GAZA, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to demolish its Security Fence erected in the West Bank, Palestinian WAFA news agency reported on Thursday.

"The wall must be demolished. All types of settlement activities on our land are illegal," Abbas said.

His statement comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the fence would not be demolished even though the situation in the region had stabilized.

Israel has 121 settlements in the occupied West Bank with a total population of around 300,000. Israeli authorities have pledged to destroy at least 20 of the settlements.

Settlement construction began after Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem during the Arab-Israeli War.