Palestine Economy Portal 

According to a press release issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), by the end of 2014, there were 413 illegal Israeli constructions in the West Bank, including 150 settlements and 119 outposts.

During 2015, the Israeli occupation authorities approved the building of over 4,500 housing units in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank in addition to the units approved in Jerusalem. Still, these same authorities deny the Palestinians the right to build and lay obstacles, which undermine any potential urban expansion especially for the Palestinians in Jerusalem and Area "C" which is under full Israeli control. It should be noted that Area “C” represents over 60% of the West Bank area. Israel also erected its Expansion and Annexation Wall, which isolates behind it more than 12% of the West Bank land. 

Data indicated that the total number of settlers in the West Bank was 599,901 at the end of 2014, 286,997 of whom are in the Jerusalem Governorate (they represent 48% of all settlers in the occupied West Bank). Moreover, 210,420 of these illegal settlers live in Jerusalem J1 (that part of Jerusalem, which was forcefully annexed by Israel following its occupation of the West Bank in 1967). In demographic terms, the proportion of settlers to the Palestinian population in the West Bank is around 21 settlers per 100 Palestinians compared with 69 settlers per 100 Palestinians in Jerusalem governorate.

Additionally, the Israeli authorities control more than 85% of the total area of historical land of Palestine, which totals about 27,000 km2. And while the Palestinians comprise 48% of the total population, they can only utilize less than 15% of the land.

Moreover, Palestine suffers from scarcity of water and resources. The situation is further complicated by the prolonged Israeli occupation, which controls most of the existing water sources (85%) and prevents the Palestinians from their right to access their water sources or any alternative sources, Consequently, the Palestinians are compelled to buy water from the Israeli Water Company (Mekorot), purchasing around 63.5 million m3 in 2014. 

The Israeli occupation controls the majority of renewable water resources totaling 750 MCM, while Palestinians receive only about 110 MCM.  The Palestinian share from the three ground water aquifers should be 118 MCM according to the Oslo Agreement. This share was supposed to increase to 200 MCM by the year 2000 had the Interim Agreement been fully implemented.

The daily allocation per capita from consumed water for domestic purposes is 79.1 letter/capita/day (l/c/d) in the West Bank in 2014.  Where it is 79.7 l/c/d in Gaza Strip in 2014 compared to 91.3 l/c/d in 2013, this shortfall is due to reduced pumping from ground water wells in the Gaza Strip because of Israeli aggression on the Strip. However, 97% of drinking water in the Gaza Strip does not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) standards and is also less than the minimum quantities recommended by WHO (100 l/c/d) .