A/HRC/37/43 construction is permitted, the application process for building permits is prohibitive for many Palestinians owing to, inter alia, the high costs involved, the difficulty of providing proof of land ownership, and the criteria of requisite access roads and other infrastructure often missing in Palestinian neighbourhoods. The process can take several years, and the actual prospects of a permit being granted are low. 25 According to the non-governmental organization Bimkom, there are approximately 32,000 legal housing units for the 323,700 Palestinians in Jerusalem, a result of the municipality having issued only 5,000 construction permits since 1967 and built little public housing for Palestinians. Consequently, a third of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem have been built without the required Israeli permit, a fact that Makes them subject to demolition orders, putting at least 100,000 Palestinians at risk of displacement.26 31. The planning, zoning and settlement policies in East Jerusalem prevent the normal development and natural growth expansion of Palestinian families, sometimes forcing people to move to other neighbourhoods or to leave Jerusalem owing to the lack of available housing. The shrinking physical space for Palestinians to live in East Jerusalem is compounded by the contraction of public and cultural public space. According to the Jerusalem Legal and Human Rights Centre, 24 Palestinian civil society organizations and cultural institutions have been closed by the Israeli authorities since 2001 on the basis of allegations of relations with political parties or the Palestinian Authority. During the period under review, at least eight cultural or political Palestinian events were prohibited in East Jerusalem. 32. While the planning and construction laws are enforced on Palestinian communities, illegal construction by settlers in the same neighbourhoods has been tolerated by the municipality. One example is Beit Yonatan, an illegally built six-story building in Silwan. Proceedings by the legal adviser of Jerusalem municipality led to an order to evacuate the building, upheld by the High Court. The mayor of Jerusalem has, however, refused to implement the ruling.27 B. Home demolitions and forced evictions, or the threat thereof 33. The Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 previously noted that the seizure of Palestinian homes and forced evictions, and the risk thereof, often to allow settlers to move in, contributed to a coercive environment in East Jerusalem (A/HRC/16/71, paras. 20-22; A/HRC/34/39, para. 46; A/70/351, paras. 25-51). Demolitions leading to forced evictions also violate the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to housing (A/72/564, para. 26).28 Demolitions carried out by the Israeli authorities in the context of discriminatory planning or for punitive purposes are unlawful under international law, given that they lead to forced evictions. They also violate international humanitarian law, which expressly prohibits the destruction or confiscation of private property (see A/HRC/34/38, paras. 21-22). 29 If not justified by military necessity, and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, the extensive destruction and appropriation of property amounts to a grave breach of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitutes a war crime.30 According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during the 25 26 27 28 29 30 8 Aviv Tatarsky and Architect Efrat Conhen-Bar, Deliberately Planned: A Policy to Thwart Planning in Palestinian Neighborhoods of Jerusalem, Ir Amim and Bimkom, February 2017, p. 9. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Significant increase in risk of displacement in East Jerusalem”. Monthly Humanitarian Bulletin, August 2017. Seidemann, The Israeli Settlement Enterprise (see footnote 19), p. 103. See also Ronen Medzini, 28 “Barkat delays Beit Yonatan eviction”, ynetnews.com, 26 December 2010. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11. See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11. See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions. See Hague Regulations, art. 46; and Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 53 and 56. See also the statute of the International Criminal Court, art. 8 (2) (a) (iv).