How Many Israeli Settlements Are in the West Bank? 127 on the Bureau’s Count
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics counts 127 Israeli localities in Judea and Samaria at end-2023, holding 504,700 residents.
There are 127 Israeli localities in the West Bank on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ count at 31 December 2023, holding a preliminary 504,700 residents. The Bureau calls the area the Judea and Samaria Area and counts Israeli localities only. It places East Jerusalem in its Jerusalem District, outside the 127. Two other Israeli counts use different terms. The State Comptroller’s 2016 audit counted 120 localities in Area C, a figure that is the Civil Administration’s own. A 2005 review commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office, the government’s own review of its conduct, counted 105 unauthorized outposts known to its author, and its author wrote that the number probably did not reflect the true total.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 127 | Israeli localities in the Judea and Samaria Area, East Jerusalem not included | Central Bureau of Statistics | 31 December 2023 |
| 504,700 | Residents of those localities, preliminary, including foreigners | Central Bureau of Statistics | 31 December 2023 |
| 120 | Israeli localities in Area C, the Civil Administration’s own count | State Comptroller, 2016 audit | Audit of 2014, checked to December 2015 |
| About 100,000 | Residents of the 87 of those 120 localities that were established by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization | State Comptroller, 2016 audit | Audit of 2014, checked to December 2015 |
| 105 | Unauthorized outposts known to the author, a floor, on the government’s own review | Prime Minister’s Office, Sason opinion | March 2005 |
| 89,627 | Residents of Modi’in Illit, the largest locality in the Area | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2024 |
The Bureau counts 127 Israeli localities in Judea and Samaria
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts 127 localities in the Judea and Samaria Area at 31 December 2023. It recorded the same number at the 2 April 2022 census. Footnote 6 of its Statistical Abstract defines the row as Israeli localities, so the Area’s Palestinian population is outside the table.
The earlier figures are separate dated counts. Each one keeps its own date.
| Date | Localities | Residents |
|---|---|---|
| 20 May 1972, census, including Sinai | 15 | 1,500 |
| 4 June 1983, census | 81 | 23,700 |
| 31 December 1995 | 138 | 134,300 |
| 27 December 2008, census | 119 | 281,100 |
| 2 April 2022, census | 127 | 481,900 |
| 31 December 2023, preliminary | 127 | 504,700 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.16.
The counts for 1972, 1983 and 1995 include the Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria that were evacuated in August 2005. The 1972 count also includes Sinai. For these reasons the series does not run like-for-like across 2005. Of the 504,700 residents at the end of 2023, the Bureau counts 500,000 as Jews and Others. More on that population is on the page about how many people Israel counts in the West Bank.
The 2016 Comptroller audit counted 120 Israeli localities in Area C
The State Comptroller found 120 Israeli localities in Area C in its 2016 audit of the Judea and Samaria Area. The figure is the Civil Administration’s own count, made on its own definitions and relayed by the Comptroller. The audit covers a different geography, Area C, and a different period from the Bureau’s 127.
- 120 Israeli localities in Area C (p. 58).
- 87 of them were established and settled by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization (p. 58).
- About 100,000 residents live in those 87 localities. The audit gives no resident figure for all 120 (p. 58).
- About 450,000 dunams were allocated by the Custodian to the Settlement Division under permit agreements, for establishing rural localities. This is land allocated under agreements. It is not land declared state land, and it is not land built on (p. 58).
The 120 is not compared with the Bureau’s 127 here, because the two bodies count different areas. The 100,000 is not set against the Bureau’s 504,700, because it covers 87 localities, not all of the Area’s. The record on land and water allocated to settlements carries the allocation in more detail.
The 2005 opinion knew of 105 unauthorized outposts, a floor
Talya Sason stated in March 2005 that “there are 105 unauthorized outposts (that I know of today)”. The statement comes from an opinion prepared for the Prime Minister’s Office and published in English by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is the Israeli government’s own commissioned review of its own conduct. The opinion follows the figure at once with the words “probably does not reflect the true number of outposts in the area”, so the 105 is a floor.
The opinion’s threshold is its definition. Its characteristic A of an outpost reads: “There was no government decision to establish it.” The opinion also counts only sites “not attached to an existing settlement, but rather at least a few hundred meters distant from it as the crow flies”. As a result, the 105 leaves out unauthorized building inside or next to recognized settlements.
The 105 is a separate category from the Bureau’s localities and from the Comptroller’s. It is not added to the 127 or to the 120. The record on Israel’s own reviews of unauthorized outposts covers the opinion’s other findings.
Modi’in Illit is the largest locality, at 89,627 residents
Modi’in Illit is the largest Israeli locality in the Judea and Samaria Area, with 89,627 residents in 2024 on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ localities file. Betar Illit follows with 71,698, and Ma’ale Adummim with 35,845. All three are municipalities. The ranking covers only the Bureau’s Judea and Samaria Area, so it excludes the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods.
