Study reveals illegal zionist expansion

According to the group, construction began on 1,518 settler structures.

Out of these, 927 structures, or 61 per cent, were within Israel’s West Bank “security barrier,” while 39 per cent were outside it.

The report said that the settler population had grown from 270,000 in 2007 to 285,000 in 2008.

It pointed out that both the Kadima and Labour parties had flouted numerous UN resolutions by allowing settlement growth to increase.

Tel Aviv’s policy has been to allow settlement growth in areas of the West Bank that Israel is likely to retain under any final status agreement with the Palestinians.

But Peace Now observed that 39 per cent of the growth in 2008 was outside those areas.

In the 100 outposts that the government had committed to evacuate, growth had more than doubled, the report noted.

Peace Now warned that, if this growth continues unchecked, it will make it impossible to create a viable Palestinian state.

And it said that zionist settlers had taken advantage of public attention being focused on the Gaza onslaught to expand their bases in the West Bank.

Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip head Dani Dayan responded to the report by saying that he was glad that Peace Now was recording settlement expansion.

“We are grateful to Peace Now for investing the funds they receive from European governments in documenting the most important zionist endeavour of our generation, the settlement of Judea and Samaria,” Mr Dayan said.

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