Israel constructed 16,000 settlement units over the past 3 years

Saeb Erekat, member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee, stated that the Israeli government “Continues to exercise the settlement policy on the occupied Palestinian territories.”

During a meeting with the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Erekat said: “The total number of Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land after Benjamin Netanyahu came into office from 2009 to 2012 has reached over 16,000 settlement units. On average, this is 11 new settlement units a day.”

He added that an increase of settler acts of violence against the Palestinians has been observed in the last few years, “At an alarming rate.” He explained that the violent acts committed by settlers increased from 2009 to the end of 2012 by 315 per cent. Such acts include killing innocents and setting fire to trees, mosques, and churches, all of which are carried out under the protection of the Israeli army.”

He also pointed out that “Since the appointment of the Minister of Defence, Moshe Ya’alon, last month, the Israeli settlers, along with the occupation army forces, started establishing road barriers in the West Bank.”