Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

One decade after the beginning of the Oslo process raised the prospect of Palestinian sovereignty in East Jerusalem, the government of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is implementing a program that aims at undermining not merely the option of a sovereign Palestinian political presence in the city, but also its historical role as the hub of Palestinian civic and economic existence.

President Bush's road map is leading nowhere, Israelis and Palestinians are still dying, and Sharon is still building settlements and barriers. But two unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives offer renewed hope.

Israel has issued a military order--Israel Defense Forces Order Concerning Security Directives (Judea and Samaria) (#378), 1970 Declaration Concerning Closing of Area Number s/2/03 (seam area) (Judea and Samaria)--effective October 2, 2003.

The settler population in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip grew by 5.7 percent in 2002, increasing to 220,100 from the 2001 figure of 208,200. Israel's overall growth was only 1.9 percent. When added to the 180,000 Israelis residing in East Jerusalem, the settler population now comprises almost 8 percent of Israel's Jewish population of 5.1 million.