Settlement & Annexation Report: August 28, 2026

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August 28, 2026

WEST BANK: IDF Formalizes Siege on Qusra, Settlers Expand Yitzav Outpost Near Bethlehem; New Yesh Din Report on Settler Violence in Areas A & B
BONUS READS

WEST BANK

IDF Formalizing Siege on Qusra

The IDF finally managed to dislodge settlers from their makeshift camps built and positioned to coerce Palestinians into abandoning their land and homes in the village of Qusra. After the settlers left, the IDF installed new gates blocking the roads to three Palestinian homes in Qusra – keeping the families trapped in their homes unable to leave without coordinating with the Israeli army. While formalizing an Israeli military presence in the village and the siege on several homes, the IDF continues to allow settlers to freely roam the area, making the whole village fearful of proceeding with daily life in their village.

Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti writes:

“Qusra exposes an architecture of colonialism in which the West Bank is experienced as one large enclosure without the need for a wall. While Gaza has made the word “siege” synonymous with a territory encircled from the outside, Qusra and the West Bank require that we recognise another form of siege. One which advances from the inside of the territory where the perimeter is constantly redrawn around Palestinian lives.

We must understand that Qusra is not an isolated incident of settlers and military between settlers and three families. It is three families against one of the strongest and most brutal regimes of our time, and it doesn’t end with them. It extends to all Palestinians in the West Bank facing a large-scale transformation which not only seizes lands and homes, but holds captive Palestinian lives.”

Palestinian journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud writes:

“What emerged was not simply settler violence but a division of labor: settlers create the crisis; the army imposes the restrictions; Palestinian movement is curtailed; and the victims themselves are pressured to leave.”

Settlers Expand Outpost Near Bethlehem

Wafa news reports settlers are continuing to expand the new “Yizav” outpost in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. This week settlers put Israeli flags along a nearby road that is utilized by Palestinians, and have moved several mobile homes to the area.

In June 2026, the Israeli government has declared 116 dunams of land to be included in the jurisdiction of the new “Yitzav” settlement, located on land belonging to Beit Sahour. The designated land includes the former military compound that settlers initially (and illegally) first established the Yitzav outpost just four months ago, but it also includes surrounding lands and part of a public park that belongs to the municipality of Beit Sahour

New Yesh Din Report — “The Next Frontier: Violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in Areas A and B”

Yesh Din has published a new report documenting the expansion of settler construction and violence into Areas A and B of the West Bank over the past 2+ years. The introduction explains:

“Since 2024, the violence and pressure exerted by the government, military and settlers on Palestinians have been rapidly shifting from Area C into Areas B and even A. To this end, more and more outposts are being established in Area B, and attempts are already underway to establish outposts in Area A as well. As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence, harassment and terror follow. Yesh Din data shows that in 2026, roughly two-thirds (62.6%) of the settler violence incidents it documented took place in Areas A or B, compared to 32.4% in 2025. These figures illustrate what is already clearly felt on the ground: the continued shrinking of Palestinian space and the ongoing, forced displacement of Palestinian residents into ever smaller areas of the West Bank.”

Read the full report online.

BONUS READS

“Armed Israeli settler ‘hikes’ aren’t new — but they’re becoming deadly” (+972 Magazine, 8/26/2026)
“Under Israel’s watch, Palestinian gangs are sowing chaos in the West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 8/25/2026)
“Israel Must Choose Between Itself and Its West Bank Settlements” (Haaretz Editorial, 8/27/2026)
“US stresses opposition to Israeli West Bank annexation but avoids condemning E1 plan” (The Times of Israel, 8/21/2026)
“E1 settlement: Why Netanyahu, Israel’s right might not mind global outrage” (Al Jazeera, 8/24/2026)
“Israel Is Forcing Palestinians to Take Sledgehammers to Their Homes in East Jerusalem” (DAWN, 8/21/2026)
“Israeli Lawmaker Tzvi Succot Smashes Palestinian Memorial in West Bank Guarded by IDF” (Haaretz, 8/25/2026)
“Israel is exporting its West Bank land seizure model to colonize new territory in Syria, using 140 cattle to do it” (Mondoweiss, 8/25/2026)
“Forget a Map, This Is How Palestinians Are Navigating Unpredictable West Bank Roads” (Haaretz, 8/26/2026)
“Smotrich says he will ‘Judaize’ northern and southern Israel: ‘I did it in the West Bank‘” (Haaretz, 8/27/2026)
“IDF’s West Bank chief said to warn PM that settler attacks could spark major Palestinian terror outbreak” (The Times of Israel, 8/25/2026)
“What’s behind Israel’s growing assault on West Bank healthcare” (972 Magazine, 8/24/2026)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

