A/HRC/13/53 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 has again been compelled to prepare this report without the benefit of the cooperation of the State of Israel. In practical terms, this has meant a continuing refusal to grant access to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to a representative of the United Nations. This violates Israel’s obligations as a Member State, it impairs the capacity of the Human Rights Council to serve the international community, and denies the people living under occupation a critical outlet to convey grievances regarding violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law, thus interfering with the ability of the United Nations and Member States to exercise their responsibilities to stop these violations. This report, then, is based on the best efforts of the Special Rapporteur to gain reliable information bearing on the range of issues arising from the continuing occupation, including from secondary sources and the testimony of witnesses. In the future an effort will be made to visit the Gaza Strip in a formal mission facilitated by the Government of Egypt. The Special Rapporteur has been given assurances that the Government of Egypt intends to grant him permission to enter Gaza by way of the Rafah Crossing. 2. This report covers developments related to human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) from July through December 2009. Most developments are connected to issues discussed in prior reports of the Special Rapporteur. New concerns addressed in the present report include the treatment, by the Human Rights Council and other organs of the United Nations, of the report of the United Nations Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and the role of civil society initiatives that seek to protect human rights in the OPT, in particular given the inability or unwillingness of the United Nations and other international actors to uphold human rights and the severity of the deprivations confronting Palestinians, who have been living for so long under the burdens of a harsh occupation. This harshness has long been flagged as being of an emergency character with respect to the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip, especially since the imposition of the unlawful Israeli blockade, beginning in June 2007, which has been widely condemned as a flagrant and serious violation of the prohibition on collective punishment expressed in article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which unconditionally condemns collective punishment. There are also some new concerns that have been prompted by the announcement by the Government of Israel of a temporary and partial 10-month freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank and the resultant resistance to this ban by settlers and their settler organizations, often taking the form of recourse to violence against Palestinians, their persons, their property and their public facilities. Israel has not displayed due diligence in discharging its primary responsibility as occupying Power to protect the occupied civilian population. II. The United Nations Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict 3. The United Nations Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict released its report (FFM report)1 on 15 September 2009. It was discussed by the Human Rights Council on 29 September 2009. The Mission undertook a comprehensive investigation of allegations of war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas during Operation Cast Lead, which was carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 and 1 GE.10-10260 A/HRC/12/48. 3