70% Rise in Building Starts in West Bank Settlements During 2016-17

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics data say 2,758 housing units were started between April 2016 and March 2017, compared to 1,619 in the previous 12 months
According to the data, since the beginning of this year there were 344 building starts in the West Bank. These follow the 839 homes started between October and December 2016; 478 units started between July and September 2016; and 1,097 units started between April and June 2016. Since the beginning of 2017, 403 housing units in the territories have been completed.
The Peace Now nongovernmental organization called the data “worrisome,” saying it indicated that “the Netanyahu government is abandoning the periphery” while providing for the “extremist minority beyond the Green Line,” referring to Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
According to the NGO’s own data, which was published last month and is based on fieldwork by its monitoring team and not official statistics, there were 1,814 building starts in the territories in 2016 – a rise of 34 percent compared to 2015.
Housing minister Ori Arael said that “Who harms Israel is the minister of war and the prime minister. Settlements evacuation is a crime and these is no less description than this. we want to return to the evacuated settlements”.

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