply of equipment for the demolition of housing and property, the destruction

of agricultural farms, greenhouses, olives groves and crops

• The supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in

settlements

• The provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of

settlements, including transport

• Banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements

and their activities, including loans for housing and the development of businesses

• The use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes

• Pollution, and the dumping of waste in or its transfer to Palestinian villages

• Captivity of the Palestinian financial and economic markets, as well as practices that

disadvantage Palestinian enterprises, including through restrictions on movement,

administrative and legal constraints

• Use of benefits and reinvestments of enterprises owned totally or partially by settlers

for developing, expanding and maintaining the settlements

97. It is with the full knowledge of the current situation and the related liability risks that

business enterprises unfold their activities in the settlements and contribute to their

maintenance, development and consolidation. Industrial parks in settlements, such as

Barkan and Mishor Edomim, offer numerous incentives, including tax breaks, low rents and

low labour costs. Economic activities in these zones are growing. A number of banks

provide mortgage loans for home buyers and special loans for building projects in

settlements. They also provide financial services to businesses in settlements and, in some

cases, are physically present there.

98. The mission noted that some enterprises had withdrawn from settlements because it

harmed their image and might entail legal consequences.

99. The mission also noted that Israel labels all its export products as originating from

―Israel‖, including those wholly or partially produced in settlements. Some companies

operating in settlements have been accused of hiding the original place of production of

their products. This situation poses an issue of traceability of products for other States

wishing to align themselves with their international and regional obligations. It also poses

an issue with regard to consumers‘ right to information. The mission notes that these issues

are increasingly being addressed by States, regional organizations and some private

businesses.

V. Conclusions

100. The facts brought to the attention of the mission indicate that the State of Israel

has had full control of the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since

1967 and continues to promote and sustain them through infrastructure and security

measures. The mission notes that, despite all pertinent United Nations resolutions

declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation,

the planning and growth of the settlements continues of existing as well as of new

structures.

101. The establishment of the settlements in the West Bank, including East

Jerusalem (see annex II), is a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a

creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable

Palestinian State and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-

determination.

102. The settlements have been established and developed at the expense of violating

international human rights laws and international humanitarian law as applicable in

the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as recognized notably by the International Court

of Justice in its advisory opinion of 9 July 2004.

103. The settlements are established for the exclusive benefit of Israeli Jews, and are

being maintained and developed through a system of total segregation between the

settlers and the rest of the population living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

This system of segregation is supported and facilitated by a strict military and law

enforcement control to the detriment of the rights of the Palestinian population.

104. The mission considers that, with regard to the settlements, Israel is committing

serious breaches of its obligations under the right to self-determination and certain

obligations under international humanitarian law, including the obligation not to

transfer its population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Rome Statute

establishes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the deportation

or transfer, directly or indirectly, by the occupying Power of parts of its own

population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts

of the population of the occupied territory within or outside that territory.

Ratification of the Statute by Palestine may lead to accountability for gross violations

of human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law and

justice for victims.

105. The existence of the settlements has had a heavy toll on the rights of the

Palestinians. Their rights to freedom of self-determination, non-discrimination,

freedom of movement, equality, due process, fair trial, not to be arbitrarily detained,

liberty and security of person, freedom of expression, freedom of access to places of

worship, education, water, housing, adequate standard of living, property, access to

natural resources and effective remedy are being violated consistently and on a daily

basis.

106. The volume of information received on dispossession, evictions, demolitions and

displacement points to the magnitude of these practices. These are particularly

widespread in certain areas and acute in East Jerusalem.

107. The mission noted that the identities of settlers who are responsible for violence

and intimidation are known to the Israeli authorities, yet these acts continue with

impunity. It is led to the clear conclusion that institutionalized discrimination is

practiced against the Palestinian people when the issue of violence is addressed. The

mission believes that the motivation behind this violence and the intimidation against

the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the local populations away from their

lands and allow the settlements to expand.

108. The mission is gravely concerned at the large number of children who are

apprehended or detained, including for minor offences. They are invariably

mistreated, denied due process and a fair trial. In violation of international law, they

are transferred to detention centres in Israel.

109. Children endure harassment and violence, and encounter significant obstacles

in attending educational institutions, which limits their right to have access to

education. The occupying Power, Israel, is failing in its duty to protect the right of

access to education of the Palestinian children and failing to facilitate the proper

working of educational institutions.

110. Information gathered by the mission showed that some private entities have

enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements,

either directly or indirectly.

111. Women alone in their homes, the Bedouins and other vulnerable groups are

easy targets for settler violence, creating a sense of insecurity in Palestinian society in

general.

VI. Recommendations

112. The mission calls upon Israel to, in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth

Geneva Convention, cease all settlement activities without preconditions. In addition it

should immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers from the Occupied

Palestinian Territory. The mission also urges Israel to ensure adequate, effective and

prompt remedy for all Palestinian victims for the harm suffered as a consequence of

human rights violations that are a result of the settlements in accordance with that

State’s international obligation to provide effective remedy. Where necessary, steps

must to be taken to provide such remedy in concurrence with the representatives of

the Palestinian people and the assistance of the international community.

113. The mission calls upon Israel to put an end to the human rights violations that

are linked to the presence of settlements.

114. The mission calls upon Israel to ensure full accountability for all violations,

including for all acts of settler violence, in a non-discriminatory manner, and to put an

end to the policy of impunity.

