Palestinians still live under impossible conditions (AFP)

GAZA CITY, December 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As Jewish settlers increase in the troubled Middle East, Palestinians are being killed daily by Israeli occupation forces.

Rising settler figures were confirmed in a statement from Israel's Interior Ministry Tuesday, December 30, the same day Israeli occupation forces shot dead a young Palestinian man in the southern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Egypt, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Ministry revealed that the population of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories has grown by 16 percent since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to power in March 2001. It added that the overall number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip now stands at 236,000.

Since Sharon's reign, Palestinian deaths have marked the region, as the latest victim of Israeli violence, Falal al-Najar, 22, suffered fatal injuries after he was shot in the chest in the Khan Yunis area Tuesday.

His death raised to 3,682 the number of people killed since the September 2000 Intifada started. According to a count by AFP, this includes 2,756 Palestinians and 860 Israelis.

Peace plans backed by the U.S. stipulate that Israel is obliged to freeze settlement activity, but the Israeli government has continued to issue tenders for the building of more apartments in the West Bank and Gaza.

However, under the terms of the U.S.-envisioned roadmap for peace, some Israeli settlers have been asked to evacuate their homes. Notices have been posted up on their doors, but the settlers say they will not go quietly and are considering the possibility of taking their case before the Israeli Supreme Court.

One outpost due to be dismantled is Ginot Aryeh, after orders were signed by Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. The other three are uninhabited and the settlers have just three more days to appeal to the military authorities against the evacuation order.

Plans for the dismantling of Migron, an outpost home to 43 families, have been shelved amid fierce opposition from the settlers.

The U.S.-backed "roadmap" plan for peace calls for dismantling all settlement outposts established since Sharon came to power, but settler leaders have denounced the prospect of a "transfer of Jews" as both illegal and immoral.

According to the settlement watchdog Peace Now, there are 103 outposts in the West Bank, 56 of which were set up after Sharon was elected.

Rachel Avital, a spokesperson for the Ginot Aryeh settlers, told AFP that the settlers would vehemently oppose any evacuation. Fellow Ginot Aryeh resident Oren Rond warned that they would not go quietly and would look to other settlers, such as the inhabitants of Ofra, to help resist the dismantling order.

A senior Israeli military officer for the West Bank said his troops were bracing themselves for an emotional confrontation, but would carry out orders to dismantle outposts.

"Removing outposts is a big issue because some of our soldiers and commanders live in these settlements and we are dealing with the risk of disobedience within our own ranks," the officer told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

"At the end of the day the army will do its job. We will remove these outposts if the government tells us to do so," the officer added.

House Searches

Israel says isolated illegal outposts to be dismantled

Meanwhile, in Nablus on the West Bank, the Israeli army carried out searches in a pre-dawn operation involving some 30 jeeps and four tanks, Palestinian security sources reported.

Nablus residents were ordered out of their homes as troops conducted searches from around 4:00 am, the sources added.

The army has been rounding up wanted Palestinian activists in Nablus and the adjoining Balata refugee camp for some two weeks.

The operation was stepped up in the aftermath of a December 25 bombing carried out by a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who came from a village near Nablus.

Witnesses said Monday that Israeli troops had been pulling out of the area in an apparent winding down of the whole operation. But an Israeli military source said Tuesday that "threats have not disappeared in Nablus and as result we are not leaving the area".

"It is simply a matter of troop movements," he added.