A/HRC/34/39 with inspecting and amending or validating the boundaries of land previously designated as “State land” continued its activities. In a number of cases, this process has enabled the retroactive authorization of prior settlement construction carried out without the permits required under Israeli law. 26 Impunity and support for the informal takeover of land 18. Incidents of violence against Palestinians, trespassing and the forceful takeover of land have often been conducted as part of a calculated effort by settlers to expand Israeli control beyond settlement jurisdiction areas.27 Such actions have become effective ways of taking over land,28 notably owing to the passivity of the Israeli authorities in addressing them. 29 Indeed, Israeli settlers in the West Bank have historically enjoyed impunity for trespassing and committing violent attacks against Palestinians, and orders against agricultural invasions, whereby settlers take over and cultivate private Palestinian land, remain almost entirely unenforced.30 19. The period under review witnessed the continuation of a significant decline in incidents of settler violence resulting in Palestinian casualties or damage to property, from 397 incidents in 2013 to 81 incidents between January and 31 October 2016. 31 During the reporting period, the severity of settler violence also declined compared with 2015. 20. This positive trend has been linked to preventive measures implemented by the Israeli security forces, including enhanced presence in friction areas and known hotspots for settler violence and increased issuance and enforcement of administrative measures against known violent settlers — primarily restraining orders barring them from the West Bank and, in some instances, administrative detention orders. Resort to such measures reportedly intensified following the murder of three members of the Dawabsheh family in Duma, in July 2015, for which two Israeli citizens were indicted. 32 Designation of land for use as national parks, archaeology sites and tourism destinations as a means to entrench Israeli presence in the West Bank 21. The designation of national parks and archaeological sites and their promotion for Israeli and international tourism continues to contribute to consolidating Israeli civilian presence and control over land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Approximately 14 per cent of Area C land has been designated for use as national parks, and the tourism heritage site development rooted in the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem has profoundly altered the shape and character of the areas surrounding the Old City, creating footholds for residential settlement expansion in Palestinian neighbourhoods. 33 The management of such 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 See A/HRC/31/43, paras. 21-23, and A/71/355, para. 13. See A/70/351, paras. 52-60. Talya Sason, in “Summary of the opinion concerning unauthorized outposts” (10 March 2005), writes: The expansion of the unauthorized outposts phenomenon began in the mid-nineties, after the building in Judea, Samaria and Gaza was frozen by the Rabin Administration in 1993. Building in settlements was still approved, but the approval rate went decreasing as the negotiations with the Palestinian representatives accelerated. The unauthorized outposts phenomenon began expanding, in light of the government’s position opposing the authorizing of the building of settlements in the territories. As documented by Talya Sason in “Summary of the opinion concerning unauthorized outposts”, privately led settlement expansion efforts have also received direct support from the Israeli authorities, despite an official position opposing settlement construction. See also Yesh Din, The Road to Dispossession: a Case Study — the Outpost of Adei Ad (February 2013). Yesh Din, “Land takeover practices employed by Israel in the West Bank”. See also the following reports commissioned by the Government of Israel addressing historic law enforcement failures in the West Bank: Talya Sason, “Summary of the opinion concerning unauthorized outposts”; Meir Shamgar, “Commission of inquiry into the massacre at the tomb of the patriarchs in Hebron (26 June 1994); and Yehudit Karp, “The Karp report: investigation of suspicions against Israelis in Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem” (1982). Figures provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat. See A/71/355, para. 19. See A/70/351, paras. 29-36 and 63-66. 5