A/HRC/43/67 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 40/24, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of resolution 40/24 at its forty-third session, with particular emphasis on the policies and practices linked to the settlement enterprise that discriminate against the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The report, which covers the period from 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2019, and also addresses issues relating to Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, is submitted to the Council pursuant to that request. 2. The report is based on monitoring and other information-gathering activities conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and on information provided by other United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organizations and civil society in the occupied Syrian Golan. It should be read in conjunction with recent relevant reports submitted by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to the General Assembly and to the Human Rights Council (A/74/357, A/HRC/40/39, A/HRC/40/42 and A/HRC/40/43). The quarterly updates and reports of the Secretary-General presented to the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) also provide relevant information.1 3. During the period under review, the Israeli settlement expansion accelerated in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Settlement housing advancement in Area C of the West Bank doubled, while in East Jerusalem the numbers remained approximately the same compared to the previous reporting period (1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018). The construction of outposts, 2 the demolition of Palestinian property and the resulting displacement continued at a rapid rate, as did settler violence and the lack of accountability for them. II. Legal framework 4. International human rights law and international humanitarian law are concurrently applicable in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In particular, Israel is bound by the obligations of an occupying Power as set out by international humanitarian law. A detailed analysis of the legal framework in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan is contained in reports of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/34/38 and 39). 5. References to discriminatory Israeli policies and practices further to Human Rights Council resolution 40/24 do not affect the legally separate issues of the status of occupied territory or its population, the applicability and scope of international humanitarian law, nor the rights of and protections afforded to protected persons and the obligations of the occupying Power as defined in the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention). III. Activities related to settlements 6. During the period under review, advancements of plans for settlements more than doubled, while tenders for settlement construction and the actual commencement of construction both decreased. The rapid pace of establishment of outposts witnessed during the previous period under review continued. Conditions and acts contributing to a coercive environment, such as demolitions and forced evictions, increased, and acts of settler violence reached the highest level seen since 2013. On 28 January 2019, the Government of Israel announced its decision not to 1 2 2 Available from https://unsco.unmissions.org/security-council-briefings-0. Outposts are unauthorized settlements that are illegal even under Israeli law. Both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law.