A/HRC/31/44 infrastructure. The two main areas in the West Bank that most Palestinians cannot access without a permit are the area west of the wall, known as the “seam zone”, and East Jerusalem. Movement restrictions linked to settlements and other closed areas 22. A number of movement restrictions are linked to the presence of Israeli settlements in Area C and East Jerusalem. There are approximately 142 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.25 Some restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement have been justified by the Israeli authorities as a means of protecting settlers and facilitating their movement throughout the West Bank. They include restrictions on Palestinians’ access to private land located in the vicinity of settlements and limitations on Palestinians’ use of roads used by Israeli settlers (see A/67/375 and A/HRC/31/43). 23. Particularly severe restrictions are imposed on the movement of Palestinians who live in close proximity to Israeli settlers. In the H2 area of Hebron, where approximately 6,000 Palestinians live near settlements, the vehicular and, in some cases, pedestrian movement has been restricted for the past 15 years by approximately 95 physical obstacles, including 19 permanently staffed checkpoints.26 Consequently, access to educational and health-care institutions has been severely impeded, many Palestinian shops, as well as the city’s main vegetable and wholesale markets, which are located in the closed areas, have been shut down and thousands of Palestinians have been compelled to move out of their homes.27 24. Since October 2015, following a series of attacks and clashes, Palestinians’ movement in H2 has been further restricted. The area of Tel Rumeida was declared a closed military zone on 29 October and two of the checkpoints leading to the area have since become accessible only to Palestinian residents registered in advance with Israeli authorities.28 Movement restrictions linked to the wall and the “seam zone” 25. The wall is a key obstacle to freedom of movement in the West Bank. The International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, recognized as illegal those sections of the wall that depart from the Green Line. To date, however, approximately 64.2 per cent of the projected 712 km-long wall has been completed, 85 per cent of which runs through the West Bank.29 The Secretary-General has described how the gate and permit regime, which regulates access to the “seam zone”, impedes the rights of the approximately 11,000 Palestinians residing there from living normal lives and enjoying the right to work, family life and medical treatment (see A/68/502, para. 23). 26. During the reporting period, the High Court of Justice of Israel issued a decision permitting resumption of the construction of a section of the wall in the Wadi Cremisan 25 26 27 28 29 6 B’Tselem, statistics on settlements and settler population for May 2015, available from www.btselem.org/settlements/statistics. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The monthly humanitarian bulletin”, November 2015, p. 4. Global Protection Cluster, “Protection concerns and humanitarian impacts of settlement activity in Hebron city”, April 2014. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The monthly humanitarian bulletin”, November 2015, p. 4. Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, “Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee”, September 2015, para. 38.