The first part of the report intends to shed light on the status of Israeli settlement expansions in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) between the years 2002 and 2004, and more specifically will concentrate on the period between January and August 2004, where Israel continued to expand its illegal settlements at increasing rates. According to analysis performed by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Unit at ARIJ, it was found that between August 2002 and August 2004, 32632 new housing units were built in West Bank settlements. Between January 2004 and August 2004, Israeli occupying forces built 15604 new housing units in West Bank settlements (an increase of more than 4% in only 8 months). ARIJ also identified 217 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank. The report also looks at settlement expansion in light of the international peace initiatives in the region, international laws, human rights, international covenants and United Nations Security Council resolutions.

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