A/HRC/31/42 or the files had been lost (11 files).12 A total of 624 files were closed on the grounds that the offender was unknown, which indicates that the police failed to locate and identify suspected offenders even though there was evidence that a criminal offence had been committed, and 208 files were closed owing to insufficient evidence.13 24. One case illustrating the lack of accountability for offences against Palestinians committed by Israeli settlers relates to the attack on the home of the Dawabsha family, in the West Bank village of Duma, on 31 July 2015. In his report to General-Assembly, the Secretary-General referred to this case as the most egregious example of settler violence, which led to the murder of Ali Dawabsha, a Palestinian toddler, and severely injured members of his family. Both of Ali’s parents died from wounds in the ensuing weeks. The Secretary-General also noted that the incident led to violent demonstrations, resulting in clashes between Palestinians in the West Bank and the Israel Defense Forces, as well as attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians (see A/70/354-S/2015/677, para 31). 25. On 22 October 2015, in his briefing to the Security Council, the Deputy SecretaryGeneral noted that the shocking murders of the Dawabsha family and the lack of progress in arresting the perpetrators were a critical trigger of the escalation in violence in October 2015. He underscored that the incident reflected an increasing sense of critical exposure among Palestinians in the face of settler violence and reinforced their feeling of injustice.14 He stressed that it was imperative for Israel to take action to empower Palestinian institutions to protect vulnerable communities, and stressed that Israel must vigorously address the perceived impunity for settler violence by expediting investigations and prosecutions of the Dawabsha family’s killers.15 D. Palestinian detainees, including children in Israeli custody 26. As concluded by the fact-finding mission, the existence of the settlements has a heavy impact on a wide range of Palestinians’ human rights, including their rights to equality, due process, fair trial, not to be arbitrarily detained and liberty (see A/HRC/22/63, para. 105). 27. Moreover, Palestinians are routinely subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, including administrative detention, mass arrests and incarceration. Most children are arrested at “friction points” such as villages near settlements or on roads that are used by the army or settlers and run by a Palestinian village. From the moment of arrest, Palestinians face multiple violations of their rights to liberty and security and to a fair trial through interrogation, arbitrary detention, abuse, trial and sentencing. 28. According to the Palestinian non-governmental organization Addameer, 6,700 Palestinians were in Israeli detention as at 9 November 2015. Of that total, 450 were held in administrative detention on security grounds, in other words without charge or trial, and 320 were children.16 The total number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel 12 13 14 15 16 Yesh Din, “Law enforcement on Israeli civilians in the West Bank: Yesh Din monitoring update 2005-2015” (October 2015). Available from www.yeshdin.org/userfiles/Datasheet_English_Oct%202015.pdf. Ibid. “Deputy Secretary-General’s briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East” (22 October 2015). Available from www.un.org/sg/dsg/statements/index.asp?nid=674. Ibid. See www.addameer.org/statistics. Some Palestinians are held in Israeli detention centres and the Ofer prison in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while others are transferred to Israeli interrogation 7