complaints from Palestinians,notably concerning a lack of or discriminatory planning, which seriously hampers the urban and rural development of these communities. As a consequence, a disproportionate number of members of such communities live and sometimes work in structures that are “unauthorized” or “illegal”, and liable to eviction and demolition.”274 Restrictions on Construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem In Area C, which covers more than 60 percent of the West Bank, less than one percent is assigned for Palestinian development.275 Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, more than 15,000 homes have been demolished,276 and more than 500 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished annually in recent years by Israel.277 Only nine percent of the 1967 occupied Jerusalem is allocated for Palestinian construction, most of which is already inhabited. The Israeli conditions for receiving a building permit are extremely difficult to meet. On average, Israel rejects more than 94 percent of Palestinian building permit applications. As a result, at least 33 percent of all Palestinian homes in Jerusalem do not have Israeli building permits.278 Due to the Israeli discriminatory planning and zoning policies, more than 86,500 Palestinians living in the city are believed to be at risk of having their homes demolished.279 In his 2013 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Richard Falk, former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, says that residency revocation, paired with the demolition of residential structures and forced evictions of Palestinian families, is in violation of the basic right to adequate housing enshrined within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Between 274 Ibid. Page 20 275 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “Area C of the West Bank: Hey Humanitarian Concerns”, January 2013, page 1. Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_ factsheet_january_2013_english.pdf 276 OXFAM: “20 Facts: 20 Yeats since the Oslo Accords”, OXFAM, 2013, page 1. Available at: https://www. oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/oxfam-oslo-20-factsheet.pdf 277 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “Area C of the West Bank: Hey Humanitarian Concerns”, January 2013, page 1. Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_ factsheet_january_2013_english.pdf; OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “Area C of the West Bank: Key Humanitarian Concerns Update August 2014”, August 2014, page 1. Available at: https:// www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_factsheet_august_2014_english.pdf 278 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns Update December 2012”, December 2012, page 1. Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_ opt_jerusalem_factsheet_december_2012_english.pdf 279 OXFAM: “20 Facts: 20 Yeats since the Oslo Accords”, OXFAM, 2013, page 3. Available at: https://www. oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/oxfam-oslo-20-factsheet.pdf 72