The Jewish population of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley grew by 12,297 in 2024, according to a report published over the weekend by the Yesha Council umbrella group of Jewish communities.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, 529,704 Israelis live in the territory, amounting to approximately 5.28% of the total population of the Jewish state.

That figure does not include the some 350,000 Jews living in the eastern part of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim despite it being part of the Jewish state’s capital.

The Yesha Council noted that the annual growth of Judea and Samaria’s Jewish population is 2.38%—more than twice Israel’s national rate. The report also noted that over the past decade, there has been an exceptional 36% increase in the territory’s Jewish population.

The report also noted that 13% of all Israeli troops killed during the war sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack were from Judea and Samaria.

Israel Ganz, who heads the Yesha Council, as well as the Binyamin Regional Council of communities in southern Samaria, said the data showed the “significant work that is taking place in Judea and Samaria.”

“Every year, we see how the communities continue to grow and strengthen; a living example of the Zionist vision being realized,” he said. “The growth in the communities is not just numbers, but the story of families, communities and pioneers from all over the country who see their place and future in the communities of Judea and Samaria.”

Ganz said he expects the government in Jerusalem to “move to the next stage and apply proper sovereignty to this region of the country, and to stop discrimination against the country’s dedicated citizens.”

This year’s report, he added, “emphasizes the role of the pioneers of Judea and Samaria as partners—not only in the forefront of settlement activity but also in maintaining Israel’s security on the country’s borders.”

In 2023, the Jewish population in the territories liberated during the 1967 Six-Day War grew to 517,407, according to a previous report compiled by former Israeli lawmaker Ya’akov Katz based on Interior Ministry data. The January 2024 report projected the Jewish population in the area would reach 613,554 by 2030, 706,233 by 2035 and 1,020,506 by 2047.

Image - View of the Israeli city of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, June 10, 2020. Photo by Sraya Diamant/Flash90