A/HRC/44/60 C.3 The move was denounced by the EU, the UK and the UN’s Mideast envoy, who stated that such actions would further impede the possibility of a two-state solution. In February 2020, Israeli authorities advanced or announced plans and tenders to build more than 10 5004 settlement housing units, including 3500 units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem5, which would link the city to the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Building settlements in the E1 area would effectively divide the west bank into two disconnected areas. These troubling trends on the ground would worsen existing violations against Palestinians and would further fragment Palestinian territory in the West Bank. 8. In Hebron, the planning and expansion of Israeli settlements continued at a rapid pace. On 1 December 2019, the then Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced his approval for the planning of a new Jewish settlement in the city of Hebron. This announcement was followed by a demand that the Palestinian municipal government of Hebron consent to a plan to demolish the city’s wholesale market, and replace it with additional housing units to accommodate Jewish settlers.6 In practice, the move would create a new Jewish settlement in the city. The municipality, which enjoys the status of a ‘protected tenant’ in the area of the market,7 was threatened in a letter by Bennet that if it failed to comply within 30 days, legal proceedings would be filed to lift its protected status. Since the last report, the number of incidents and severity of settler attacks has increased significantly in Hebron causing injury to Palestinians.8 For example, on 22 and 23 November 2019, settlers carried out at least six attacks resulting in injury to the Palestinian population in H2, Hebron. On many of these occasions, Israeli Security Forces appeared to take no action to prevent the attacks or to protect the population. At least 16 attacks were carried out by Israeli settlers between 17-30 March 2020, representing a 78 per cent increase compared to the bi-weekly average of incidents reported by OCHA since the start of 20209. Israel has the obligation to ensure the safety and well-being of the Palestinian population, and to protect them from settlers’ attacks. Where attacks do occur, Israel is obliged to pursue accountability by ensuring that those responsible are prosecuted and punished.10 B. Human Rights Defenders 9. Since the Special Rapporteur’s last report to the Human Rights Council at its 40th session, intimidation, harassment and threats against human rights and civil society actors continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Palestinian human rights defenders and civil society organizations are the main victims of these measures, which further contribute to the shrinking of civic space. Activist and human rights defenders continue to be targeted by the Israeli Government, the Palestinian Authority and the de-facto authorities in Gaza. These measures include arbitrary detention, physical threats and harassment, intensive defamation 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-approves-plans-for-2-000-w-bank-settlementssparking-international-outcry-1.7648415. https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing__30_march_2020_2334.pdf . https://peacenow.org.il/en/netanyahu-promotes-the-construction-in-e1 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-threatens-hebron-gov-t-agree-to-jewish-neighborhood-orlose-property-rights-1.8225822. The Hebron wholesale market site was under Jewish ownership before Israel’s establishment in 1948, although most of the Jews left Hebron in 1929 after an attack on the Jewish population killed 67 people. After 1948, Jordan leased the land to the Hebron Municipality through a protected tenancy. Following the Six-Day War in 1967, the buildings on the site were transferred to the custodian for abandoned property, but the municipality remained a protected tenant. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-threatens-hebron-gov-t-agree-to-jewish-neighborhood-orlose-property-rights-1.8225822. A/74/357 para 19. https://www.ochaopt.org/poc/17-30-march-2020. OHCHR OPT Press Statement, 27 November. 2019,https://www.facebook.com/UNHumanRightsOPT/. 3