144 Settlements in the West Bank are housing 476,000 Israel settlers

Monday July 30, 2007 15:56 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Palestinian Census Bureau issued a report stating that there are 144 Israeli settlements, housing 476,000 Israeli settlers, spread all over the West Bank, including the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The report, which is for the year 2006, states that 26 of those settlements are in the occupied city of Jerusalem, 16 of them already annexed to Jerusalem.

259,000 settlers live in settlements in and around the occupied city of Jerusalem, while 77,000 settlers live in settlements around the central West Bank city of Ramallah. In addition, 46,000 live in settlements around the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, 29,000 located near Salfit City in the northern part of the West Bank, and 1,300 settlers live in settlements near the northern West Bank city of Tubas.

The report stated that those numbers do not include the random 165 settlements, home of 10,000 settlers, which the Israeli army considers to be illegal.

TheUnited Nations states that an occupying force is not allowed to build settlements or relocate original citizens during the time of occupation. Regardless, Israel continues to build settlements inside the lands that it occupied since 1967, and refuses to evacuate them.

bethlehem | israeli settlement | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org