Israel boosts W.Bank settlers while quitting Gaza
Reuters
Date: 08-26-05
By Ori Lewis
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The population of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has grown this year by more than the 9,000 settlers evacuated under a plan to cede some occupied land, an Israeli government official said on Friday.
Thousands of Israelis have streamed into larger West Bank settlements since the start of the year, increasing the number of Jews living on occupied land to 246,000, said the Interior Ministry official, who declined to be identified.
The official said that even after factoring in Israel's evacuation of 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank this week, the overall number now living in the occupied West Bank has grown by about 10,000 Jews.
"When you factor in the removal of settlers and take into account about 10,000 newcomers, mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews, you arrive at a figure of about 246,000 settlers. This is correct as of June 2005," the official said.
Under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout plan, Israel removed 9,000 settlers from all of the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, territories occupied 38 years ago where Palestinians want a state.
Sharon billed the pullout as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians but Palestinians fear the move is a ruse to cement Israeli control over much of the West Bank.
"DECLARATION OF WAR"
"Israel's insistence on expanding settlements represents a declaration of war against the Palestinians because it aims to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by reinforcing and prolonging occupation," Palestinian cabinet minister Ghassan al-Khatib said.
"The Gaza step will not be worthy unless the international community compels Israel to match it with a stop to settlement expansion in the West Bank," he told Reuters.
The Israeli official was unable to say how many of the 10,000 new residents were children born this year to families already living in settlements. The Interior Ministry oversees Israeli population statistics.
The official said most of the newcomers were ultra-Orthodox Jews seeking affordable housing while many others had moved to Maale Adumim, the largest West Bank settlement with a population of 30,000, situated about 8 km (5 miles) east of Jerusalem.
Despite the rising numbers, a majority of Israelis favor removing more Jewish settlements, according to a poll published in the country's biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. A majority backed Sharon's pullout plan.
The poll of 501 Israelis showed 54 percent backed further pullouts while 42 percent were opposed and 4 percent did not respond.
The World Court brands all settlements illegal. Israel disputes this. Some 116 settlements are scattered among the 2.4 million Palestinians of the West Bank, captured by Israel along with the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war.
An additional 200,000 Jews live in Arab East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967. Palestinians, numbering 240,000 in East Jerusalem, want it for the capital of a future state. Israel annexed it in a move not recognized internationally.
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