Jewish settlers up by nearly 4%

2008-08-03 21:21

Ramallah - The number of Jewish settlers living on occupied Palestinian land increased by nearly 4% in 2007, said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

The bureau said in a report that 483 453 settlers lived on West Bank land as well as in Jewish enclaves in and around Arab East Jerusalem at the end of last year, compared to 466 005 at the end of 2006, a 3.7% increase.

Palestinians, who number about 2.5 million in the West Bank, want the land as part of a future state.

World powers view settlements as illegal under international law, including the Geneva Conventions. Israel disputes this.

100 official settlements

Palestinians point to Jewish settlement expansion, particularly in and around Jerusalem, as the biggest obstacle to United States-sponsored statehood talks launched last November by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Some Jewish settlers live in outposts not recognised by Israeli law, but most are in more than 100 official settlements - some with tens of thousands of residents - under Israeli rule, including areas annexed to Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally.

The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics counted 440 "occupation sites" in the West Bank, including settlements, outposts and military bases.

- Reuters