115. The mission urges Israel to put an end to arbitrary arrest and detention of the

Palestinian people, especially children, and to observe the prohibition of the transfer

of prisoners from the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the territory of Israel, in

accordance with article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

116. The mission calls upon all Member States to comply with their obligations

under international law and to assume their responsibilities in their relations with a

State breaching peremptory norms of international law, and specifically not to

recognize an unlawful situation resulting from Israel’s violations.

117. Private companies must assess the human rights impact of their activities and

take all necessary steps – including by terminating their business interests in the

settlements – to ensure that they do not have an adverse impact on the human rights

of the Palestinian people, in conformity with international law as well as the Guiding

Principles on Business and Human Rights.51 The mission calls upon all Member States

to take appropriate measures to ensure that business enterprises domiciled in their

territory and/or under their jurisdiction, including those owned or controlled by

them, that conduct activities in or related to the settlements respect human rights

throughout their operations. The mission recommends that the Working Group on

Business and Human Rights be seized of this matter.

51 A/HRC/17/31, annex.

Annexes

Annex I

[English only]

Timeline: Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

1948

• The ―Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel‖ is issued. It equates

Eretz-Israel (in Hebrew ―the Land of Israel‖) to the territory of British Mandate

Palestine 1 , in contrast to the provisions of 1947 United Nations General Assembly

Resolution 181 on the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into two

Independent Arab and Jewish States with a special international regime for the City

of Jerusalem 2 .

• The ―Israeli Proclamation‖ is issued. It creates a legislative authority: the

Provisional Council of State, which unilaterally revokes the British Parliament

Decision 6019 (the White Paper of 1939) 3 . The White Paper of 1939 indicates that

―the terms of the (Balfour) Declaration [sic] (…) do not contemplate that Palestine

as a whole should be converted into a Jewish National Home, but that such a Home

should be founded IN PALESTINE.[sic] (…) His Majesty's Government (…) now

declare unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become

a Jewish State (…) Jewish immigration during the next five years will be at a rate

which, if economic absorptive capacity permits, will bring the Jewish population up

to (…) one third of the total population (…) some 75,000 immigrants (…) After the

period of five years, no further Jewish immigration will be permitted unless the

Arabs of Palestine are prepared to acquiesce in it. (…) there is now in certain areas

no room for further transfers of Arab land, whilst in some other areas such transfers

of land must be restricted.”4

• The Law and Administration Ordinance 5708-1948 is enacted. Article 15 indicates

that: ―(a) ‗Palestine‘, wherever appearing in the law, shall henceforth be read as

1 The document is found on the Israeli MFA website:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establish

ment+of+State+of+Israel.htm

2 A/RES/181(II)[A-B]

3 David M. Sassoon, ―The Israel Legal System‖ in The American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 16,

No. 3, Summer, 1968. Pages 405-415 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/838665) and Yvonne Schmidt

―Foundations of civil and political rights in Israel and the occupied territories‖ Doctoral Thesis /

Dissertation, 2001

4 Parliament Decision 6019 was considered a British policy paper. Full original text consulted on

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1939.asp

‗Israel‘‖ 5 disregarding 1947 UN Resolution 181 partitioning British Palestine into

two States, Arab and Jewish 6 .

1950

• The ―Absentee Property Law‖ 1950 enables the Israeli Government to transfer the

property left behind by Palestinians after the 1948 War for the exclusive use by

Israel. The Law defines any Palestinian who ‗left his ordinary place of residence‘ for

a place outside the nascent state as an ‗absentee‘. The definition is broadly

interpreted and includes Palestinians who are deemed to have been absent, even

though they are present within the territory of Israel. Such persons are termed

―present absentees‖.

1965

• Planning and Building Law No. 5725 is enacted by the Knesset.7 It establishes a

hierarchy of planning bodies (national, regional and local) responsible for land-use

planning. The law requires development plans to be prepared, approved, and kept up

to date. A permit may be refused if the development conflicts with a plan; penalties

for unpermitted development may include, in extreme cases, demolition 8 (Article

212 allows the State to demolish homes considered ―a public nuisance‖9). The Law

is used by Israeli Governments to justify a large amount of demolitions of

Palestinian houses, notably in Jerusalem after the Six-Day War. 10

1967

• The Six-Day War. (5-10 June)

• Military Order No 59 Regarding Government Property (Judea and Samaria [West

Bank]) 5727-1967 defines ―State Lands‖ as any land belonging to an ―enemy state‖,

or registered in its name. It authorizes the person delegated by the Commander of

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the Region to take possession of ―enemy state‘s‖

properties and to manage these at his discretion. The Order is used through 1979 to

seize control of land registered in the name of the Jordanian Government. 11

(7 June)

5 Law and Administration Ordinance No. 1 of 5708-1948, Full text and amendments consulted on:

http://www.geocities.com/savepalestinenow/israellaws/fulltext/lawandadministrationord.htm

6 A/RES/181(II)[A-B]

7 Planning and Building Law, 5725—1965, Full text and amendments consulted on http://www.israellawresourcecenter.org/israellaws/fulltext/planningbuildinglaw.htm

