A/HRC/31/43 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 28/26 and covers the period from 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015. 2. The report is based on monitoring and other information-gathering activities conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and on information provided by other United Nations entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It also contains information received from Israeli and Palestinian nongovernmental organizations. It should be read in conjunction with previous reports of the Secretary-General on Israeli settlements to the Council and the General Assembly (in particular A/HRC/20/13, A/HRC/25/38, A/HRC/28/44, A/63/519, A/64/516, A/65/365, A/66/364, A/67/375, A/68/513 and A/69/348). 3. In the report, the Secretary-General provides an update on the Israeli authorities’ policies and practices aimed at creating or expanding settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, including through retroactive legalization of unauthorized outposts under Israeli law, the declaration of “State land” and zoning and planning policies. He also examines settler violence and steps taken by the Israeli authorities to address impunity of Israeli settlers involved in violent attacks against Palestinians. Finally, he examines the impact of continued settlement expansion and related policies on Palestinian communities, through an analysis of developments in Palestinian Bedouin and herder communities at risk of displacement. II. Legal background 4. An analysis of the applicable legal framework and the basis for the obligations of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and occupied Syrian Golan can be found in previous reports of the Secretary-General (see A/69/348, paras. 4-5, and A/HRC/25/38, paras. 4-5). III. Settlements as a driver of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law 5. The presence and continued development of Israeli settlements lie at the root of a broad spectrum of human rights violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This has been documented extensively, including in previous reports of the SecretaryGeneral, and by the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (see A/HRC/22/63). 6. The settlements have resulted in the gradual fragmentation of the West Bank, restricted Palestinian access to natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the subsequent impediment to the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination (see A/HRC/22/63, A/70/351 and Council resolution 25/28). 7. Current Israeli practices related to the presence and expansion of settlements, which persisted during the period under review, similarly continue to have a profound impact on land and housing rights, the right to water and sanitation and freedom of movement, and result in restrictions on the right to education (see CCPR/CO/78/ISR, A/67/372 and A/HRC/28/55). 2