A/HRC/43/67 B. Consolidation of settlements 13. According to the statistics of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, there were more than 600,000 settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at the end of the period under review. 12 As part of national election campaigns in April and September 2019, the Prime Minister of Israel vowed on several occasions to declare sovereignty over settlements and to annex the Jordan Valley 13 and other parts of the West Bank. 14 Moreover, several government officials called for applying Israeli law and “sovereignty” in Area C.15 14. For decades, settlers have received economic and other incentives to relocate to the West Bank (A/HRC/28/44, para. 14; A/HRC/34/39, para. 24),16 which amounts to the transfer by Israel of its population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory (A/67/375, para. 10). While the Government of Israel has implemented extensive infrastructure projects to facilitate the movement of settlers, the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank has been restricted in a manner that severely infringes upon their freedom of movement and access to services and livelihoods (A/73/410, paras. 39–43; A/HRC/37/43, paras. 38, 56–58; A/HRC/40/42, para. 35). Legal developments, including regularization of outposts 15. On 13 December 2018, the Attorney General of Israel issued an opinion allowing the Government to initiate steps to retroactively legalize settlement units built “in good faith”, including on private Palestinian property that, at the time of construction, was mistakenly believed to be “State land” under Israeli law (A/74/357, para. 17). 16. On 30 June 2019, the High Court of Justice of Israel approved Military Order No. 1789 establishing a “civil services administration” for settlers in the H2 area of Hebron, which is under Israeli control. The new administration has, inter alia, the power to purchase property and thereby to consolidate the settler presence in Hebron (A/HRC/37/43, para. 12). On 26 August 2019, the Legal Adviser General of the Ministry of Defense issued a legal opinion permitting the construction of a new settlement in the wholesale market complex in H2.17 C. Impact of settlements on human rights 1. Settlement-related violence 17. During the period under review, incidents of settler violence continued at a high level, with an increase in the severity of attacks on and injuries to Palestinians. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of incidents of settler violence reached its highest level since 2013, rising to 352 incidents from the 254 reported during the previous period, and 147 during the period before that. OHCHR has previously reported on the gendered impact of settler violence (A/HRC/40/42, para.49). 12 13 14 15 16 17 4 See https://peacenow.org.il/en/settlements-watch/settlements-data/jerusalem and https://peacenow.org.il/en/settlements-watch/settlements-data/population. Noa Landau and Yotam Berger, “Netanyahu says Israel will annex Jordan Valley if reelected”, Haaretz, 10 September 2019; Toi Staff, “Netanyahu: If I’m re-elected, I’ll extend sovereignty to West Bank settlements”, Times of Israel, 6 April 2019. Toi Staff, “Netanyahu: After Jordan Valley and settlements, I’ll annex other ‘vital areas’”, Times of Israel, 16 September 2019. Omri Nahmias, “Hotovely: Time to apply Israeli law in Area C”, Jerusalem Post, 18 June 2019; Gil Hoffman, “Gilad Erdan: Time for Abbas to go”, Jerusalem Post, 18 June 2019; https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/security_council_briefing__20_september_2019_2334_0.pdf. By Hook and by Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank, B’Tselem, July 2010; One Rule, Two Legal Systems: Israel’s Regime of Laws in the West Bank, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), October 2014. http://peacenow.org.il/wpcontent/uploads/2019/08/MOD_opinion_wholesale_market_Hebron_2018.pdf (in Hebrew).