8 Amnesty International, ―Israel/Occupied Territories: Demolition and dispossession: the destruction

of Palestinian homes‖. 8 December 1999

9 Human Rights Watch, ―Sample Judicial Demolition Order‖ [Translated by HRW from the Hebrew

original Beer Sheva Magistrate Court BS 008759/05], March 2008

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/iopt0308/15.htm

10 ICAHD submission to the Fact-Finding Mission http://icahd.org/node/429

11 B’Tselem, Land Grab, 2002.

• Article 11 of the Law and Administration Ordinance is amended to indicate that:

―The law, jurisdiction and administration of the State shall extend to any area of

Eretz Israel designated by the Government by order.‖ 12 (27 June)

• Israel illegally annexes 70 km2 of land, incorporating Palestinians living in East

Jerusalem and a number of villages in the West Bank. 13

(27 June)

• Yigal Allon, Israeli Defence Minister and chair of the Ministerial Committee on

Settlements, presents a plan to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol for the creation of

―security‖ borders by establishing Israeli settlements on unpopulated Arab areas of

the West Bank (along the Jordan Rift Valley, the expanded Jerusalem and parts of

the Judean Desert). The plan is not officially approved but is subsequently

implemented. 14

(26 July)

• Theodor Meron, legal counsel of the Foreign Ministry, provides a legal opinion on

the legality of civilian settlement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip at the request

of the PM‘s Office: ―civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes

the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.‖15 (18 September)

• The first Israeli settlement in the OPT is established, Kefar Ezyon.16 (September)

• The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 242 and calls for Israeli withdrawal

from the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank,

including East Jerusalem. The Resolution emphasises the ―inadmissibility of the

acquisition of territory by war.‖ 17 (22 November)

1968

• The Jerusalem 1968 Master Plan, and subsequent plans provides for the building of

a belt of 12 Israeli ‗neighbourhoods‘ enveloping and bisecting the Palestinian

neighbourhoods in the city. 18

• The first of a series of expropriations of private land in Jerusalem takes place. The

land is used to build the settlements such as French Hill, Gilo, Pisgat Ze’ev and

Ramot Allon. In the great majority of known cases the owners of the expropriated

land are Palestinians. 19

12 Amendment of 1967 to article 11 of the Law and Administration Ordinance No. 1 of 5708-1948 also

available at:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Israels+Foreign+Relations+since+1947/1947-

1974/13+Law+and+Administration+Ordinance+-

Amendment+No.htm?WBCMODE=PresentationUnp?DisplayMode=print

13 B’Tselem, A Policy of Discrimination: Land Expropriation, Planning and Building in East Jerusalem,

May 1995.

14 Senior Foreign Policy Analyst, Dan Diker ―Israel’s return to Security-Based Diplomacy‖, Jerusalem

Center for Public Affairs, http://www.jcpa.org/text/security/diker.pdf

15 Israel State Archives, 153.8/7921/3A. Legal opinion numbered as document 289-291, with

unnumbered cover notes http://southjerusalem.com/settlement-and-occupation-historical-documents/

16 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005. 17 S/RES/242

18 Eyal Weizman, Hollow Land. 2007

19 B’Tselem, A Policy of Discrimination: Land Expropriation, Planning and Building in East Jerusalem, May 1995.

• Kiryat Arba settlement (the first in Hebron) is established. Ninety dunums20 of

Palestinian land are seized for ―military purposes‖; Palestinians are evicted,

vineyards uprooted and 250 housing units for the settlement are built in their place. 21

• Military Order No. 291 concerning Land and Water Settlement (Judea and Samaria)

provides the basis for the suspension of land registration in the West Bank and

enables tens of thousands of hectares of the West Bank to be declared ―State land‖

making it difficult for Palestinians to obtain security of tenure or pursue land

development (as proof of registration is often a first requirement), while at the same

time increasing the amount of land available to build settlements. 22

(19 December)

1969

• Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (1969-1974) presents her basic policy guidelines

to the Knesset, mirroring the 1967 Allon Plan‘s main objective by referring to

―security‖ civilian borders on strategic areas in the occupied territories.(15

December)

1971

• Military Order No 418 is issued. The order ―amends‖ Jordanian Law No 79 of 1966

as it creates High Planning Councils (HPC) appointed by the Israeli Army

Commander, dissolving the Palestinian planning committees and later establishing

six regional and village HPCs in the West Bank and two in the Gaza Strip. The order

transfers the authority to make all significant decisions on permits and plans in the

OPT from the district level to the HPC, a body of the Israeli Army. It allows the

HPCs to prepare, amend, cancel, disregard, or dispense any plan or permit and to

exempt persons from obtaining the necessary license. The Military Order restricts

Palestinian urban growth and limits Palestinian construction by refusing building

permits and reducing the land earmarked for industrial and economic projects,

thereby depriving a functioning Palestinian economy. It also allows to set aside for

future use vast areas of land for settlements in the OPT. 23

(March)

• The UN General Assembly mandated Special Committee to Investigate Israeli

Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories

refers in 1971 to the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Settlement of the Territories

and notes that ―the very existence of such a committee headed by a person of

ministerial rank shows, beyond doubt, that it is a policy of the Government to settle

the territories occupied as a result of the hostilities of June 1967.‖24 (5 October)

20 One dunum equals 1000 m2.

21 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005. 22 Order Regarding Government Property (Judea and Samaria)(No. 59)

23 Amnesty International, ―Israel/Occupied Territories: Demolition and dispossession: the destruction of Palestinian homes‖. 8 December 1999