August 14, 2026

WEST BANK: Jenin Area Fragmentation Continues, Atara Petition, Tenders for Kochav Yaakov, More
STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM: State Data Shows 63% Raise in Settler Attacks, Katz Wants Israel Police to Take Over West Bank Civilian Matters, Settlers Lay Siege to Qusra, IDF Is Issuing Closed Military Zone Orders on Entire Villages, More
BONUS READS

WEST BANK

The Noose Around Jenin Tightens

The reality on the ground in the northern West Bank is rapidly changing:

On August 2nd, settlers moved into the Emek Dotan settlement, with the IDF displacing Palestinians from their homes in a nearby town in order to do so.
On August 13th, senior Israeli government officials joined settler leaders to mark the reestablishment of the Ganim settlement, located east of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
On August 5th, settlers moved into the recently re-built Kedumim settlement

In total, the Israeli government has approved 19 new settlements between Jenin and Nablus, which are designed to affect the total fragmentation of the northern West Bank.

Yehuda Shaul, settlement expert and co-founder of Breaking the Silence, writes:

“By undoing the disengagement in the northern WB, the state is actualizing the settlers’ decades-long dream, fueling their political imagination, and encouraging a similar dedication to the resettlement of Gaza. In addition to reinstating these 4 settlements, Israel is establishing 15 more in the area, introducing a settlement presence greater than it was before the 2005 disengagement in a region that has barely seen permanent settler presence for 20 years. Most importantly, this brings about the implementation of the long-planned encirclement of Jenin and the fragmentation of the northern WB.”

Yesh Din Petitions Against Outpost Near Atara, Home to Violent Settler Yinon Dardik

Last month, Yesh Din assisted two Palestinian families from the village of Atara in submitting a petition with the Israeli High Court demanding the removal of settlers from their homes, and for Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians from the settlers’ escalating violence. Under IDF protection, settlers had established the Kfar Tarfon outpost near two Palestinian homes in August 2025. Over the past year, settlers have increased their violent harassment of the Palestinians homeowners culminating in the settlers expelling Palestinians from their homes and taking over the buildings. One settler, Yinon Dardik, is facing criminal charges for reportedly torturing a Paelstinian man during one such attack on Atara, stripping the man naked and putting a zip tie on his genitals. Dardik was released from house arrest this week.

The Israeli High Court ordered the State to respond by August 16th but refused a request for a more urgent hearing.

Tender for 627 New Settlement Units in the Kochav Yaakov Settlement

Al Jazeera reports Israeli authorities issued tenders for the construction of 627 new settlement units in the Kochav Yaakov settlement, located on the periphery of Jerusalem near Ramallah. Construction companies have until November 30th to submit bids on the project.

While Israeli’s Politicization of West Bank Archaeology Gains Attention, Details Are Scant

With UNESCO’s recognition of Sebastia as a World Heritage Site under threat, Israel’s use of archaeology as a tool for the dispossession of Palestinians and annexation of the West Bank has gained more international attention. At the same time, the Israeli government has been rapidly advancing that very model of annexation. However, as Emek Shaveh notes, the details of the Israeli government’s funding of annexation-via-archaeology are not being revealed, writing:

“Last Tuesday (August 4th), the inter-ministerial steering committee established under Government Resolution 786 approved projects at approximately 70 sites, at a total cost of NIS 113 million. The allocation was announced by Minister of Finance and Additional Minister within the Ministry of Defence, Bezalel Smotrich.

The full details of the plan are unknown, since the steering committee’s activities are not public. In fact, when Emek Shaveh approached the Ministry of Heritage with questions about the steering committee and its membership, we received a vague response containing general headings but no detailed explanation of who the representatives serving on the committee are. We have therefore submitted a Freedom of Information request, which has yet to receive a response.

In parallel with the committee’s approval, the Knesset Finance Committee approved (on July 29th) additional transfers of more than NIS 60 million for heritage-related activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. During the discussion, the committee was presented with a map outlining what appears to be a plan for a significant expansion of the heritage enterprise in the West Bank. No concrete plan for any specific site was presented alongside the map.

The information we have about these allocations is scant since no paper work or documentation regarding the ministries slated to finance the projects were made available. Most of what we currently know about budgets for West Bank sites are based on statements made by relevant ministers or government officials.”

Peace Now Report: “The Quiet Annexation of Areas A and B and Steps to Bring Down the Palestinian Authority”

In a new report, Peace Now details the steps the Israeli government has extended its annexation of the West Bank into Area’s A & B, undermining the Palestinian Authority and fundamentally changing the reality on the ground.

Peace Now writes in said in a statement:

“The government’s actions in Areas A and B are not isolated events. They are part of a broader policy aimed at weakening the Palestinian Authority. This approach is meant to create chaos, making it easier to expand settlements into cities and villages deep within the West Bank. The Netanyahu government is playing with fire by ignoring international commitments and putting Israel’s security in danger. All of this is being done to gain more territory in the West Bank and block any chance for peace or a solution to the conflict.”

