Israel set to increase settlement budget in 2015

15 Nov HRB

Israel is set to more than double the budget for settlement expansion projects in 2015 despite international opposition to the constructions.

Israeli authorities will allocate nearly USD35 million for the World Zionist Organization's Settlement Division, which is tasked with construction of settler units on Palestinian territories.

The figure is currently around USD15 million, with reports showing the 2014 budget has already increased by 600 percent.More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements, built since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in 1967.

Much of the international community, including Israel's close allies such as the United States and the European Union, considers the settlements illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.