Israeli Statistics : 380.000 Settlers in West Bank

Photo: PIC

West Bank, 15 Ramadan 1438/10 June 2017 (MINA) – Statistics published by the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz on Friday showed that the number of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank reached 380,000 to be added to about 210,000 living in the settlements built in Occupied Jerusalem.

More than 44% of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank, nearly 168,500 settlers, live in settlements located outside the settlement blocs, according to the statistics, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

The given data do not include the random outposts established by the settlers on the private Palestinian lands they seize.

According to the Israeli leftist Peace Now movement, there are 97 random outposts in the West Bank inhabited by thousands of settlers.

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Earlier Israeli statistics had documented the presence of 700,000 settlers distributed in 150 settlements in the occupied West Bank and they make up about 5% of the population of Israel.

The settlement construction has been limited to expanding existing settlements in the West Bank in the recent years as international organizations and the international community warned that the settlement activity gradually eliminates any chance of achieving a two-state solution.

The UN Security Council adopted on 23rd December 2016 a draft resolution condemning the settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories and calling for its halt.

The Palestinian-Israeli negotiations were stopped at the end of April 2014 without achieving any significant results following nine-month talks sponsored by the US and Europe because of Israel’s refusal to halt the settlement activity, recognize the 1967 borders and release long-serving Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.(T/R04/RS5)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)