B'Tselem report: settlers control 41.9% of West Bank by Ha'aretz Daily

By Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz Correspondent

B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, published a report Monday on settlement policies in the West Bank, which revealed that although only 1.7 percent of settlement territory in the West Bank is built upon, settlers in fact control 41.9 percent of the West Bank.

According to B'Tselem, some 380,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, including those established in East Jerusalem. Beyond the percentage of land built upon, 5.1 percent of the land is designated for municipal use and 35.1 percent is appropriated land outside the municipality's borders.

The report added that settlement construction continued during the diplomatic process and since the Oslo accords, approximately 1,000 new apartments have been built in the West Bank, under the claim that they were needed to answer the "natural growth" demand of the Jewish population in the territories. Between 1993 and 2000 the Jewish population in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem, had doubled.

The report criticized the separation of Israeli and Palestinian judicial systems and the denial of Palestinians' rights to enter Israeli settlements while Israelis are free to enter Palestinian towns.

The human rights group compared the conditions in the territories to what had taken place in South Africa during the apartheid.

Click here to view the full report at Ha'aretz Daily.