A/HRC/43/67
Rumeida between October 2018 and August 2019 owing to coercive factors. This was the
case of Fawaz Abu Eisheh who, on 8 December 2019, moved with his spouse and three
children (aged 2, 8, and 10 years) to the H1 area of Hebron. He told OHCHR that the longstanding movement restrictions and, above all, the fear for the safety of his children, had
forced him to leave H2.
54.
Fawaz was born in Tel Rumeida. Upon marriage, he convinced his wife, from H1, to
join him in Tel Rumeida. He owned a house located at the opposite end of the street leading
to the Ramat Yishai settlement, where several Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security
forces. Israeli security forces are permanently stationed only 10 metres from his house to
ensure safe passage of settlers. The checkpoints and the inability to reach his home by car
affected all aspects of the family’s life. In 2015, after Fawaz witnessed the killing by Israeli
security forces of 18-year old Hadeel Hashlamoun (A/71/355, para. 36) 52 and other
Palestinians in Tel Rumeida, he and his family decided to leave. He stated that his wife had
started to suffer from insomnia, his children had begun to soil their beds, and there was
shooting at night. The family sold all it could and began to build a house in H1, with current
debts of 150,000 shekels.
3.
Communities in Area C and other communities bordering settlements in the West
Bank
55.
Previous reports have identified factors that have created a coercive environment in
Area C of the West Bank and areas adjacent to Israeli settlements, including demolitions in
the context of the unlawful and discriminatory zoning and planning regime, and the threat
of demolitions (A/HRC/34/39, para. 47; A/74/357, para. 28; A/HRC/40/42, paras. 17 20, A/68/513 para. 32), Israeli plans to relocate entire Palestinian communities (coupled
with history of past evictions of entire communities by Israeli authorities )
(A/HRC/34/39, paras. 44–45; A/HRC/40/42, para. 17; A/72/564, paras. 36–57),
exposure to military training in and around Israeli-defined firing zones (A/HRC/34/39,
para. 52), intimidation and harassment from Israeli security forces and government
officials (ibid., para. 50), and settler violence committed with impunity (ibid., para. 24;
A/74/357, para. 38). It has also been noted that one factor alone can be sufficient to create
a coercive environment (A/HRC/34/39, para. 42) and to trigger concerns of forcible
transfer.
56.
As in East Jerusalem, the implementation of discriminatory zoning and planning
policies has led to extensive destruction of Palestinian property, placing individuals and
communities at risk of forcible transfer. Israeli authorities fully control planning and
construction in Area C, which covers more than 60 per cent of the West Bank. Through
measures such as the designation of “State land” and “firing zones”, Israeli authorities have
allocated 70 per cent of Area C to exclusive Israeli use (ibid., para. 14.),53 including the
construction and expansion of settlements, and made building permits in remaining areas
nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.54 According to the Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, during the current period under review, seizures or demolitions in
Area C led to the displacement of 361 people, including 171 children.
57.
Settler violence and harassment can also put pressure on people living in communities
in proximity to settlements to move (A/HRC/40/42, para. 50), including in Areas A and B,
where settler violence, seemingly often tolerated by State officials, is used as a tool to take
over additional land and further expand Israeli control beyond the jurisdiction of settlements
52
53
54
12
An enquiry conducted by the Israeli security forces found that her death was unnecessary and
avoidable. The incident led to incidents during which Palestinians were killed in attacks, or alleged
attacks.
See also Yael Stein, Fake Justice: The Responsibility Israel’s High Court Justices Bear for the
Demolition of Palestinian Homes and the Dispossession of Palestinians, B’Tselem, February 2019,
pp. 7–9.
Less than one per cent of Area C is planned for Palestinian construction. Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, Humanitarian Facts and Figures, 2017,
p. 8.
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