According to the "Israeli" watchdog group Peace Now, "Israeli" settlers living in the occupied West Bank and East Al Quds (Jerusalem) in violation of international law have engaged in a frenzy of building since the partial moratorium on construction was lifted unilaterally by the "Israeli" government on September 27th. Palestinians, on whose land the settlements are being constructed, had no say in the matter.

According to Peace Now's count, since the end of the freeze in October 26th, the settlers managed to start to build 1,629 housing units, and even to dig the foundations for 1,116 of them.

The works started in 63 settlements, 46 of them east the Separation Barrier and 17 on the western side of it.

A Peace Now spokesperson said, "It turns out that the Settlement Freeze was no more than a 10 months delay in the construction, and the settlers managed to fill-in the gap very fast."

Peace Now conducted many field trips and aerial tours in the last few weeks in order to be able to estimate the number of new construction starts in the settlements.

All "Israeli" settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, as they are constructed on land illegally seized from the indigenous Palestinian population by military force.