RAMALLAH, March 29, 2011 (WAFA) - Marking the 35th anniversary of Land Day, which coincides on March 30, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday that Israeli settlement expansion has increased in 2010; where about 6,764 new housing units were added to existing settlements built on Palestinian lands.
It said construction in settlements in 2010 has increased by four times compared with 2009, where only 1,703 units were built. A total of 2,107 units were built in 2008, 1,471units in 2007, and 1,518 in 2006.
The PCBS said the Israeli occupation authority seized hundreds of thousands of dunums of West Bank land to build the Expansion and Annexation Wall.
Data showed that the isolated and confiscated area between the wall and the “green line” dividing Israel and the West Bank amounted to almost 733 square kilometers, which makes about 13% of the West Bank area. These isolated and confiscated areas include 348 square kilometers of agricultural land, 110 square kilometers utilized by Israeli settlements and military bases, 250 square kilometers of forests and open area and 25 square kilometers of built-up Palestinian area.
The PCBS said settlement construction in East Jerusalem and demolition of Palestinian homes under the pretext they were built without permit continued unabated in 2010.
About 1,496 dunums have been confiscated in East Jerusalem to build the Expansion and Annexation Wall and to expand settlements. In addition, about 2,000 orders have been issued by the Israeli authorities during the year 2009 to Palestinians to evacuate their houses in preparation for demolition, as in the case in Bustan area of Silwan, in Shu'fat, and other neighborhoods.
Israel demolished 31 houses in 2010 of total area amounting to 572 square meters and inhabited by 224 Palestinians of whom 115 were children.
According to data, the number of occupied sites and military bases in the West Bank at the end of 2010 was 470 sites.
Seven settlement outposts were constructed during 2010 and around 141 sites were expanded.
Data indicate that the number of settlers in the West Bank reached 517,774 settlers at the end of 2009, 51.6% of them live in Jerusalem area with 201,273 settlers are in the part of Jerusalem Israel had annexed since the 1967 occupation.
In demographic terms, the percentage of settlers to the Palestinian population in the West Bank was about 21 settlers for each 100 Palestinians compared to 71 settlers for each 100 Palestinians in Jerusalem.
About 11.5 million people live in historical Palestine at end of 2009 within an estimated area of 27,000 square kilometers. Jews constitute around 49.4% of the total population and utilize more than 85% of the total area.
Utilization of land by Jews during the British Mandate was not more than 1,682 square kilometers, which constituted about 6.2% of the area of historical Palestine. Arabs then comprised 47.9% of the total population and utilized less than 15% of the land. Others constituted about 2.7% of the population.
About 20.7% of the land of historical Palestine is cultivated area, while the forest and jungles constitute 9.7%. The built up area comprised about 5.7%, but the largest proportion which constituted 63.9% of the area was open area and most of it was under Israel army control.
Land Day was when Palestinian Arabs in Israeli rose against Israeli usurpation of their land. Israel had decided to confiscate 21,000 dunums of Arab land in the Galilee, the Triangle and the Naqab. Israeli police hit hard at the protests killing six Palestinian demonstrators.
M.A.
