Israel Grab Hold of 85% of Historical Palestine

Ramallah, 1 Rajab 1438/29 March 2017 (MINA) – On the occasion of the Land Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities laid hand over more than 85% of the total area of the historical land of Palestine, which totals about 27,000 km2.

Israel grabbed hold of 2,300 dunums of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, amounting to 40% of the overall area of the West Bank, and declared them “state lands”, according to the same source.

The report added that the Palestinians makes 48% of the overall population of historical Palestine,the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

By the end of 2015, the number of Israeli settlement outposts and military sites built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank has hit 413, including 269 settlement outposts, half of which were established on private Palestinian land.

47% of the settlers live in Occupied Jerusalem at an estimated average of 69 settlers per every 100 Palestinians, up from 21 settlers in the West Bank.

The report further sounded the alarm over Israel’s ethnic cleansing schemes perpetrated through arbitrary home demolitions, resulting in the forced deportation of over 1,600 Palestinians, half of whom identified as children.

A 1,500-meter large buffer zone established by the Israeli authorities along Gaza’s border area also resulted in Israel’s expropriation of 24% of the enclave’s overall area, estimated at 365 km2.(T/R04/RS5)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)