Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

The election campaign waged by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was billed as a referendum on his idea for settling the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians over control of lands under Israeli occupation.

The Bush administration is avoiding all contacts with the new, democratically elected Hamas led government, and has suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority, hoping that this will persuade Hamas to recognize Israel, forswear violence, and accept all past agreements. Some U.S. officials may even hope that these sanctions will turn the Palestinian public against Hamas in favor of a revived Fatah or other more moderate Palestinian leadership. 

A February 2006 investigation by the Israeli business daily the Marker revealed that dwellings in settlements located east of the separation barrier have lost 10-15 percent of their value. In contrast, prices have remained stable in those settlements located west of the barrier and “far from a Palestinian village considered hostile.”

On May 10, 2006, the Palestinian news agency WAFA published a “National Accord” issued by a wide political coalition of Palestinian prisoners and endorsed by PA president Mahmoud Abbas.