24 A/8389

1974

• A group of prominent settler activists form the Gush Emunim movement (in Hebrew

the ―Bloc of the Faithful‖) to advance the cause of establishing settlements

throughout the West Bank. 25

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin‘s (1974-1977) in a Cabinet Communiqué

confirms the existence of a settlement policy: ―Settlements in the Administered

territories are established solely in accordance with the government's decisions (…)

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence are authorized to implement this

policy.‖26 (26 July)

1977

• Thirty-one settlements have been established in the West Bank (excluding East

Jerusalem), most of them within the outlines of the Allon Plan including in the

Jordan Valley (the prime agricultural land of the West Bank), in the Ezyon bloc, in

the southern Hebron hills and the Judean Desert. The settler population in the West

Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) reaches about 4,500. 27

Some 50,000 Israelis live in

settlements in East Jerusalem. 28

• Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1977-1981) presents his basic policy

guidelines to the Knesset. Paragraph 9 indicates the Government‘s support for the

development of Israeli settlements throughout a land that goes beyond the green

line: ―Settlement in Eretz Yisrael is a right as well as an integral part of the nation's

security. The Government will act to achieve the strengthening, the widening and

the development of Jewish settlement...‖29 (20 June).

• Israeli Prime Minister Begin‘s Government statement anticipates the Drobles Plan.

It outlines the mixed high-ranking structure, involving the Government and World

Zionist Organization (WZO), responsible for granting legal status to new

settlements. ― [N]o part of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] should be handed

over to foreign rule (…) the Ministerial Committee on Settlements, conferred legal

status on three settlements in the West Bank established during the previous

government's term of office (…) The joint Government-World Zionist Organization

Settlement Affairs Committee today decided to recognize Ma'aleh Adumim, Ofra

and Elon Moreh as full-fledged settlements, and charged the settlement institutions

with granting them commensurate treatment.‖30 (26 July)

25 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005. 26 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―17 Cabinet communiqué on settlements in the West Bank- 26 July

1974- and statement in the Knesset by Prime Minister Rabin- 31 July 1974, 26 Jul 1974, VOLUME 3:

1974-1977‖ www.mfa.gov.il 27 B’Tselem‘s report, Land Grab, May 2002 28 B’Tselem‘s report, Land Grab, May 2002 29 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Basic guidelines of the government- 20 June 1977, 20 Jun 1977,

Volume 4-5: 1977-1979‖ www.mfa.gov.il The 9th paragraph of policy guidelines presented in 1977 is quoted to in the presentation of Begin‘s policy guidelines in his second tenure in office on 5 August

1981.

30 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―23 Government statement on recognition of three settlements- 26 July 1977, Volumes 4-5: 1977-1979‖ www.mfa.gov.il

1978

• The WZO, co-member of the Ministerial Committee on Settlements, publishes the

Drobles Plan to build settlements on the central mountain ridge around Palestinian

population centres. The plan shifts away from the Allon Plan in that the later had

focused on agricultural settlements in unpopulated Arab areas, whereas the former

focuses on urban settlements which are relatively easy to set up, market and

populate in the midst of populated Arab areas. (October)

1979

• By 1979 there are 43 settlements and 10,000 settlers in the West Bank, excluding

East Jerusalem. 31

• The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 446 affirming ―that the Fourth Geneva

(…) is applicable to the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including

Jerusalem‖ and determining that ―the policy and practices of Israel in establishing

settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no

legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just

and lasting peace in the Middle East.‖ 32 The resolution also provides for the

establishment of a commission to examine the situation in relation to the settlements

in the occupied territories including Jerusalem, which submits a report 33

to the

Security Council. (22 March)

• Military Order 783 5739 ―Concerning the Administration of Regional Councils‖ is

issued. The order establishes the actual area controlled by settlements which can be

modified at the discretion of the Israeli Military Regional Commander ―‗Area of a

settlement‘ – the area bearing the settlement‘s name is circumscribed by a line on

the map of the regional council which is signed by the regional commander (…) The

regional commander has the right to alter (…) the boundaries on the map (…)‖34 (25

March)

• Israeli Defence Ministry, Ezer Weizman, declares that some 61,000 dunums had

been seized for military needs since 1967, with more than 40,000 dunums of private

land given to the establishment of settlements. 35

• The High Court decision on the Elon Moreh case rules against the temporary seizure

of land for military purposes. The testimony of retired military personnel that the

land seized for the Elon Moreh settlement served no military purposes in addition to

the testimony of the settlers themselves that they, along with the Israeli Prime

Minister, saw the Elon Moreh settlement as a permanent settlement served to

convince the High Court that the land was not legitimately seized for military

purposes. 36

(22 October)

• Israeli Prime Minister Begin, in a Cabinet communiqué on settlements which

mirrors the Drobles Plan, confirms that the Government has been implementing

31 Figures from Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, B’Tselem Land Grab May 2002 32 S/RES/446

33 S/13450; S/13679

34 Quoted by Hagit Ofran and Dror Etkes ―And Thou Shalt Spread …‖ Construction and development of settlements beyond the official limits of jurisdiction A special report presented by the ―Peace Now‖ Settlement Watch. Jerusalem, June 2007

35 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005 36 Duweikat v. Government of Israel, HCJ 390/79, 22 October 1979 (Elon Moreh case)

settlement activities in the OPT. It also indicates the new basis (declarations of

―State Land‖) to continue with this endeavour after the ruling in the Elon Moreh

case: ―Settlement activities were carried out in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza region

