A/HRC/31/43
32.
The Secretary-General notes with concern the repeated requests by the State for
delays of court-ordered demolition deadlines. Indeed, in the few cases of evictions of
settlers and demolitions or residential settlement construction in recent years, Palestinian
landowners have yet to regain full access to their plots. Palestinian claimants have seen few
if any improvements in terms of access to land and the protection of their private property.
V. Settler violence and failure to maintain public order
A.
Overview and trends
33.
Settler violence is directly related to the continued existence and expansion of illegal
settlements throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and has far-reaching
implications for the rights of Palestinians (see A/HRC/28/44, paras. 39-46, and A/69/348,
paras. 36-44).
34.
During the period under review, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs recorded 253 incidents of settler-related violence, of which 101 resulted in injury to
Palestinians, with the remainder causing damage to Palestinian property. This compares to
207 reported cases of casualties during the previous year, including five Palestinian
fatalities (two killed by settlers and three killed by Israeli security forces) in settler-related
incidents. The number of violent incidents related to settlements that resulted in injury to
Israelis or to their property increased during the reporting period, to 123 incidents, of which
75 resulted in injury. By contrast, 96 incidents were reported during the previous 12-month
period, including 69 injuries. The Secretary-General has repeatedly condemned all attacks
against civilians and their property, which further fuel the cycle of violence.
35.
In a case that garnered widespread international condemnation, in the early hours of
31 July 2015, the home of the Dawabsheh family, in the Palestinian village of Duma, was
set on fire in an apparent attack by Israeli settlers. An 18-month-old child was killed in the
attack and his parents later died of their wounds. A 4-year-old child of the couple remained
hospitalized at the time of writing. On 31 July 2015, the United Nations Special
Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the
Secretary-General to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority
stated that he was outraged by the vicious arson attack by suspected Jewish extremists in
the occupied West Bank village of Duma near Nablus, which killed Palestinian toddler, Ali,
critically injured his mother and father and injured his 4-year-old sibling, and called for a
full and prompt investigation to bring the perpetrators of this terrorist crime to justice.
36.
While OHCHR monitoring of the case indicates that efforts have been made by
Israeli law enforcement authorities to conduct an investigation into the incident, no
indictments had been served at the time of writing, and the investigation was ongoing. On
10 September 2015, Israeli news media reported that “Israel’s defense establishment knows
who is responsible for the arson attack that killed three members of [the Dawabsheh
family], but has chosen to prevent legal recourse in order to protect the identity of their
sources”. According to the same report, three Israelis were held in administrative detention
in connection with the case.21
37.
The climate of impunity enjoyed by violent settlers, combined with reports of an
overall increase in the number of settler attacks inside Palestinian villages during the period
21
Jonathan Lis and Chaim Levinson, “Israel Has Identified Duma Arson Suspects but Won’t File
Charges Yet, Says Defense Minister”, Haaretz, 10 September 2015.
9
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