OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A report prepared by an Israeli leftist movement revealed that the Israeli occupation authority was continuing to expand settlements in the West Bank at an accelerated rate that would eventually erase the green line separating the Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 from those occupied in 1948.

The report by the peace now movement said that the increasing settlement activity aimed at erasing all features of the green line through intensifying building that would link settlement blocs to isolated settlements in the heart of the West Bank.

It noted that more than 1,000 new buildings are under construction in the first half of 2008 that include around 2,600 housing units.

The report pointed out that 55% of those buildings were built to the east of separation wall, and quoted the Israeli central statistics department as indicating that construction in settlements had almost increased double fold since last year.

Tenders for construction in the settlements soared by 550%, it said, noting that construction in eastern Jerusalem was 38 times more than last year.