A/HRC/34/39
security budget allocated by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, totalling
approximately US$ 25 million in 2015.48
31.
Intensified efforts by Israeli settler groups to take control of East Jerusalem
properties, often located deep within Palestinian neighbourhoods, have generated an
increased risk of evictions of Palestinian families (see also para. 56 below).
Retroactive legalization of outposts in Area C
32.
Successive reports to the General Assembly have detailed Israeli support to
settlement outposts (erected by settlers without official approval from the Government of
Israel) through the provision of funds, infrastructure and security, and through the lack of
any action to remove them.
33.
While no outpost has been legalized since May 2014, efforts to retroactively approve
such settlements took a new form during the period under review, as a draft bill was
introduced to avert the impending court-mandated 25 December 2016 deadline for the
evacuation and demolition of the outpost of Amona, erected on the private lands of
residents of Silwad, Ein Yabroud and Taibeh. The “regularization bill” envisaged the
retroactive “regularization” of settlement houses built on private Palestinian property,
which would remove key legal obstacles to the retroactive legalization of dozens of
unauthorized outposts.49
C.
Production of and trade in settlement goods
34.
The production of and trade in settlement goods raises concerns about the human
rights impact on Palestinians caused and exacerbated by business enterprises and States.
The human rights obligations of Israel within the Occupied Palestinian Territory stem from
the jurisdiction and effective control it exercises as the occupying power. That includes the
obligation to protect individuals and communities from adverse human rights impacts by
third parties, such as business enterprises, operating in territory under its effective control.
Under article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions, States parties have to respect and
ensure respect for the Conventions. Accordingly, third States are under the obligation not to
recognize the unlawful situation resulting from Israeli settlements, nor to aid or assist in the
violations committed by Israel.50
35.
The European Union is the main trading partner of Israel, with trade worth over 32
billion euros in 2015. The Government of Israel has reportedly estimated that the annual
value of industrial goods produced in settlements and exported to Europe is US$ 300
million. Agricultural production provides the main source of income for settlements in the
Jordan Valley, with 66 per cent of their produce being exported.
36.
Products that are wholly or partially produced in settlements are frequently labelled
as coming from Israel, obscuring their actual origin. That allows the exports to be covered
under preferential trade agreements with the European Union that exclude settlements.
Some measures have been taken to address that issue. During the reporting period, the
European Union issued new labelling guidelines for products coming from the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Under those guidelines, any product
originating from a settlement must not be labelled as “Made in Israel” but must clearly be
labelled as having been produced in a settlement.
37.
While States have a primary duty to protect human rights, there is an independent
corporate responsibility to respect human rights applicable to all business enterprises,
irrespective of where they operate. That has been recognized in the Guiding Principles on
48
49
50
8
Ibid, p. 12.
See A/HRC/31/43 and A/71/355. See also www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/
DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21003&LangID=E.
See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, paras.
157-159, and International Committee of the Red Cross, 2016 commentary on article 1 common to
the Geneva Conventions, para. 163.
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