A/HRC/40/42 survey by the Protection Cluster, 21 communities affected by settler violence, often along with other coercive factors, experienced a decrease in population in the course of 2017. 93 Première urgence internationale, an NGO, identified three cases during the reporting period of people moving from Burin and Urif due to recurrent settler violence, either to other villages or within their village.94 51. In August 2018, a Palestinian family of four was forcibly evicted by settlers and had their houses demolished in the Beit al-Baraka compound, south of Bethlehem. The family had lived in small houses within the compound premises since the 1970s as they worked for previous owners, an American Christian association. In 2010, the compound was reportedly sold to settlers through a shell company posing as a Scandinavian church. Settlers moved into the compound in 2015 and began harassing the family, and prevented two sons from living there. The family submitted seven complaints of harassment to the Israeli police, who reportedly did not take any action. The family also appealed to the Jerusalem Magistrate Court. In 2016, the court ruled in favour of the family, stating that it was allowed to live in the compound and that the settlers could not restrict their access. 52. However, on 6 August 2018, settlers tricked the father into leaving his house by claiming that their dogs had attacked his sheep, refused to allow him to return and removed his daughter from the house by force. The settlers then demolished their two houses without allowing them to retrieve their possessions. The Israeli police arrived just after the eviction, but the only action they took was to arrest the daughter following the settlers’ claim that she had attacked them. She was detained for three days and eventually released without charges. The family members now live in nearby Arroub refugee camp. Due to the Israeli State’s failure to take all appropriate action to provide legal protection to the family, including against demolition and forced eviction, there appear to be violations of the rights to housing and security of tenure. Furthermore, the arrest of the daughter raises concerns of arbitrary arrest and detention. E. Failure to protect and lack of accountability 53. As previously documented, the Israeli security forces, in numerous instances which appear to indicate a pattern, have failed to prevent settler attacks and repeatedly failed to protect Palestinians when attacks occurred in their presence. 95 For instance, the village of Burin in the Nablus area is among the most affected by settler violence in the West Bank, as it is surrounded by the settlements of Har Bracha and Yitzhar and six outposts, 96 known as sources of serious settler violence. Burin residents and human rights defenders reported attacks on Palestinians and their property every Saturday, and sometimes also on Fridays, in the presence of Israeli security forces. 54. During clashes between Palestinians and settlers around Burin, the Israeli security forces only targeted Palestinians with crowd dispersal methods and arrests.97 Video material of several incidents during the reporting period shows Israeli security forces failing to interfere with stone-throwing settlers and, in some instances, using crowd dispersal means towards Palestinians while settlers threw stones. Adding to the climate of impunity, the frequency of settler harassment seems to have become normalized among some Palestinian communities: such incidents have reportedly become so much a part of Palestinians’ daily lives in Burin that they rarely report them anymore.98 55. As the occupying Power, Israel has the obligation to uphold public order and safety in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to protect the Palestinian population from all acts 93 94 95 96 97 98 Source on file. Première urgence internationale and Médecins du monde, The Case of Burin: Escalation of Settler Violence in the West Bank (2018), p. 3. A/72/564, paras. 20–22; and A/73/410, para. 18. Shalhevet Farm, Hill 725, Lehavat Yitzhar, Mizpeh Yitzhar, Bracha A and Sneh Ya’akov. A/72/564, para. 22. See also Yesh Din, Yitzhar, p. 23. Première urgence internationale, The Case of Burin, p. 3. 13