by Tim Butcher - Nov 8, 2007
The population of Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank has grown significantly in spite of Israel's undertaking to crack down on settlements, a respected human rights group has said in a report.
Peace Now, a group that monitors Israeli settlement activity in occupied territories, said the settler population had reached 267,500, an increase of 5.8 per cent, or three times the national population growth figure.
The report undermines claims by Israel that it is serious about dealing with the issue of settlements which are deemed illegal under international law because occupiers are forbidden from establishing population centres on land taken in war.
And it casts a shadow over the Middle East peace summit due within the next few weeks at Annapolis in America as diplomats had been hoping for confidence-building measures to ease talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
News that Israeli communities are being extended on land claimed by Palestinians will do little to build confidence on the Palestinian side.
Peace Now said settlers have found a way of avoiding an Israeli government ban on transporting caravans to West Bank settlements. Instead, they bring flat-pack components in cars and assemble them in situ.
"If you want to have a two-state solution then you can't continue to expand settlements," Yariv Oppenheimer, director of Peace Now, said.
"Every day it gets more difficult to talk about borders."
Israel pledged under a U.S.-backed peace "road map" in 2003 to evacuate unauthorised outposts built after March 2001, when Ariel Sharon took office as prime minister.
Peace Now said only four have been completely removed while scores have been extended.
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