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?