A/HRC/31/43 Netanyahu, has come under increasing pressure from settlement constituencies, including from his own party, to stop what they call a “de facto settlement freeze”. 12. The escalation in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, starting in September 2015, led to the hardening of the government position with regard to settlement expansion. A point of particular concern has been the response by the Government to political pressure from pro-settlement lawmakers and settler organizations to increase settlement construction in retaliation for acts of violence by Palestinians: namely, settlement expansion announcements by the Prime Minister regarding the retroactive legalization of settlement outposts around Itamar 3 and the promotion of particularly controversial plans for settlement expansion in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem (detailed below). 13. Previous reports of the Secretary-General have detailed the range of practices resulting in the expansion of settlement control by the Israeli authorities over land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see A/69/348 paras. 33-35, and A/70/351, paras. 33-36). Construction of housing units is but one way of measuring such expansion. Indeed, the control of land through agriculture, the declaration of archaeological sites, national parks, infrastructure development, and the authorities’ support for informal initiatives for settlement expansion all contribute to the growth and reinforcement of the presence of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Government of Israel has continued to support and promote the gradual takeover of land and resources through these methods. B. Construction, tenders and plans 14. Israeli settlement construction and administrative steps enabling further expansion of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continued during the period under review. While the data available from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics points to a slight decrease in construction being started between 2013 and 2014,4 the rate of construction for 2014 (2,705 construction projects started) remained above the annual average of 2,303 builds started per year over the previous 10-year period. 15. In October 2015, the Israeli non-governmental organization Peace Now reported on wide-ranging plans for West Bank settlement expansion and related settlement activity based on information obtained from the Ministry of Housing. From the disclosed documents, it appears that plans were promoted and partially implemented under previous Minister for Housing, Uri Ariel, from the Jewish Home party. The Prime Minister has subsequently publicly disavowed elements of these plans. 5 However, documents obtained by Peace Now detail funding by the Ministry of residential construction, as well as infrastructure and public structures, in various settlements between 2012 and 2015. This included funding for the construction of over 4,000 housing units, public structures (including the expansion of the Beit Romano and Beit Betar settlements in Hebron) and financial support (roughly US$ 460,000) disbursed in 2014 to municipal authorities in the West Bank towards public campaigns encouraging Israelis to move to settlements. 3 4 5 4 On 1 October 2015, two Israeli citizens, Eitam and Na’ama Henkin, from the settlement of Neria, were killed in a drive-by shooting attack on the road between the settlements of Itamar and Elon Moreh in the West Bank. Information from Peace Now, based on Central Bureau of Statistics data, provided to OHCHR by email dated 3 November 2015. Itamar Eichner, “Netanyahu: settlement construction plan led by Uri Ariel”, Ynet, 30 December 2015.