The Israeli occupation authorities have published tenders for 1,248 new housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite the UN resolutions stressing that “all settlements are illegal.”
The settlements include Beitar Illit, Efrat, Kiryat Arba, Ma’ale Efraim and Karnei Shomron in addition to 89 units in the Occupied Jerusalem settlement of Gilo.
Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem has continued under every Israeli government since 1967.
According to a report by the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued last March, just under 700,000 settlers live in 279 settlements across the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem, up from 520,000 in 2012.
During the past decade, the United Nations had verified 3,372 violent incidents by settlers, injuring 1,222 Palestinians. Last year, settler violence reached the highest levels ever recorded by the United Nations.
According to the report, Israel had failed to investigate and prosecute crimes against Palestinians committed by settlers and Israeli forces.
