A/HRC/28/78 schools, in clear violation of international law, and approximately two thirds of those affected would be children.43 65. Although the Israeli authorities claim that the Bedouin communities wish for an improvement in their living conditions and do not object to relocation, information received from representatives of Bedouin communities and non-governmental organizations suggests otherwise. Notwithstanding, the Israeli Civil Administration Higher Planning Council approved the deposit of plans for the Nuweima and Fasayil transfer sites in June 2014, and opened them for public objection for a period of 60 days, beginning in August and September respectively.44 All affected Bedouin communities reportedly also faced pending demolition orders. 66. Information received by the Special Rapporteur suggests that there are a number of problems with the plan, including the limited availability of grazing land in the designated townships, the likelihood that traditional livelihoods and the culture of these communities will be undermined, and the fact that one of the proposed sites is located next to a refuse dump, raising serious health concerns. Most importantly, the communities themselves are not willing to relocate. Some are also located in an area that has been allocated for the expansion of Israeli settlements, including in the area known as “E-1”, which allegedly is intended to create a contiguous built-up settlement area between the Ma’ale Adummim settlement and Jerusalem.45 If that is realized, East Jerusalem would be further disconnected from the rest of the West Bank and the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory further undermined. 67. Israel has reportedly been reinforcing its plans to transfer the Palestinian Bedouins by creating a “coercive environment” through a number of policies and practices, including by restricting access to grazing land and markets, the denial of access to basic services and infrastructure, the rejection of applications for building permits, and the demolition and threat of demolition of homes, schools and livelihood structures, including tents and portable latrines – all of which have contributed to forcing Bedouin communities out of their present areas. According to an international non-governmental organization, between January 2008 and July 2014, more than 5,000 Palestinians were displaced as a result of house demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, from 2009 to 2012, Palestinians reportedly submitted 1,640 building permit applications, of which only 37 (or 2.3 per cent) were approved. 68. Part of this coercive environment has involved Israeli interference in the delivery of international donor assistance. UNRWA reported that, in one such case, on 27 February 2014, a donation from a European Union diplomatic mission to the school of Khan alAhmar, comprising a swing set, a free-standing slide and two half-barrel climbing frames, was reportedly confiscated and removed by the Israeli Civil Administration. Israel reportedly stated that the items were confiscated because the metal legs of the swing set would need to be sunk into concrete, which constituted “construction” requiring a building permit. 69. An international non-governmental organization involved in the provision of humanitarian aid to vulnerable Palestinian communities informed the Special Rapporteur 43 44 45 See also UNRWA, “UNRWA urges donor community to take firm stand against mass forcible transfer of Palestinian Bedouins”, 21 September 2014. See Amira Hass, “West Bank Bedouin fighting Israel’s plan for forcible relocation”, Haaretz, 3 December 2014. During an Israeli Parliamentary discussion on 27 April 2014, the head of the Coordination of Government Affairs in the Territories reportedly discussed the plans to clear out the Bedouins from the E-1 settlement area. 19