The vote came as Netanyahu’s government is pushing ahead with a separate plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system that has roiled Israeli politics. Since then, more than 700,000 Israelis have moved into dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem - which most of the world considers an obstacle to peace. Israel captured those territories in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist West Bank settler now serving as minister in charge of police, said Tuesday that the repeal of the ban corrects “a historic injustice” and pledged to continue boosting settlements. The legislation passed in an overnight vote 31-18 in the 120-seat Knesset. Still, ultranationalist members of Netanyahu’s coalition pushed for a repeal of the ban on the northern West Bank settlements. This week, Israel pledged to put a temporary freeze on further settlement approvals, including authorization of outposts, as part of a series of measures meant to ease tensions ahead of the sensitive period that includes the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish festival of Passover. Netanyahu’s government has put settlement expansion at the top of its agenda and has already advanced thousands of new settlement housing units and retroactively authorized nine wildcat outposts in the West Bank. “Coming at a time of heightened tensions, the legislative changes announced today are provocative and counterproductive to efforts to restore some measures of calm,” said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel. The State Department said it was “extremely troubled” and urged Israel to refrain from allowing settlers to return to the outposts. Most of the international community considers settlements illegal and opposes construction on occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The move drew a sharp rebuke from Israel's closest ally, the United States. It was the latest move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which is dominated by settler leaders and allies, to promote settlement expansion in the territory, inflaming tensions with the Palestinians and the international community. The development could pave the way for an official return to the abandoned West Bank areas in another setback to Palestinian hopes for statehood. It is also important to note that census figures are estimates and may not always reflect the true picture.JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday repealed a 2005 act that saw four Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank dismantled at the same time as Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip. However, it should be noted that the rate and projections of population growth depend on a number of factors, such as birth rates, migration patterns and government policies, and can be affected by changes in these factors. This has raised concerns about a possible population imbalance, with some analysts suggesting that the growth rate of the Muslim population has the potential to overtake that of the Hindu population in the coming years. The 2011 census data shows that the Muslim population grew by around 24.6% between 20, compared to around 16.8% for Hindus over the same period. India's Muslim population is growing faster than its Hindu population, according to Indian government census data. It is worth noting that India is a diverse country with a variety of religious and ethnic communities and the census data is subject to change and should be considered an estimate. Other religions, including Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Jainism, make up less than 1% of the population each. This makes Islam the second-largest religion in India, after Hinduism, which comprises about 79.8% of the population. The Muslim population in India is approximately 14.2%.
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