A/HRC/34/39 “Relocation” plans and evictions 44. The publicly stated intention of the Government of Israel to relocate or evict thousands of Palestinians currently residing in Area C is a principal source of pressure and coercion for the communities and individuals concerned. In previous reports it was highlighted that the implementation of such plans would entail forcible transfers, except where the individuals affected expressed genuine consent to move. 54 This relates in particular to Israeli plans to relocate some 7,500 Palestinian Bedouin and herders to between three and nine centralized sites 55 and to evict some 1,000 Palestinians living in eight villages in the Massafar Yatta area for the enforcement of a firing zone. 56 It also applies to other eviction and relocation plans affecting 55 Palestinian families in Susya 57 and other communities targeted for relocation outside their areas or residence, such as Dkaika,58 in southern Hebron Governorate. 45. A history of forced evictions and transfers of entire communities by Israeli authorities places additional pressure on the individuals and communities targeted by these plans.59 46. The Secretary-General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 have pointed to the seizure of Palestinian homes and forced evictions (and the risk of such seizures and evictions taking place) to make way for settlers to move in, as factors suggesting a coercive environment in East Jerusalem. 60 According to the 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 10 See A/HRC/25/40, paras. 18-21 and 78, A/67/372, para. 36-37, and A/HRC/24/30, para. 29. See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 56-60. On 14 June 2016, the Deputy Head of the Israeli Civil Administration, Col. Uri Mendez, referred to nine relocation sites during the “Judea and Samaria” subcommittee meeting. See A/HRC/24/30, para. 28. See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 50-54. The Bedouin community of Dkaika has a population of approximately 450, most of whom are Palestine refugees. The Israeli Civil Administration has proposed relocating the community to one of the nearby villages, in line with the State’s official position expressed on 13 May 2009 and 23 March 2016 in response to a petition submitted to the High Court of Justice by Dkaika residents demanding planning and zoning rights for the community. On 2 November 2016, the High Court ordered that Dkaika residents and the State enter into discussions for 90 days to find a solution regarding planning for the village residents. A temporary protection order against demolitions is in place. While it remains unclear whether planning in that location will be an option for the State, the High Court criticized the State’s proposed relocation plan on the grounds that there was no public need or benefit to transfer residents. See http://rhr.org.il/eng/2016/11/update. Between 1997 and 2007, the Israeli authorities transferred in three waves some 150 Bedouin families in Jerusalem Governorate to the Al Jabal site despite their opposition to the relocation. See United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, “Al Jabal: a study on the transfer of Bedouin Palestine refugees” (2013). Experts have assessed that these three waves of displacement amounted to forcible transfer under international humanitarian law. See Théo Boutruche and Marco Sassoli, “Expert opinion on the displacements of Bedouin communities from the central West Bank under international humanitarian law” (September 2014). In 1999, the Israel Defense Forces moved some 700 Palestinian herders out of 12 villages in the Massafer Yatta area, in Hebron Governorate, on the grounds that the area had been designated as a military firing zone. Affected Palestinians were reportedly placed in trucks and removed by force out of the area. See www.acri.org.il/en/2013/03/07/918-whats-the-deal-2. See also A/HRC/24/30, para. 28, and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Life in a firing zone: the Massafer Yatta communities” (May 2013). In 1986, 25 families were expelled from the residential area at Susya in southern Hebron Governorate on the grounds that the land had been designated an archaeological site. A second transfer took place from the new site in 2001. See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Susiya: a community at imminent risk of forced displacement” (June 2015), Rabbis for Human Rights (http://rhr.org.il/eng) and B’Tselem, “Khirbet Susiya: a village under threat of demolition” (7 August 2016). See A/70/351, paras. 25-51, and A/HRC/16/71, paras. 20-22. See also the letter dated 30 April 2015 from the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in