(…) the allotment of land for existing settlements or those settlements whose

establishment was previously decided upon in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]

(…) Givon will be established partly on land belonging to state and partly on land

owned by Jews, which will be purchased from its owners for this purpose (…) Beit

Horon will be established on state lands (…) Efrat will be established on state lands

(…) Elkana and Kedumim will be expanded by additional of state land (…) An

inter-ministerial committee will be established which will examine the situation in

the settlements of Ophra and Kedumim, and which will recommend solutions for

their problems in the framework of government policy.‖37 (14 October)

1980

• Military Order 892 Concerning the Administration of Local Councils is issued. The

order regulates the issue of larger settlements which have been awarded the status of

―local councils‖, and defines the manner in which the area of the council is defined

at the discretion of the Israeli Army Regional Commander: (1 March)

• The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 465 which follows Resolutions 446 and

452, determining ―that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character,

demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and

other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof,

have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its

population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of

the Fourth Geneva Convention (…) and a serious obstruction to achieving a

comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.‖38 (1 March)

• Between 1980 and 1984 over 800,000 dunums of land is confiscated through the

selective use of the Ottoman Land Law of 1858. The method is largely devised by

the director of the Civil Department at the State Prosecutors Office, Plia Albek, with

the backing of her superiors: Attorneys General Aharon Barak and Yitzhak Zamir

(both later Supreme Court Justices) 39

. The West Bank was surveyed by air and on

the ground to identify uncultivated land. This would then be cross checked with land

records and any lands not under private ownership would be declared as State Land.

The onus is placed on those liable to be injured by the declaration to appeal to a

military committee within 45 days. 40

1981

• The Defence Minister (1981-1983) Ariel Sharon prepares a plan (the Sharon Plan)

covering areas he believes are vital for Israel's security and which should be

annexed. Only a small number of enclaves densely populated by Palestinians are not

37 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―50 Cabinet communiqué on settlements- 14 October 1979 VOLUME 6: 1979-1980‖ www.mfa.gov.il

38 S/RES/465

39 Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005 40 B’Tselem‘s report, Land Grab, May 2002

considered. While the plan is not officially adopted by the government, it provides

the basis for future settlements. 41

• Israeli Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp is appointed to head a team looking

at investigations and legal actions taken with regards to Israeli settler violence and

intimidation in OPT. The report‘s findings identified: an unusually high number of

files closed for reasons of ―perpetrators unknown‖; an indulgent and forgiving

attitude from the police towards the settlers; in some cases no sincere efforts to find

culprits; no questioning of witnesses; unreasonable lengths of time and a lack of

sensitivity in investigations. The report observes that, ―Israeli residents of the

territories are given to understand that they are soldiers to all intents and purposes.

[...] Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria [West Bank], explicitly relying on this

assurance, refuse to cooperate with the police or provide information; they reject any

contact with the police, basing themselves on ‗high-level policy‘ and declaring that

they are under no obligation to cooperate in this matter.‖42 The report is not released

by the Government of the day, only appearing in truncated form in 1984, 20 months

after its submission by the Karp team.

1982

• Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1981-1983) presents the basic policy guidelines

of his second tenure in the Government. The document largely mirrors the Sharon

Plan and the plan to confer a permanent nature to settlements in the OPT: ―any

suggestion for the dismantlement or removal of any settlement in which Israeli

citizens and members of the Jewish people have settled and reside, will be

rejected.‖43 (3 May)

1983

• The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture publishes the Hundred Thousand Plan aiming at

building settlements in the West Bank through 2010. It includes an implementation

plan 1983-1986. The plan aims at attracting 80,000 Israelis to live in 43 new Israeli

settlements which would bring the total settler population to 100,000. Along with

the construction of settlements, up to 450 km of new roads for settlers are to be

paved. 44

1984

• Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres (1984 - 1986) presents his basic policy

guidelines to the Knesset in line with the Hundred Thousand Plan. The fourth point

of the document establishes that ―there will be no change in the sovereignty over

Judea, Samaria [West Bank] and the Gaza District except with the consent of the

41 B’Tselem‘s report, Land Grab,May 2002 42 The Karp Commission, Report on Investigations of Suspicions Against Israelis in Judea and Samaria:

Conclusions (25 May 1982)

43 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―44 Statement in the Knesset by Prime Minister Begin upon the Presentation of his Second Government- 5 August 1981, 5 Aug 1981, VOLUME 7: 1981-1982‖ www.mfa.gov.il

44 Ministry of Agriculture and the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, ―Master Plan for Settlement for Judea and Samaria, Development Plan for the Region for 1983-1986‖ (Jerusalem, April 1983)

Alignment and the Likud‖. Other points include: ―(A) The existence and

development of settlements set up by the governments of Israel will be ensured, and

the extent of their development will be determined by the government; (B) 5-6

settlements will be established within a year (…); (D) The establishment of new

settlements will require approval by a majority of the cabinet ministers.‖ 45

(13 September)

1986

• Prime Minister Designate Yitzahk Shamir (1986 - 1988) addresses the Knesset to

present the national unity Government in its second period and confirms the

economic support to settlements: ―the government will seek to forge a ‗Zionist

Economy.‘ An economy that will not be based only on solid economic principles,

but also on the Zionist values which must be our guide, and among them the

supreme value of settlement throughout Eretz-Israel.‖46 (20 October)

