Jerusalem ? As Israel basked in world admiration for pulling out of the Gaza Strip, new official figures released Friday showed the Jewish population of the West Bank is expanding rapidly, growing by more than 12,000 in the past year alone.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made no secret of his desire to expand large West Bank settlement blocs even while withdrawing from areas he says became untenable for Israel to hold.

According to Interior Ministry figures, the Jewish population of the West Bank in June stood at 246,000, an increase of 12,800, or 5 percent, in one year.

Interior Ministry spokesman Gilad Heiman said the Jewish population increase stemmed from new births and an influx of new residents, though he could not provide a breakdown.

That figure may be boosted further following the removal of about 8,500 people from 21 settlements in Gaza, many of whom found temporary shelter in West Bank settlements and may look there for permanent homes.

The settlement of Ariel turned over a student dormitory of its college campus to about 400 evicted residents of Netzarim in Gaza.

The pullback from the coastal strip and four West Bank settlements claimed its first fatality Friday when a 54-year-old woman died from self-inflicted burns during a protest earlier this month against the withdrawal.

Yelena Bosinova, a resident of the Kedumim settlement in the West Bank and an activist on settlement issues, was staging a protest on Aug. 17 at a roadblock near the southern Israeli town of Netivot when police suddenly noticed that she was on fire. Hospital officials said she died of her injuries on Friday.

Bosinova’s protest came on the first day of the emotionally charged forced evacuation of the settlements, which the military completed in eight days with surprisingly little violence.

The latest settlement figures drew criticism from Palestinian officials, who accused Israel of undermining peace prospects.

About 2.2 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing the territories in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all the West Bank and Gaza for a future Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

“These settlements and peace are two parallels that won’t meet,” said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. “I hope their choice will be peace, not settlements.”