Israeli settlement construction tripled in second quarter of 2018

Israeli “Peace Now” movement on Tuesday said that Israeli construction of settlements has tripled in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter.

The movement said in a statement published on Monday that during the second quarter of 2018, 794 settlement units were built, compared to 279 settlement units built in the first quarter of this year.

In the first half of 2018, 1,073 settlement units were built in the settlements, compared with only 870 in the first half of 2017.

“The Netanyahu government continues to destroy opportunities for the peace process to progress,” the movement said, adding that “continued settlement activity is destroying the two-state solution.”

Since the election of Donald Trump, there has been an increase in the approval of settlement plans and bids for settlement construction, which we are now beginning to see on the ground.

The UN Security Council adopted on 23 December 2016 resolution 2334, which called for an end to the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, the demand of the occupying state to stop its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and the illegitimacy of “Israel” settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.