A/HRC/34/39 the destruction of such assistance in Area C has heightened the risk that affected communities will be forcibly transferred.78 Additional factors contributing to a coercive environment 56. Other factors contributing to a coercive environment include the strict residency regime for East Jerusalem residents and restrictions on family unification between residents of East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank. 79 57. Similarly, policies and practices in the context of the five-decade-long Israeli occupation can contribute to a coercive environment, notably the confiscation by the Government of Israel of Palestinian land and restrictions on access to and control over natural resources, including water, which impede the development of the Palestinian economy; restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; the lack of access to effective legal remedies; and the implementation of collective punishment measures such as punitive demolitions. V. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan 58. Settlement expansion and land appropriation by the Government of Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan continued in direct violation of international law. In October 2016, the Government reportedly approved the construction of 1,600 new homes in the illegal settlement of Katzrin.80 As noted in previous reports, Israeli settlements in the Golan are encouraged through financial incentives and a disproportionate allocation of water resources, contributing to a higher agricultural yield for settlers. 81 The Government is also reportedly seeking to appropriate approximately 20,000 acres of occupied land to create Hermon national park. The land in question is currently used for agriculture and housing by the inhabitants of the nearby Syrian towns of Majdal Shams and Ein Qynia. 82 The appropriation of the land would severely restrict the development and expansion of the town of Majdal Shams.83 59. The Israeli authorities reportedly demolished a home in the Syrian Golan for the first time on 7 September 2016. The house was in the village of Majdal Shams and it was demolished on the basis that it had been built without the necessary permit. 84 Discriminatory land, housing and development policies established by the Israeli authorities have made it difficult for Syrians to obtain building permits, with the result that Syrian towns and villages are increasingly overcrowded. 85 The human rights organization AlMarsad reported that a number of Syrian homeowners had received demolition notices; the organization expressed concern that the first demolition could mark the beginning of a new policy of home demolitions.86 60. Of further concern are reiterations by senior Israeli government officials, including the Prime Minister, during 2016 that Israel would never give up its claim to the Golan Heights. The Secretary-General has repeatedly reaffirmed the continuing validity of Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in which the Council decided that the Israeli 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 Approximately 170 European Union humanitarian structures were demolished between 2009 and mid-2016, of which 91 were demolished in the first six months of 2016. See www.haaretz.com/israelnews/1.733729 and www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/un-officials-call-immediaterevocation-plans-transfer-palestinian. See www.btselem.org/jerusalem/revocation_of_residency. See www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-okays-1600-new-homes-in-golan-heights. See A/HRC/28/44, para. 54, and A/HRC/31/43, para. 64. See http://golan-marsad.org/al-marsad-calls-on-international-community-to-act. See http://golan-marsad.org/press-release-al-marsad-submits-objection-to-hermon-national-park-plan. See http://golan-marsad.org/press-release-israeli-authorities-demolish-home-in-majdal-shams-in-theoccupied-syrian-golan/ Ibid. Ibid. 13