land for public purposes, and specifically for establishing recreational parks or nature reserves, does not fulfill the imperative military necessity requirement of IHL. While the lands taken for national parks are not being directly confiscated, Palestinians are denied use and access to them through additional methods such as home demolitions and evictions, resulting in de facto land confiscation. National parks are often planned and initiated by private colonizer organizations who also serve in the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, creating a land confiscation scheme whereby the process of “nature and landscape preservation also serve the authorities [...] as a means for seizing land.”189 Wadi Hilwe neighborhood The Jerusalem Walls National Park spans 1,110 dunums (1.11 km2).190 Due to the designation of these lands as a national park, the lands of approximately 4,000 Palestinian families in 250 buildings are now threatened by demolition.191 Between 2006 and 2015, at least 15 homes were demolished in Silwan, including within Wadi Hilwe.192 The demolition of these homes has led to the forcible transfer of some residents, while the pending demolition orders indicate that a greater number of these residents are also at risk of being forcibly transferred. The Israeli government has given El’ad “administration and development powers” over the City of David National Park, an archaeological park in Wadi Hilwe,193 while simultaneously allowing El’ad to determine where to conduct archaeological excavations and dig tunnels in Silwan.194 These excavations are being carried out without the consent of the Palestinian residents; they often result in cracked walls, collapsing floors and sinkholes in roads, making the land inaccessible.195 These actions have a direct impact 189 Bimkom, “From Public to National: National Parks in East Jerusalem,” 2012, 4, available at: http:// bimkom.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/From-Public-to-National_English_FINAL2012_withMAPS_ lowres1.pdf [accessed 22 September 2017][hereinafter Bimkom, “From Public to National”]. 190 Emek Shaveh, “East Jerusalem: Where are the Antiquities? National Parks Between the Old City of Jerusalem and Area E1”, 13 September, 2013, available at: http://alt-arch.org/en/nationalparks/ [accessed 25 September 2017]. 191 B’Tselem, “Jerusalem Walls National Park,” 28 July 2015, available at: http://www.btselem.org/ jerusalem/national_parks_jerusalem_walls [accessed 22 September 2017][hereinafter B’Tselem “Jerusalem Walls National Park”]. 192 Ibid. 193 Ir Amim, “Settlements and National Parks,” n.d., available at: www.ir-amim.org.il/en/issue/ settlements-and-national-parks [accessed 25 September 2017]. 194 Ibid. 195 B’Tselem, “Jerusalem Walls National Park,” supra note 191. 68