90 Israeli Land Grab and Forced Population Transfer of Palestinians According to the current planning and building scheme in Area C, there are two main requirements that Palestinians must meet in order to get a building permit: 1- An applicant must be able to prove ownership or the right to use the land in question; 2- The proposed construction must conform to an approved planning scheme detailed enough to enable issuing a building permit.312 Proof of ownership For registered property, the required submission to the Israeli Civil Administration is the tabou or the Land Registrar extract. In the case of unregistered land, the applicant has to prove legitimate possession of land by submitting property tax documents. If these documents are not registered in the name of the applicant, then inheritance documents are necessary. If there are multiple heirs, the Civil Administration requires signatures on the application from all heirs even if they are living abroad, or are ‘absentees’ and risk dispossession by documenting with the authorities.313 Moreover, the applicant is required to provide three types of maps at different scales and three copies of documents such as the applicant’s identity card. The landowner must also open a file, hire private surveyors recognized by the Civil Administration, and pay a registration fee.314 Compliance with existing planning schemes Besides demonstrating ownership of the land, it is essential that the building plan complies with applicable planning schemes in the area where construction is intended. In the case of villages with Special Partial Outline Plans, regulations are rarely enforced within the demarcation lines and houses are very rarely demolished. Therefore, an area where compliance is most relevant is where the Regional Outline Plans apply and the Special Plans do not. Due to the contemporary planning approach, the Regional Plan is restrictively interpreted and most building permits are rejected.315 312 Diakonia, Expert Opinion of International Humanitarian Law Requiring of the Occupying Power to Transfer Back Planning Authority to Protected Persons Regarding Area C of the West Bank (February 1, 2011); available from http://rhr.org.il/heb/wp-content/uploads/62394311-Expert-Opinion-FINAL-1February-2011.pdf. 2011 313 Please see Chapter I (Section on Absentees) for more details. 314 JLAC, Concealed Intentions: Israel’s Human Rights Violations Through the Manipulation of Zoning and Planning Laws in ‘Area C’, 20. 315 World Bank, The Economic Effects of Restricted Access to Land in the West Bank, 8.