Just the Facts: Settlements and Violence

  • About 250 Israeli settlements have been established across the occupied West Bank since 1967.
  • More than 620,000 Israelis currently live in settlements.
  • Two-thirds of settlers live in Area C and one third in East Jerusalem.
  • About 110 settlements are those built without official authorization but with governmental support and assistance (known as “illegal outposts”).
  • The official municipal boundaries of Israeli settlements, which cover more than 10% of the West Bank, are declared ‘closed military areas’ and are off-limits for Palestinians.
  • Over 400 kilometres of West Bank roads serving Israeli settlers are prohibited or highly restricted for Palestinian-plated vehicles.
  • A third of the housing units in the neighborhoods adjacent to the settlement compounds of Hebron city (1,105 out of 3,358) were abandoned by their Palestinian residents as a result of access restrictions and systematic violence and harassment.
  • Over 90% of reports of settler attacks against Palestinians and their property filed with the Israeli Police are closed without indictment of a suspect.
  • Settlements are illegal under international humanitarian law as they violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
  • 304 Palestinian shops and warehouses closed on and around Shuhada Street in 2007.
  • 40% of homes in the area had been forcibly emptied by 2007.
  • Settlements cover 538,130 dunams – almost 10% of the West Bank.

This week’s Just the Facts comes from:

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