Illegal Israeli settlements...no surprises here

One has to wonder what the world thinks about the increasing incursions by Israel into Palestinian land in the West Bank. Evidently nothing! It's either complicity or turning a blind eye to what is pure theft - and in breach of international law. In the meantime, this ongoing usurption of Palestinian land and devastation of Palestinian communities can only spell out trouble in the long run certainly for the Israelis and the Palestinians.

This piece in the IHT highlights the widespread illegal extension and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank - following on from a report by Peace Now which had access to official records:

"Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank use only 12 percent of the land allocated to them, but one-third of the territory they do use lies outside their official jurisdictions, according to a report released Friday by Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates Palestinian self-determination.

According to the report, based on official data released by the Israeli government following a court order, 90 percent of the settlements sprawl beyond their official boundaries despite the large amount of unused land already allocated to them.

More than 10 percent of the land included within the official jurisdiction of the settlements is owned privately by Palestinians, as is 70 percent of the land the settlements control outside their official boundaries, said the report, whose findings were published Friday in the newspaper Haaretz."

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