Israeli Settler Population in West Bank Surpasses 500K

A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
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Israeli Settler Population in West Bank Surpasses 500K

A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel’s West Bank settler population now makes up more than half a million people, a pro-settler group said Thursday, crossing a major threshold. Settler leaders predicted even faster population growth under Israel’s new ultranationalist government.

The report, by WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com and based on official figures, showed the settler population grew to 502,991 as of Jan. 1, rising more than 2.5% in 12 months and nearly 16% over the last five years.

“We’ve reached a huge hallmark,” said Baruch Gordon, the director of the group and a resident of the Beit El settlement. “We’re here to stay.”

The milestone comes as Israel’s new government, made up of ultranationalist parties who oppose Palestinian statehood, has placed expanding settlements at the top of its priority list. Already the government has pledged to legalize wildcat outposts that have long enjoyed tacit government support and to ramp up approval and construction of settler homes around the West Bank.

“I think that in the coming years of this government there will be more building than there has been in the last 20 years of governments,” Gordon said.

Settlements have flourished under every Israeli government, including at the height of the peace process in the 1990s. Even Israel’s short-lived previous government, which included parties supporting Palestinian statehood along with those opposing it, continued to build settlements, The Associated Press reported.

The settler population report does not include annexed east Jerusalem, home to more than 200,000 settlers. The West Bank and east Jerusalem are together home to some 3 million Palestinians.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for an independent state.

Although Israel withdrew troops and several thousand settlers from Gaza in 2005, it has charged ahead with settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Dozens of settlements dot the territory, some as small as a few mobile homes and others sprawling cities, with malls and public transport of their own.

Much of the international community views the settlements as illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. The Palestinians see them as a land grab that undermines their chances to establish a viable, contiguous state.



US Campaign Against Houthis Expected to Expand

A US fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to strike Houthis (AP)
A US fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to strike Houthis (AP)
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US Campaign Against Houthis Expected to Expand

A US fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to strike Houthis (AP)
A US fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to strike Houthis (AP)

The US campaign against the Houthis, launched by President Donald Trump, entered its third week with new airstrikes targeting the group’s strongholds.

Late Tuesday into Wednesday, the strikes hit Houthi positions in Saada province in the north, Hajjah province, and extended to the coastal governorate of Hodeidah along the Red Sea.

This comes amid growing anticipation of expanded operations, following the deployment of a second US aircraft carrier to the region.

While the Houthis claimed to have targeted US forces in the northern Red Sea with drones and missiles, a Yemeni minister revealed widespread panic among the group's leaders.

He noted that they had begun selling off properties and smuggling their families out via Sana’a airport.

Trump ordered the campaign against the Houthis on March 15, aiming to force the group to halt threats to maritime security.

He vowed to use “deadly force” and “eliminate them entirely” after the Houthis escalated attacks following the collapse of the second phase of the Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas.

Houthi media reported that airstrikes targeted the al-Mansuriyah district in Hodeidah, claiming they hit a water project and killed four civilians. The group also acknowledged that eastern Saada city was struck by five air raids.

The US campaign is expected to expand in the coming days after Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the deployment of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the Middle East.

It will join the Harry S. Truman, which is currently leading strikes against the Houthis.

With the group remaining tight-lipped about its military losses, including equipment and senior figures, the full impact of the US offensive on its capabilities remains unclear.

Meanwhile, the Houthis’ defense minister claimed they were prepared for a “long-term confrontation.”

The Houthis joined the regional escalation following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, launching around 200 missiles and drones toward Israel.

However, the attacks had little military impact, with the only reported fatality occurring in Tel Aviv in June.