1988

• During the period 1988-1992, settlement activities accelerate rapidly and the number

of settlements increase by more than 60% in line with the Hundred Thousand

Plan. 47

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir (1988 - 1990) presents to the Knesset his

basic policy guidelines, mirroring provisions of the Hundred Thousand Plan. Point

15 elaborates on the settlement policy as follows ―The existence and development of

settlements set up by the governments of Israel will be ensured. An attached

appendix … elaborates on various issues, whose execution will be agreed upon

together with other issues in this framework. b. Between five and eight settlements

will be established within a year. ... c. The settlements elaborated on in attached

appendix will be established in subsequent years as per a timetable to be determined

in an agreement between the prime minister and the vice premier, toward the

conclusion of the first year. Point 20 refers to settlements as ―national preferential

areas‖ for Government support ―20: The Government will assist sectors of national-

social preference, including the settlement sector (within the framework of the

Recovery Plan), and [will assist] the populace of development areas.‖48

(22 December)

1992

• By 1992, following wide-scale confiscation of Palestinian land, the number of

settlements had risen sharply to 120 inhabited by 100,500 settlers. 49

45 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Basic Policy Guidelines of the Government's Program, 13 September 1984.Volume 9-10: 1984-1988‖ www.mfa.gov.il

46 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―196 Statement in the Knesset by Prime Minister Designate Shamir- 20 October 1986, Volume 9-10: 1984-1988‖ www.mfa.gov.il

47 Applied Research Institute, Jerusalem (ARIJ) ―Undermining Peace: ‗Israel‘s Unilateral Segregation Plans in the Occupied Palestinian Territory‘‖ 2003.

48 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Basic Policy Guidelines of the Government's Program- 22 December 1988, Volume 11-12: 1988-1992‖ www.mfa.gov.il

49 Figures from Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, B’Tselem Land Grab May 2002

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin (1992-1995) presents to the Knesset his basic

policy guidelines, revisiting the previous policy to establish new settlements in the

OPT while at the same time guaranteeing the existence of settlements already

established through public services‘ delivery, promoting the consolidation of the

settlements. The revision in the establishment of new settlements is perceived in

Israel as a virtual freeze on settlement expansion (13 July)

• As a result of Prime Minister Rabin‘s virtual freeze on settlement construction, there

is a reduction in the frequency and the amount of declarations of ―State Land‖50

• A Committee led by Haim Klugman, director-general of the Israeli Ministry of

Justice, examines the transfer of expropriated Palestinian property in East Jerusalem

from the State to settler organisations like Elad and Ateret Cohanim. The report

found that the Custodian for Abandoned Properties effectively served as an

institution to dispossess Palestinians of their land and property.

1993

• The Oslo I Accords are signed. Permanent issues including Israeli settlements are

deliberately left to future negotiations. 51

(13 September)

1994

• The Shamgar Commission report into the killing of twenty-nine Palestinian

worshippers praying inside the Ibrahim Mosque (or Mosque of Abraham) at the

Cave of the Patriarchs site in Hebron also reviews in general law enforcement on

Israeli citizens in OPT and describes actions in this regard as ―too slow, too little and

too late.‖

1995

• The Oslo II Accords are signed. They divide the West Bank and Gaza into three

areas, allow Palestinian election and for Israel to legally close crossing points into

Israel if deemed necessary. 52

(28 September)

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a militant Israeli allegedly in

retaliation for undermining the pace of Jewish settlement expansion in the OPT. 53

(4 November)

1996

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (1996-1999) presents to the Knesset the basic

policy guidelines of his first tenure in Government. The sixth strategic goal (out of

50 B’Tselem, By Hook and By Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank, 2010 51 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, The Oslo Accords Between

Israel and Palestine, 13 September 1993

52 The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ―Oslo 2‖ 28 September 1995

53 Haaretz, ―Settler rabbi: Time has come to apologize for Rabin assassination. In memorial evening in West Bank, Tekoa's Menachem Froman says: We vow not to repeat the dance of hatred. By Chaim

Levinson, 7 Nov 2012

ten) is entitled ―Settlement‖. Whether inside or outside Israel, settlements are

identified as a national priority and, as such, recipients of preferential Government

support. The document puts particular emphasis on supporting settlements beyond

the green line: ―1. 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 defense and an expression of of [sic] Zionist fulfillment. 2.

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.

The Government of Israel will safeguard its vital water supplies, from water sources

on the Golan Heights and in Judea and Samaria.‖ (18 June)

• Settlements with no Government authorization (―outposts‖) begin to be established

on the hills east of Itamar, in Amona east of Ofra and on Givat Hadagan north of the

settlement of Efrat. 54

1998

• The Israeli Government approves Decision No, 3292, which defines certain towns

and villages as National Priority Areas (NPA) ―A‖ and ―B‖. Many settlements are

defined as NPA ―A‖, which entitles them to a number of benefits in housing, a wide-

ranging benefits in education as well as for industry and agriculture, grants and

subsidies, indemnification for the taxes imposed on their produce by the European

Union; tax levels significantly lower than those established for communities inside

the Green Line, and larger balancing grants to the settlements to cover deficits. 55

(15 February)