Giv’at Ze’ev and Efrat are local councils, and Ari’el is a municipality. Ranked by Israeli residents only, the order stays the same. Added together, the rows the Bureau files under the Area come to 514,496 residents in 2024, 509,990 of them Israelis. That total is a sum of the file’s rows, not a figure the Bureau prints. It also comes from a different release and a different date from the Abstract’s preliminary 504,700 at the end of 2023.
No Israeli body here publishes a current count of outposts
The Prime Minister’s Office opinion of March 2005 is the only Israeli official count of outposts in this record. Its 105 is a floor, drawn from the government’s own review, and it counts outposts with no government decision behind them.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract 2024, Table 2.16: localities and population, with no outpost or farm count.
- State Comptroller, 2016 audit: 120 localities in Area C, with no outpost total.
- Prime Minister’s Office, 2005 opinion: 105 unauthorized outposts known in March 2005, a floor, with no later count.
No Israeli body in this record publishes an outpost or farm count dated after March 2005.
Which figures here may not be added together?
None of the three counts may be added together. The Central Bureau of Statistics counts Israeli localities in its Judea and Samaria Area. The State Comptroller relays the Civil Administration’s own count of localities in Area C. The Prime Minister’s Office opinion, the government’s own review, counts unauthorized outposts on its own definition and as a floor. The Bureau’s 504,700 is preliminary and includes foreigners. The 514,496 is a sum of 2024 file rows. The Comptroller’s about 100,000 belongs to 87 localities, not 120. The Bureau’s counts before 2005 include localities in Gaza and northern Samaria.
Questions readers ask
Does the Bureau’s 127 include East Jerusalem?
No. The Central Bureau of Statistics counts East Jerusalem in its Jerusalem District, and its Judea and Samaria Area row of 127 localities lies outside it.
How many Israelis live in the Judea and Samaria Area?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 504,700 residents in the Area’s Israeli localities at 31 December 2023, a preliminary figure that includes foreigners. Of these, 500,000 are Jews and Others.
How many localities did the Bureau count at the 2008 census?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 119 localities in the Judea and Samaria Area at the 27 December 2008 census. It counted 127 at the 2 April 2022 census.
Does the 1995 count of 138 cover the same area as today’s 127?
No. The Central Bureau of Statistics states in a footnote that its 1995 figure includes Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria that were evacuated in August 2005.
How many people lived in the Area’s Israeli localities in 1983?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 23,700 residents in 81 localities at the 4 June 1983 census, a count that includes localities later evacuated in 2005.
Who established the Israeli localities in Area C?
The State Comptroller reported in 2016 that 87 of the 120 Israeli localities in Area C were established and settled by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization. The 120 is the Civil Administration’s own count.
How much land was allocated to the Settlement Division?
The State Comptroller found that about 450,000 dunams in Area C were allocated to the Settlement Division under permit agreements, for establishing rural localities. This is land allocated, not land built on.
How many residents live in all 120 Area C localities?
The State Comptroller published a figure only for the 87 Settlement Division localities, about 100,000 residents. The 2016 audit gives no resident count for all 120.
What counts as an unauthorized outpost in Israel’s 2005 review?
Talya Sason stated in the opinion for the Prime Minister’s Office, the government’s own review, that an outpost had no government decision behind it. It also stood at least a few hundred meters from an existing settlement as the crow flies.
When were the 105 outposts established?
Talya Sason stated that 71 were established before March 2001 and 24 afterwards, and that 10 had a date the author had “yet to find out”. The 71 and the 24 are not totalled, because 10 have no date.
How many people live in Ari’el?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts 22,190 residents in Ari’el in 2024. Ari’el is a municipality and the fifth largest Israeli locality in the Area.
How many people live in Ma’ale Adummim?
The Central Bureau of Statistics records 35,845 residents in Ma’ale Adummim in 2024, the third largest locality in the Area and the largest that is not a Haredi city.
Is there an Israeli count of farms in the West Bank?
The Central Bureau of Statistics and the State Comptroller published no farm count in the sources here. The Prime Minister’s Office opinion of 2005, the government’s own review, counts outposts only.
Does the 2024 localities file match the Abstract’s total?
The two figures come from different releases. The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a preliminary 504,700 at the end of 2023 in its Abstract. The rows of its 2024 localities file add up to 514,496, a sum rather than a printed total.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.16: Localities and Population, by District, Sub-District and Population Group. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2024/2.shnatonpopulation/st02_16x.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Localities in Israel 2024. Localities file, by locality code. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2019/ishuvim/bycode2024.xlsx. Official or primary record.
- Prime Minister’s Office of Israel, 2005. Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts, prepared by Talya Sason, Adv. Published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2005. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/summary-of-opinion-concerning-unauthorized-outposts-talya-sason-adv. Official record, government-commissioned review.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2016. Judea and Samaria Area: Activity of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit and Aspects of Land Registration. Annual Report 66b. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2016-66b-201-IOSH.pdf. Official or primary record.
