A/HRC/40/42 15. On 28 August 2018, the Jerusalem District Court applied Military Order No. 59 (1967)27 to legalize the outpost of Mitzpeh Kramim, which was built on private Palestinian land, based on the alleged good faith assumption that it was located on State land. 28 This decision is the first use of the military order and seems to confirm the existence of alternatives to the controversial “Regularization Law”, which aims to retroactively legalize outposts built on private Palestinian land and housing units built illegally in existing settlements.29 There are hence strong concerns that this ruling would serve as a precedent to regularize more than a thousand illegal housing units within outposts and settlements. 16. During the reporting period, the Government of Israel promoted a bill that would give the World Zionist Organization the authority to manage land in the West Bank. 30 If adopted, the bill would validate a long-standing practice of management by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization of most of the State land in the West Bank, which has proven problematic for its lack of both transparency and governmental supervision. The Settlement Division is reported to have previously allocated private Palestinian land as State land for settler use, including in Mitzpeh Kramim. 31 C. Impact of settlements on Palestinian communities at risk of forcible transfer 17. The publicly stated intention of the Government of Israel to relocate thousands of Palestinians residing in Area C remains a key concern, and contributes to a coercive environment. 32 According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during the reporting period, 402 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished in the West Bank, displacing 453 people including 216 children and 111 women. Approximately 60 per cent of the structures demolished were in Area C and 40 per cent in East Jerusalem. Four schools in Area C were demolished or confiscated. In Area C and East Jerusalem, 48 schools were under threat of demolition as of 31 October 2018. 18. Some 7,500 Palestinian Bedouins and herders, mostly refugees, belonging to 46 communities are at particular risk of forced eviction. This includes the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar-Abu al-Helu, composed of some 180 individuals, half of whom are children.33 On 24 May 2018, the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a ruling which allowed for the demolition of the community’s structures, putting the residents at risk of forcible transfer and setting a dangerous precedent for many other communities under similar threat. On 5 September 2018, the Court issued a final ruling, in which it upheld its previous decision and rejected all petitions made by the community. On 23 September 2018, the Israeli Civil Administration requested the residents to carry out self-demolitions of their homes by 1 October 2018, which they refused to do. On 20 October 2018, the Office of the Prime Minister announced the suspension of the demolitions until further notice, allegedly in order to exhaust negotiations and proposals received from various sources. As at the end of the reporting period, the demolitions had not taken place. The constant threats of demolition issued by Israeli authorities exacerbated the pressure on the community to move, adding to the coercive environment. 19. In November 2017, the Israel Defense Forces ordered the “removal of all properties” from specific zones in Area C inhabited by Palestinian herding communities, including Ein al-Hilwe and Um al-Jamal in the northern Jordan Valley and Jabal al-Baba in the Jerusalem Governorate. The latter falls within the area slated for the E1 settlement plan, designed to 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 A/HRC/37/43, para. 17. An appeal against the decision is pending before the Israeli Supreme Court. Adopted in February 2017, the law remains unimplemented to date, following petitions to the High Court of Justice; see A/73/410, para. 12. The amendment (Administration and Allocation of Land in the Judea and Samaria Area by the Settlement Division) was brought before the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset for preparation for first reading on 29 October 2018. Peace Now, “Preliminary approval for settlement division bill”, 16 June 2018. A/HRC/34/39, para. 44; and A/72/564, paras. 36–57. A/HRC/37/43, para. 25; and A/73/410, para. 22. 5