The Settlement Question
Israeli settlements in the West Bank: their growth, legal status, and impact on the prospects for a Palestinian state.
The Growth of Settlements
The first Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were established shortly after the 1967 war. Today, over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — roughly 500,000 in the West Bank proper and 220,000 in East Jerusalem neighborhoods built after 1967.
Settlement growth has been continuous under every Israeli government — left and right — though the pace has varied. Settlements are not random: they are strategically placed to control hilltops, water resources, transportation routes, and to divide Palestinian population centers from one another. The road network connecting settlements to Israel often restricts Palestinian movement.
Settlers live under Israeli civil law, while the neighboring Palestinian population lives under Israeli military law — a dual legal system in the same territory that many human rights organizations describe as discriminatory.