1999

• More than 50 new settlements without Government authorization (―outposts‖) are

reported to have been established by the end of Prime Minister Netanyahu first

tenure in Government (May). 56

• Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001) presents to the Knesset his basic

policy guidelines. The third strategic line (out of twelve) is entitled ―Settlement‖ and

indicates the Government support to continue developing settlements already

established in the West Bank and Gaza, while indicating that no new settlements

will be built: ―4.1 The Government views all forms of settlement as a valued social

and national enterprise (…); 4.2 Until the status of the Jewish communities in Judea,

Samaria [West Bank] and Gaza is determined (…) no new communities will be built

and no existing communities will be detrimentally affected; 4.3 The Government

will work to ensure the security of the Jewish residents in Judea, Samaria [West

Bank] and Gaza, and to provide regular Government and municipal services -- equal

to those offered to residents of all other communities in Israel. The Government will

offer a response to the on-going development needs of existing communities. Socio-

54 Peace Now, First petitions against the outposts. http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/first-petitions-

against-outposts

55 Adalah Position Paper ―On the Israeli Government‘s New Decision Classifying Communities as National Priority Areas‖, February 2010, Adalah - The Legal Center for the Arab Minority Rights in Israel, See also B‘Tselem ―By Hook and By Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank.‖ July 2010, Summary

56 Peace Now, ―Hayovel and Haresha - Illegal construction‖ HCJ 9051/05 - September 2005 http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/hayovel-and-haresha-illegal-construction

economic standards will be equally applied to all communities everywhere.‖57

(6 July)

2001

• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (2001-2006) presents to the Knesset his basic

policy guidelines. The eighth national goal (out of ten) is: ―To strengthen, expand,

and promote settlement throughout the country.‖ The settlement policy follows the

same line of the prior Government: ―2.9 During its term of office, the Government

will not establish new settlements. The Government will provide for ongoing needs

in the development of existing settlements.‖58 (7 March).

• Fifty one new settlements with no Government authorization (―outposts‖) are

reported to have been built between March 2001 and June 2004.59

• The US led Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee Report, known as the

―Mitchell Report‖, is presented. It says that ―[d]uring our last visit, we observed the

impact of 6,400 settlers on 140,000 Palestinians in Hebron and 6,500 settlers on over

1,100,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (...) we note that many of the confrontations

(…) occurred at points where Palestinians, settlers, and security forces protecting the

settlers, meet (...) restrictions on the movement of people and goods in the West

Bank and Gaza Strip (closures) [have resulted in the] destruction by Israeli security

forces and settlers of tens of thousands of olive and fruit trees and other agricultural

property. The closures have had other adverse effects, such as preventing civilians

from access to urgent medical treatment and preventing students from attending

school.

• The report recommends that the Government of Israel ―freeze all settlement activity,

including the "natural growth" of existing settlements (…); lift closures, transfer to

the PA all tax revenues owed, and permit Palestinians who had been employed in

Israel to return to their jobs; and should ensure that security forces and settlers

refrain from the destruction of homes and roads, as well as trees and other

agricultural property in Palestinian areas, [and that it] take all necessary steps to

prevent acts of violence by settlers.‖60 (30 April)

2002

• The total reported number of settlements built with no Government authorization

(―outposts‖) increases to 93.61 (July).

57 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Guidelines of the Government of Israel, Basic Guidelines of the Government of Israel, Jerusalem, July 6, 1999‖ www.mfa.gov.il

58 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Guidelines of the Government of Israel, Basic Guidelines of the Government of Israel, Jerusalem, March 7, 2001‖ www.mfa.gov.il

59 Foundation for Middle East Peace, ―Settlement Outposts Continue to Thrive under Sharon Administration‖, Settlement Report, Vol. 14 No. 4, July-August 2004

60 Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee Report ―Mitchell Report‖ April 30, 2001. By Suleyman Demirel, Thorbjoern Jagland, Warren B. Rudman, Javier Solana and George J Mitchell (Chairman).

61 Peace Now, First petitions against the outposts. http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/first-petitions-

against-outposts

2003

• The basic policy guidelines in the second tenure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

(2003-2006) remain the same. The eighth national goal (out of ten) continues to

refer to the strengthening, expansion and promotion of settlements throughout the

country, with the Government support to continue developing established

settlements and its aim of not establishing new settlements. 62

(28 February)

2004

• International Court of Justice issues its Advisory Opinion on the Legal

Consequences of the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

(9 July)

2005

• The Office of the Prime Minister‘s report (Sason report) on ―unauthorized outposts‖

describes them as a ―continuation of the settlement enterprise in the territories.‖ The

report documents the active participation of the Government in the promotion and

expansion of settlements up to 1992 and accounts for the ―unofficial‖ continuation

of such involvement between 1992 and 2005, including land confiscation and illegal

construction with the ―unauthorized aid‖ of the Ministry of Housing and the WZO,

as well as ―overlooking‖ and ―actual encouragement and support‖ by the political

echelon. The report concludes that ―unauthorized outposts violate[s] standard

procedure, good governing rules (…) endanger the principal of the rule of law [and

thus] urgent measures must be taken to change [this] reality‖.63 (8 March)

• In accordance with the ―Disengagement Plan‖, 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21

settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank are evacuated.

