«Israeli» Settlers in WB near Half a Million

Local Editor

The number of "Israeli" settlers in the occupied West Bank had risen by 3.9 percent since 2015, twice the growth rate of the "Israeli" population, a settler group said.

The Yesha Council said on Thursday the number of "Israeli" settlers living in the occupied West Bank surged beyond 421,000 in 2016.

The figure does not include over 200,000 other "Israeli" settlers living in occupied East al-Quds [Jerusalem].

The international community, including Tel Aviv's own allies, views "Israeli" settlements as illegal under the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied territory.

Since the January 20 inauguration of US President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of the "Israeli" entity, Tel Aviv had launched a major land grab drive in defiance of global calls for the regime to stop its settlement activities on the occupied Palestinian lands.

Tel Aviv had, in recent weeks, approved the construction of some 5,500 illegal settler units in the West Bank and around 500 others in East al-Quds.

Late on Monday, the "Israeli" Knesset passed a controversial bill that retroactively legalizes thousands of settler units built on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank.

According to Settlement watchdog Peace Now, the law covers over 50 rogue outposts built on at least 800 hectares of Palestinian private land.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres blasted the law, emphasizing its illegal status under international law and warning that it "will have far-reaching legal consequences for ‘Israel'."

The highly-controversial law is in clear violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which calls on Israel to "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East al-Quds [Jerusalem]".

The resolution, which was adopted in December 2016, also states that the entity's settlement construction had "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law."

Over 230 settlements had been built since the 1967 "Israeli" occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future independent state.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team