NGO: Israeli settlers in West Bank top 421,000

The number of Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank surged past 421,000 in 2016, a settler group said on Thursday.

The Yesha council said the number of settlers in the territory had grown by 3.9 percent since 2015, twice the rate of population growth inside Israel. Its figures exclude residents of settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, home to more than 200,000 Israelis.

It said growth had slowed slightly since 2012 because of building freezes by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government under international pressure, particularly from the Obama administration.[embed:render:embedded:node:26621]

The Israeli parliament passed a law on Monday allowing the Jewish state to expropriate private Palestinian land for Jewish settler outposts.

The law prompted international outcry – although US President Donald Trump's administration was conspicuously silent.

It legalises dozens of wildcat outposts and thousands of settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

Settlement watchdog Peace Now said it covers over 50 rogue outposts built on at least 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of Palestinian private land.

International law considers all settlements to be illegal, but Israel distinguishes between those it has authorised and those built without official permission.

Most of the international community considers settlements an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.    (AFP)

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