(16 – 30 August)

2009

• Israeli media unveils the Baruch Spiegel ―secret database‖ of Israeli settlements in

the OPT, a project developed by the Israeli Ministry of Defence. The database

provides details on location and population size of the settlements; status of

ownership of the land including details on over 30 settlements that were to some

extent built on private Palestinian land; construction violating planning regimes and

building permit requirements; details on authorisation agreements between the State

and those building settlements. (February)

• The Knesset enacts the ―Economic Arrangements Law‖ with an additional section

entitled the ―National Priority Areas‖ to apply to settlements in the OPT. (14 July)

• Israel announces a ten-month moratorium on settlement activity (up to September

2010). The moratorium is in effect a partial freeze on approval of new construction.

62 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―Basic Guidelines of the 30th Government of Israel, 28 Feb 2003‖ www.mfa.gov.il

63 Talya Sason, Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts, Israeli Prime Minister‘s Office, Communications Department, 8 March 2005.

It excludes East Jerusalem and ―natural growth‖ in existing settlements, which grow

three times as fast as ―natural growth‖ in Israel. (November)

• The Government approves Decision No. 1060 ―Defining Towns and Areas with

National Priority‖, following request of additional time to implement the Supreme

Court rulings HCJ 2773/98 and HCJ 11163/0 on 1998 decision on National Priority

Areas (NPAs). The new decision falls under the new ―Economic Arrangements

Law‖ and classifies various settlements in the OPT as NPAs further designating

settlements under the criterion of ―level of security threat.‖ In addition, every

settlement in the OPT defined as a NPA is also entitled to receive on an individual

basis the associated additional budgetary grants and benefits in fields to be defined

by ministers. In contrast, towns and villages located within the Green Line and also

defined as NPAs receive smaller benefits at the district and regional level only. 64

(13 December)

2010

• Israel joins the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

During the discussions of accession, Israel indicates that the Government applies the

investment incentives under 1984 Law of Encouragement of Capital Investment

(which is also reported as not covering the OPT) to certain industrial areas in the

West Bank. Israel indicates that foreign-owned enterprises may be established in

those areas of the West Bank and are eligible for grants under that Law. 65

(10 May)

2011

• A letter signed by 38 members of the Knesset (out of 120 members) is addressed to

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The letter refers to orders to ―demolish tens or

hundreds of (…) outposts in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]‖ and indicates that

―[t]his directive must be changed‖. The letter further stresses that ―we should openly

declare that Judea and Samaria are ours‖.66 (11 October)

2012

• Israeli Government retroactively legalises three outposts. (April)

• The findings of the Levy Committee, established to investigate the legal status of the

unauthorized settlements in the West Bank (―outposts‖), are published. The report

documents that settlements built with no formal Government authorization were

established with the knowledge, encouragement and tacit agreement of Government

Ministers, including the Prime Minister, public authorities, the Civil Administration

and the regional councils. It goes on to recommend, that given the real true will of

the Israeli Government was to establish outposts, it should therefore legalise them.

No in-depth analysis is made on the methods used to establish the so-called

64 Adalah Position Paper ―On the Israeli Government‘s New Decision Classifying Communities as National Priority Areas‖, February 2010, Adalah - The Legal Center for the Arab Minority Rights in Israel

65 OECD ―Accession of Israel to the OECD: Review of international investment policies‖ http://www.oecd.org/israel/49864025.pdf

66 Foundation for Middle East Peace ―MKs to Bibi - Keep the Outposts‖ Settlement Report, Vol. 21 No. 6, November-December 2011

unauthorized outposts and no reference to the 2.5 million Palestinian living in the

West Bank is included. 67

(9 July)

• The Judea and Samaria Council for Higher Education grants for the first time a full-

fledged University recognition to a Centre located beyond the green line, Ariel

University Centre, despite opposition by the planning and budget committee of the

State's Council for Higher Education 68

. The University is open to all Israeli citizens,

including Arab-Israelis but closed to Palestinians residing in the West Bank. 69

(17

July)

• The UN General Assembly votes for Palestine to become a non-member state with

observer status. (29 November)

• PM Netanyahu authorises the building of 3,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem

and the West Bank. (30 November)

• In analysis of building in settlements for the year 2012, it was revealed that plans for

6,676 residential units were approved in 201270. This represents an increase from

1,607 housing units approved for construction in 2011 and the several hundred

housing units approved in 2010. Among the housing construction plans approved

were 3,500 residential units intended for the E-1 corridor, 523 for the new settlement

of Gevaot and more than 500 in Itamar. Construction began on 1,747 housing units

in West Bank settlements last year, the Peace Now report also says. More than a

third of the construction in the settlements was east of the West Bank separation

fence, according to the report. Four new outposts went up in 2012: Nahlei Tal near

the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Tzofin Tzafon (Tzofin North) near the Palestinian

city of Qalqilyah, Nahalat Yosef near Nablus and Hill 573 as part of an expansion of

the Itamar settlement. Altogether, 317 new housing units were built in settlement

outposts without building permits, which is against the law.71

67 B’Tselem, ―Levy Committee Report: Where are the Palestinians?‖ 11 July 2012. 68 Haaretz, ―Ariel academic center recognized as first Israeli university beyond Green Line. Decision on

West Bank campus made despite opposition by Israel's Council for Higher Education.‖ By Talila Nesher, 17 July 2012

69 http://digitaljournal.com/article/328824#ixzz2DhMH1Jcf and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-

middle-east-18879786

70 Peace Now ―Summary of Year 2012 in Settlements‖ report. 71 Haaretz, ―Approval for settlement plans jumped 300% in 2012, says Peace Now.‖ By Chaim

Levinson, 16 January 2013

Annex II

[English only]