A/HRC/31/40 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the eighth periodic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It covers the period from 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015. 2. The information contained herein primarily emanates from human rights monitoring conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, within the framework of Human Rights Council resolutions S-9/1 and S-12/1. The report also reflects information from other United Nations entities and from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 3. The report should be read in conjunction with recent reports of the SecretaryGeneral (A/HRC/31/43, A/HRC/31/44, A/70/351 and A/70/421), which present additional relevant information for the reporting period. As requested in Council resolution 29/25, the status of implementation of the recommendations of the independent commission of inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict and of the 2009 United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is presented in an addendum to the present report (A/HRC/31/40/Add.1). 4. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the reporting period saw a dramatic rise in casualties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with 95 Palestinians killed (including 18 children) and 10,481 injured (including 1,489 children). Twenty Israelis were killed and 127 were injured in attacks by Palestinians. At least 74 Palestinians were killed1 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem — the highest number of fatalities since 2007. 5. In November 2014, tensions continued over the status quo at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem (see A/HRC/28/45, para. 57), with regular clashes occurring. Despite some relative calm in the first half of 2015, the situation remained fragile, with peace negotiations to end the long-standing occupation stalled. 6. On 31 July 2015, Israeli settlers set ablaze a Palestinian home in Duma village in Nablus governorate, killing a couple and their 18-month-old child (see A/HRC/31/43, para. 35). The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs emphasized that the attack had occurred in the context of a chronic lack of adequate law enforcement in the West Bank, adding that such violence was possible because of the environment created as a result of the decades-long policy of Israel of illegal settlement activities.2 7. From mid-September 2015, serious confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces again erupted in connection with the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. These were fuelled by Palestinian concerns over access restrictions imposed on Palestinians seeking to enter the Old City of Jerusalem, and visits by groups belonging to the temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful movement groups and senior Israeli officials. Although the Israeli authorities categorically denied plans to change the status quo, their decision to ban from the compound the Murabitat and Murabitin, the groups of activists who seek to protect it, and a raid by the Israeli security forces on the mosque itself on 13 September were seen by many Palestinians as provocations. 8. Unrest, including protests and clashes, spread rapidly throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There was also a large number of stabbings and alleged attempted stabbings by young Palestinians, many of whom were children. October 2015 saw a peak 1 2 2 Including four Palestinians (one child) killed by Israeli settlers. Briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, 19 August 2015.