A/HRC/31/43 years by adding an additional 100,000 settlers to the region.46 On the other hand, reports also refer to challenges faced by the Syrian population, which has grown from 7,000 in 1968 to approximately 25,000 people in 2015,47 in the construction of new houses and infrastructure.48 65. Reportedly, major Israeli and international companies continue to exploit natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan.49 The Secretary-General reiterates that the Security Council, in its resolution 497 (1981), reaffirmed that the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, and decided that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and without international legal effect. VIII. Conclusions and recommendations 66. Israeli settlement activities remain at the core of many of the violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Secretary-General reiterates that the settlement enterprise represents the most serious obstacle to a viable Palestinian State. 67. The Israeli authorities must halt and reverse the creation and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian Golan. In addition, Israel must immediately cease using land control mechanisms aimed at expanding the area effectively occupied by settlements, such as the designation of firing zones, archaeological parks and agricultural land. Israel must also immediately cease the exploitation of natural resources from these territories. 68. Displacement and relocation to alternative residential areas, as a result of demolition orders, and a coercive environment could amount to individual and mass forcible transfer and forced evictions, contrary to the obligations of Israel under international humanitarian and human rights law. 69. The Government of Israel must urgently cease discriminatory and unlawful planning processes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as they result in violations of Palestinians’ rights, inter alia, to access water and services, including health and education. 70. The Secretary-General reiterates that the Israeli authorities must ensure full criminal accountability for perpetrators of acts of settler violence. 71. Moreover, the Government must revoke all laws and policies and halt practices that directly or indirectly lead to the forcible transfer of Bedouin and herder communities. Specifically, the authorities must cease the demolition of Palestinian homes and private property and refrain from any initiative to relocate Bedouin and other herder communities in Area C, which is in contravention of international law. 46 47 48 49 16 Mint Press, “Israel takes advantage of Syrian civil war to expand illegal Golan Heights settlements”, 13 October 2015. For details on exploitation on natural resources, see A/70/36139, para. 76. Al-Marsad, Arab Human Rights Center in Golan Heights, “Landmines in the Occupied Golan and Israel’s obligation under international human rights and humanitarian law”. For instance, see Mint Press, “Israel takes advantage of Syrian civil war”.