A/HRC/25/38 Palestinians undergo a long and costly process before a building permit within this area may be granted. Even if requirements to obtain a building permit in West Jerusalem are similar, underinvestment by the Municipality in public infrastructure and the inequitable allocation of budgetary resources in East Jerusalem make it very difficult for Palestinians to fulfil all requirements to obtain a permit.36 As a result, at least 33 per cent of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack Israeli-issued building permits, placing at least 93,100 residents at risk of eviction, demolition of their homes and displacement.37 12. In Area C of the West Bank, Palestinians are not allowed to build on approximately 70 per cent of the land mass and are subject to severe restrictions regarding construction in the remaining 30 per cent.38 Less than 1 per cent of Area C has been planned for Palestinian urban development.39 Palestinians are not represented in the planning process, unlike Israeli settlers.40 The combination of these factors makes it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain a permit to construct homes or infrastructure in Area C. Many Palestinians therefore build without building permits, putting them at risk of eviction, demolition of their homes and displacement.41 According to the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA), between 2009 and 2012, only 2.3 per cent of the permit applications by Palestinians in Area C were approved.42 Between 30 November 2012 and 30 October 2013, 477 Palestinian structures were demolished in Area C, which caused the eviction and displacement of 644 people, half of them children.43 13. In contrast, Israeli authorities have provided settlements with detailed planning and established preferential policies, including granting incentives and benefits to settlers, allocating settlements land for expansion and connecting them to public services and infrastructure.44 In addition, the strict application of planning laws to Palestinian communities, which causes a large number of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian structures, contrasts with the flexibility shown by the planning authorities towards Israeli settlements.45 The widespread lack of enforcement of laws granting the power to evict and demolish structures when they are violated by Israeli settlers further highlights the differentiated application of planning policy.46 For instance, in Area C, in the period 2010– 2012, 2,418 demolition orders were issued for Palestinian buildings, while only 1,143 demolition orders were issued for Israeli settlement buildings.47 14. Israeli planning policy is thus discriminatory against Palestinians as compared with Israeli settlers. As illustrated above, even if the planning laws in principle do not establish different requirements for Palestinians and Israeli settlers, they impose unachievable conditions for Palestinian construction. In contrast, Israeli settlers do not face such difficulties, for instance regarding the allocation of building permits and participation in the 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 A/66/364, paras. 13-15. See www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_Jerusalem_FactSheet_December_2012_english.pdf. A/68/513, paras. 30-33. See www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_factsheet_January_2013_english.pdf. A/68/513, para. 32. See also B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, “Acting the landlord: Israel’s policy in Area C” (June 2013), p. 13. Available from www.btselem.org/download/201306_area_c_report_eng.pdf. A/68/513, paras. 30-33 and A/66/364, para. 19. Information provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Ibid. A/68/513, paras. 23-29 and 34. See Land Grab, Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, May 2002, available from: www.btselem.org/download/200205_land_grab_eng.pdf. A/68/513, para. 34. See also: “The road to dispossession – a case study: the outpost of Adei-Ad”, Yesh Din, 18 April 2013, available from www.yesh-din.org/postview.asp?postid=254. Information provided by ICA to OCHA. 7