JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Jewish settler population grew by more than 5,000 in the first half of 2003, despite U.S.-backed peace moves requiring Israel to halt construction in Jewish settlements, Israel said on Thursday.
Palestinians seek an independent state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the peace plan calls on Israel to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts and stop expansion of established settlements there.
The number of new settlers in the first half of 2003 showed a constant rate of population growth in the settlements that the international community says are illegal; a statement Israel disputes.
Some 5,000 newcomers moved to the settlements in the second half of 2001 and in first half of 2002, while some 7,200 moved there in the second half of 2002, the Interior Ministry said.
The ministry said 5,415 Israelis had moved to the settlements since January, with the ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit seeing the largest jump of more than 1,000 newcomers.
Betzalel Kahn, a Beitar Illit spokesman, said the draw for the ultra-Orthodox community was the cheap housing close to Jerusalem and not a bid to strengthen Israel's hold on the West Bank.
Other West Bank settlements that saw jumps in their population were the ultra-Orthodox Modein Ilit and Maaleh Adumim, the settlement city outside Jerusalem, the Interior Ministry said, putting the total settler population at 231,443.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to uproot the unauthorized hilltop outposts and indicated he would consider dismantling some established settlements in return for peace.