The number of settler housing starts rose by 46% and the number of complete homes increased by 87% in the first quarter of 2021, when compared to the same period last year, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data.
The spike of 519 settler housing starts in the first three months of this year, compared to 355 such starts from January-March of last year, follows a sharp decrease in settler starts in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ground was broken on only 1,145 new homes in West Bank settlements in 2020. It was the lowest such number in almost a decade, CBS data showed.
The 1,794 homes that were completed in West Bank settlements in 2020 actually represented an increase over 1,574 finishes in 2019, according to CBS data. The first three months of the year, however, marked a low point in such construction with the completion of only 247 settler homes, compared to the 463 such finishes from January-March of this year.
The increase reflected in the CBS quarterly construction report published Thursday, comes during a de facto freeze in the advancement and approval of West Bank settlement projects. The Civil Administration’s Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria has not met since US President Joe Biden was sworn into office in January, Typically it is expected to meet four times a year.
The Biden administration has spoken repeatedly against settlement construction and, according to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has already requested a settlement freeze.
The CBS data in its quarterly report provides information on construction that occurred while Netanyahu was in office. It focuses solely on physical construction and does not include plans that were advanced or approved.
Given the large number of approvals and tenders issued in the last few years, settlement construction can continue and even rise irrespective of whether or not the council meets.