Bedouin communities in Area C at risk of forcible transfer
December 2014
Around 7,000 Palestinian Bedouins and herders, of whom 60% are children and 70% refugees, in 46 residential
areas in the central West Bank are at acute risk of forcible transfer.1 The Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) is
advancing a plan to “relocate” these communities to three sites allocated for this purpose in Area C, the largest of
which being Nuwei’ma, in the Jordan Valley. Other Bedouins and herders in Area C (estimated population 27,000)
are also at-risk of forcible transfer. As of early December 2014, the ICA is supposed to consider about 200
objections filed against the Nuwe’ima plan.

The planned “relocation” of the Bedouin communities in Area C gives rise to serious concerns
under international law and must not take place. The UN Secretary-General has stated that the
implementation of this proposed “relocation” may amount to individual and mass forcible transfers,
prohibited as a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions under international humanitarian law, and is also
in contravention of international human rights law. Forcible transfers may potentially incur the individual
criminal responsibility of officials engaged in their implementation. 2

This plan occurs against the backdrop of a restrictive and discriminatory zoning and planning
system applied by the Israeli authorities in Area C, which excludes Palestinians from the planning
process and makes it almost impossible for them to obtain permits. As a result, Palestinians are left
with little option than to build without a permit to meet their needs. In addition, this regime facilitates the
building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank which have a serious impact on
Palestinians’ ability to access and develop natural resources and realize their right to water, to housing, to
education, to health, and to livelihood, thereby rendering them particularly vulnerable.

The risk of forcible transfer to Palestinian Bedouin and herder communities comes in the context of
Israel’s prolonged occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and a general lack of
respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights. The Palestinian people
have suffered from decades of dispossession, forced exile and conflict. They continue to be exposed to
high levels of violence, are denied their fundamental rights, and are unable to live in safety and dignity, all
of which undermine their physical presence in parts of the West Bank.

The Israeli authorities must rescind all policies and practices that, directly or indirectly, lead to the
forcible transfer of Bedouin families, including those that contribute to the creation of a coercive
environment that forces people to leave their communities. Specifically, they must cease the
demolition of homes and private property and stop all plans which aim to forcibly transfer Bedouin
communities in Area C. This includes the retraction of the four outline plans published for the Nuwei’ma
“relocation” site as well as the cancelation of the two unpublished plans for Fasayil and the two approved
plans in Al Jabal.

Community-led planning in the current locations should be promoted by all stakeholders. Israel, as
the occupying power, is obligated under international humanitarian and international human rights law to
ensure the welfare and the full enjoyment of human rights of the population in the occupied territory. This
includes supporting the communities' – including both men and women - access to a participatory, fair and
equitable planning system that meets their shelter, livelihood and development needs as well as facilitating
access to basic services, land and markets. To this end, Area C planning should be handed over to
Palestinians and State Land should be used in the interests of the Palestinian population.

Women and girls are expected to be disproportionately affected by the plans. With displacement,
women herders, particularly women heads of households, will most likely lose their productive assets and
source of income and thus encounter extreme difficulties in supporting the livelihood of their families.
Women and girls can be easily exposed to psychosocial pressure because of their close ties to the home
and their role as caregivers. The lack of shelter and privacy can lead to increased exposure to sexual and
gender based violence. The relocation will exacerbate the poor conditions which are discouraging Bedouin
girls from completing their basic education. It will also limit women’s access to health services. Due to
prevailing gender and cultural norms in Bedouin communities, women and girls will face many challenges
in accessing humanitarian assistance.

As per its obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, the international
community must act to prevent the forcible transfer of Palestinian Bedouins and herders and to
protect those in utmost need of protection.
Additional points
1

There has been almost no consultation on the “relocation” plans with the affected communities.
They firmly oppose this plan and, those who are refugees, insist on their right to return to their original
homes and lands in southern Israel. In the meantime, they have requested protection and assistance in
their current location, including adequate planning and permits for their homes and livelihoods.

Destruction, seizure and confiscation of humanitarian assistance and equipment are impediments
to humanitarian access and run counter to international law. The HCT has tried to engage with the
Israeli authorities to agree on a mechanism allowing the rapid, unimpeded and impartial provision of
humanitarian assistance in Area C; these efforts have been so far unsuccessful. The Israeli authorities
should provide reparations, including compensation, for assistance items – including donor-funded
prefabricated shelters – which they demolish, seize or confiscate in all communities.

A forced relocation of Bedouin communities to urbanized townships would threaten their culture
and livelihoods. Bedouin families who were “relocated” in the late 1990s lost their income sources while
their social fabric was severely damaged. This plan relates to Israeli policies that facilitate illegal
settlement expansion and construction, including the E1 settlement plan in eastern Jerusalem
governorate. In the late 1990s, Bedouin families were “relocated” from the same area, after which Israeli
settlers were moved onto the same land. The plan will disrupt the territorial contiguity of the West Bank and
further isolate Jerusalem, with grave implications for the two-state solution and the right of the Palestinian
people to self-determination.
Estimate of 7,000 based on information about targeted communities included in a briefing by the Head of COGAT to a Knesset Sub-Committee
in April 2014.
2
Report by UN Secretary General to UN General Assembly, A/67/372, 14 September 2012, para. 37 and Report by UN Secretary-General on
Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and occupied Syrian Golan, 25 August 2014, A/69/348, para. 16.
Also see Report by UN Secretary General to Human Rights Council, A/HRC/24/30, para 29: “A transfer is forcible, and thus unlawful, unless the
affected persons choose to move voluntarily without the threat of force or coercion, which is not presently the case.”