The Jewish population in the West Bank grew faster than in any other Israeli district in 2005, and by year end expected to hit to more than 243,000 people, the Israeli government reported Thursday. The settlement population at the end of September was 242,700, up from 235,100 at the end of December 2004, the Central Bureau of Statistics said.
Sharon plans no further unilateral steps
Meanwhile, Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon said he intends on making every effort to reach an accord with the Palestinians in his next term. He emphasized he has no plans to make another unilateral step like the Gaza Strip pullout, but rather to reach an agreement in accordance with the roadmap, without making any concessions on security issues. "We do not consider another move in the vein of what we recently performed in the disengagement. The disengagement was meant to pave the way for a diplomatic solution in accordance with the roadmap," Sharon said in a press conference held in Tel Aviv.
