How much Palestinian land do Israeli settlements really eat up?

The Israeli government and its supporters routinely play down the significance of West Bank settlements as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. One recent example of this came from a Jewish Agency spokesperson, who tweeted: “Jewish communities in the West Bank take up under 2% of the land; that is, over 98% of the West Bank contains no Jewish residents at all.” So is this true – and exactly how much of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) do Israel’s settlements take up? 1. What the 2 percent figure omits. Those who cite the 2 percent figure rarely clarify that this refers purely to the built-up area of the settlements. As described in a Human Rights Watch report earlier this … Continue reading How much Palestinian land do Israeli settlements really eat up?