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The number of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank has reached 592, with Israel controlling about 42% of the territory, a Palestinian government body said Saturday.
The figures were published by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission in a briefing on key indicators of Israeli settlement expansion and control of Palestinian land.
The commission said 780,000 Israeli settlers were living in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, as of the end of July.
Of those, around 333,600 live in illegal settlements in Jerusalem, while 446,400 live elsewhere in the West Bank.
Israeli settlers are spread across 192 illegal settlements and 400 settlement outposts, including 231 pastoral outposts, according to the commission.
The commission said official Israeli orders show that Israeli control extends to 42% of the West Bank, which covers about 5,660 square kilometers (2,185 square miles).
It added that Israel controls 71% of Area C and as much as 91% of the Palestinian Jordan Valley.
The West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C under the 1995 Oslo II Accord.
Area A is under Palestinian administrative and security control, while Area B is under Palestinian administrative and Israeli security control.
Area C, which makes up about 60% of the West Bank, is under full Israeli control.
The West Bank has seen continued escalation in Israeli military offensives and settler attacks since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
The escalation has coincided with the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, the construction of settler-only roads and tighter restrictions on Palestinian movement.
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