A/HRC/34/38 casualties and damage to or destruction of Palestinian property, with Palestinian-owned trees (mainly olive trees) being specifically targeted. 75 35. The phenomenon has been directly linked to the continued existence and expansion of illegal settlements throughout the West Bank. Documented cases of settler attacks, trespassing and forceful takeover of land suggest that violence is often carried out as part of an effort by settlers to push Palestinian farmers off their land.76 36. As the occupying power, Israel is obliged to uphold public order and safety within the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to protect its inhabitants, notably from all acts of violence, threats and insults. 77 Harassment and violence by settlers impedes the enjoyment of numerous human rights by the affected Palestinian population, including the right to life and physical integrity, the right to privacy, family and home and the right to an adequate standard of living.78 37. Under its duty to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all individuals within its jurisdiction, without any discrimination, Israel has the obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute, punish and remedy any harm sustained by Palestinians, whether it is caused by officials or private persons. 79 38. Moreover, Israel should do its utmost to ensure prompt and effective investigations into alleged violations and to prosecute suspected perpetrators. 80 However, it is very rare that police complaints filed by Palestinians in the West Bank lead to an investigation, let alone an indictment.81 The Israeli authorities have recently made efforts to address the issue of settler violence, including through intensified law enforcement activity and the increased presence of elements of the Israel Defense Forces. 82 These measures have been linked to a steady decline in recorded incidents of settler violence over the past three years. That trend nevertheless is in contrast with the exceptional violence of some of the attacks committed in 2015.83 6. Application of Israeli law in the West Bank 39. In the West Bank, Israeli domestic law is applied extraterritorially to Israeli settlers, while Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law in addition to the Palestinian legal system. The resulting differentiation is particularly problematic as regards criminal matters.84 While Israeli settlers are tried under Israeli penal law in civilian courts in Israel, Palestinians are prosecuted under Israeli military law for security offences and other crimes as defined by military orders. It is notable that Israeli domestic law provides more procedural guarantees to suspects and defendants than Israeli military law does for the same offence.85 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Israeli settler violence in the West Bank”, November 2011. See A/69/348, para. 39. See also Yesh Din, The Road to Dispossession: a Case Study — the Outpost of Adei Ad (February 2013), and Kerem Navot, Israeli Settler Agriculture as a Means of Land Takeover in the West Bank, (August 2013). Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 27 (1), and Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, art. 46. See, e.g., International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 7 and 17, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11, and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 5. See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall, para. 110, CCPR/CO/78/ISR, para. 11, and Committee on Civil and Political Rights general comment No. 31, para. 8. See A/71/355, para. 19, and A/HRC/25/38, paras. 42-43. Yesh Din, “Law enforcement on Israeli civilians in the West Bank”, data sheet, October 2015 (referred to in A/71/355, para. 19). See A/71/355, para. 20, and A/HRC/31/43, paras. 40-43. See A/HRC/34/39 and A/71/355, para. 18. See A/HRC/28/44, para. 53, and A/HRC/22/63, paras. 41 and 46. Differences notably pertain to the authority to arrest, the maximum period of detention before being brought before a judge, the right to meet with an attorney, protections for defendants during trial, maximum punishment and release before sentence completion. Israeli military law also provides for additional offences that are not part of Israeli criminal legislation, such as stone-throwing or 9