2023 set a record for the growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with the highest number of building permits issued in 30 years, the European Union Delegation to the Palestinian Territories said in a report today. The settlement of the Palestinian territories is illegal under international law, a fact recently upheld by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“The situation is expected to worsen in 2024 due to recent developments,” said the European delegation at Platform X.
According to the report, building permits were granted by Israeli authorities for 12,349 homes in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 – an annual number never seen since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
In East Jerusalem, 18,333 were the homes that received building permits in the Palestinian side of the city, annexed by Israel in 1967.
In total, the construction of 30,682 homes was approved in 2023, the highest number since 2012, according to the European Union.
The report notes the impact of these construction projects on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “where Jerusalem could serve as the capital of both states,” Israeli and Palestinian.
“The EU has repeatedly called on Israel not to continue its construction projects as part of its settlement policy and to put an end to all settlement activities,” the report recalls.
Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem – which is illegal under international law – has continued under all Israeli governments since 1967.
Read about it: The International Court of Justice in The Hague condemned Israel for the occupation of Palestine
The far-right parties of the current Israeli government coalition are pressing for the expansion of Jewish settlements to accelerate.
490,000 settlers
Nearly 490,000 settlers live in the occupied West Bank, alongside nearly three million Palestinians.
The outposts, the so-called “arbitrary” settlements, which were built without even receiving the permission of the Israeli authorities, are counted.
In 2023, 26 were built, “the highest number in one year since 1991,” the report said, adding that the Israeli government would like to legalize 15 outposts.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip began, violence between the Palestinians on one side, and the Israeli army and settlers on the other, has intensified in the occupied West Bank.
At least 594 Palestinians have been killed there, according to an AFP tally, and at least 17 Israelis, including soldiers.
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