A/HRC/2/9 page 12 Expressing its concern at the failure of the Government of Israel to cooperate fully with the relevant United Nations mechanisms, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, 1. Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (E/CN.4/2006/29 and A/HRC/2/5) and calls upon the Government of Israel to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur to allow him fully to discharge his mandate; 2. Expresses its grave concern at: (a) The continuing Israeli settlement and related activities, in violation of international law, including the expansion of settlements, the expropriation of land, the demolition of houses, the confiscation and destruction of property, the expulsion of Palestinians and the construction of bypass roads, which change the physical character and demographic composition of the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan, and constitute a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and in particular article 49 of that Convention; settlements are a major obstacle to the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace and to the creation of an independent, viable, sovereign and democratic Palestinian State; (b) The Israeli so-called E1 plan aimed at expanding the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and building the wall around it, thereby further disconnecting occupied East Jerusalem from the northern and southern parts of the West Bank and isolating its Palestinian population; (c) The new Israeli plans to construct more than 900 additional housing units in different Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank; (d) The implications on the final status negotiations of Israel’s recent announcement that it will retain the major settlement blocs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including settlements located in the Jordan Valley; (e) The expansion of Israeli settlements and the construction of new ones on the Occupied Palestinian Territory rendered inaccessible behind the wall, which create a fait accompli on the ground that could well be permanent, in which case, it would be tantamount to de facto annexation;1 (f) The Israeli decision to establish and operate a tramway between West Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev in violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions; 1 See International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 in the case concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1, para. 121).