A/HRC/40/42 reaching final stages of approval. In East Jerusalem, some 1,000 housing units were advanced, about 200 of which reached the final stage of approval. 6. Tenders were issued by the State for 3,500 units in Area C settlements, compared with 3,200 during the previous period. In East Jerusalem, one tender was announced for 600 units in Ramat Shlomo – the first tender announced in East Jerusalem settlements in over two years.5 7. Official data on settlement construction starts in Area C indicate a decline compared with the previous reporting period.6 8. During the reporting period, one outpost was legalized (see para. 15) and there were no declarations of State land. Settlers established seven new outposts, three in the southern West Bank and four in the central West Bank, 7 compared with five established in the previous reporting period.8 In January 2018, the Israeli Minister of Defence called for the legalization of the outpost of Havat Gilad/Gilad Farm in response to the killing of an Israeli inhabitant of the outpost by a Palestinian. 9 The legalization process has not moved forward. According to a media investigation published during the reporting period, the World Zionist Organization,10 a non-State entity which receives funding from the Israeli State, provided dozens of loans over two decades to fund the establishment of 26 unauthorized outposts and other illegal structures in authorized settlements across the West Bank.11 Consolidation of settlements 9. On 14 October 2018, the Government of Israel allocated NIS 21.6 million for the construction of 31 settlement housing units in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron, Hebron H2.12 The new construction will replace an Israeli military base called Plugat Hamitkanim located on a Palestinian bus station off Shohada Street. This will be the first time Israeli settlements are built in H2 in 16 years. 13 On 31 October 2018, the Minister of Defence ordered other plans for a new settlement compound in H2 as an expansion of the Avraham Avinu settlement to move ahead.14 10. On 16 October 2018, the Israeli authorities inaugurated the Tel Rumeida archaeological site in H2. According to Peace Now, the archaeological excavations undertaken by the Israeli Antiquities Authority and the University of Ariel settlement at the site are used to promote an exclusively Jewish narrative of the city’s history.15 As in East Jerusalem, tourism development in H2 is one of the tools used to change the character of Palestinian neighbourhoods and ensure continued settlement expansion.16 11. On 9 October 2018, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected two petitions submitted by an Israeli NGO against the establishment of the Amihai settlement (the settlement established for inhabitants of the Amona outpost evacuated in 2017) partly on private Palestinian land. While the Court did not rule on whether the establishment of the settlement had been illegal in the first place, it did consider the petitioners’ claim that the 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Data are available only for the period 1 November 2017–1 October 2018 (1,659 units) and 1 November 2016–1 October 2017 (2,269 units). Givat Eitam, Mishol Hamaayan Farm, Negohot Farm, Ras Karkar Farm, Kochav Hashahar East, Pnei Hever, South and Gadi Base. Peace Now, data on file. Yotam Berger, “Israel’s Defence Minister aims to legalize outpost near where settler killed last week”, Haaretz, 15 January 2018. See www.wzo.org.il/world-zionist-organization. Yotam Berger, “Revealed: Israeli taxpayers helped bankroll illegal West Bank outposts for decades”, Haaretz, 25 October 2018. A/71/355, paras. 25–64. A/HRC/37/43, para. 8. Yotam Berger, “New residential building for Jewish settlement in Hebron gets go-ahead”, Haaretz, 1 November 2018. Peace Now, “A new touristic settlement opens in Tel Remeida in Hebron”, 16 October 2018. A/73/410, para. 8. 3