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

Data Shows 63% Increase in Settler Terror So Far in 2026

Israeli government data reportedly shows a 63% increase in crimes committed by settlers through the first half of 2026 as compared to the same period last year. According to the report, there have been:

606 settler attacks on Palestinians or their property (a 63% increase)
45 settler attacks on Israeli security forces (a 50% increase)

Defense Minister Katz Wants to Bring Civilian Policing to the West Bank

Haaretz reports Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to prepare a plan that would transfer all civilian law enforcement powers with regard to Israeli settlers from the domain of the Civil Administration to the Israeli police. If implemented, the move would further cement the dismantling of the Oslo framework – under which Israel has maintained an ostensibly temporary military occupation of the West Bank – and the entrenchment of Israeli sovereignty and Israeli apartheid in the West Bank.

The plan is apparently aimed at add bringing settler terrorism under tighter control, as international attention to the magnitude and severity of settler terrorism have gained increasing attention. Speaking on his vision, Katz said:

“The IDF’s role is to fight Palestinian terrorism and focus on defending the borders and communities against threats. Full responsibility for enforcing civilian matters and maintaining law and order will be transferred to the Israel Police.”

In trying to understand Katz’s true intent with this order, it’s worth recalling that just a week ago, Katz fired Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth from his post as head of the IDF’s Central Command for refusing to release a violent settler – who is accused of grotesque torture of a Palestinian man – to house arrest at an illegal outpost. Israel Courts subsequently overruled Bluth, allowing the settler to return to his illegal outpost Kfar Tarfun, and Katz walked back his attempt to fire Bluth.

It’s also worth reading Haaretz’s recent expose on how settlers are dictating the IDF’s posture in the West Bank in order to actively fuel friction with Palestinians.

Peace Now has offered their own five-step plan to bring settler terrorism under control.

Settlers Lay Siege to Qusra

On August 9th, a mob of violent Israeli settlers laid siege on the Palestinian village of Qusra, cutting off power and water to three of the village’s homes as they trapped the Palestinians inside by blocking roads to their land and building an outpost in their yard. Initially, the IDF refused to intervene even as the settlers blocked journalists and an ambulance from reaching the trapped Palestinians.

On August 12th, the Israeli military tried to remove the settlers, but ultimately failed to do so and had to withdraw from the area under attack by the settlers.The IDF tried again to remove the settlers on August 13th, this time succeeding. Ahead of the operation, the IDF ordered the Palestinian residents of Qusra to evacuate their homes in order to use them as military posts, stoking fears that the Israeli government will permanently displace Palestinians while asserting they are trying to “protect” them. On August 14th, the settlers were filmed rebuilding the outpost outside of the besieged homes, and the IDF once again arrived to dismantle the camp.

CNN reports:

“What’s happening in Qusra isn’t an isolated incident. And Qusai and the others living on the besieged hilltop have good reason to fear they will never be allowed back into their homes if they leave.

The same group of settlers who have surrounded that hilltop did the same to another Palestinian family in a neighboring village last month. And there, they were successful.

For over two weeks, they surrounded Mahmoud Tubasi’s home in Jalud, eventually forcing him and his family to leave. CNN visited the home and witnessed settlers going in and out of the home, standing on the rooftop where a messianic flag had been planted.

The flag is brandished by settlers and frequently flown atop seized Palestinian property. It symbolizes a religious-nationalist claim to the land, viewed by extremist settlers as part of a divinely ordained Jewish return.

Tubasi’s neighbors said the settlers have threatened them as well, telling them they are next.”

IDF Claims It is Trying to Protect Palestinians from Settler By Closing Off Their Towns

Drop Site News reports that “Israel has found a new way to enable settler attacks on a Christian-majority Palestinian village while pretending to stop them,” namely, by declaring entire Palestinian towns as closed military zones like what transpired in Qusra as detailed above. The IDF has now come to use these tool several times.

On August 9th, following months of settler terrorism, the IDF declared the village of Taybeh and surrounding areas a closed military zone – an order which prohibits Israelis, foreigners, press, and activists from reaching the area. The military order has failed to stop settlers from attacking Taybeh, and residents fear the actual intent of the order is to isolate Taybeh from the outside world. Taybeh is a well-known Palestinian Christian town that has come under siege by Israeli settlers since October 6, 2023 and the years of lawlessness in the West Bank that have followed.

On August 11th, the military similarly issued orders to declare the villages of Kufr Qalil and Jalud as closed military zones, following repeated settler raids on the towns.

These orders, while perhaps an attempt to stop violent settlers from entering the towns, are not only failing to protect Palestinians but are in fact punishing Palestinians further, and obfuscating the need to hold settlers criminally accountable for their violent, illegal behavior.

BONUS READ

“IDF to Demolish Home of Palestinian Involved in Deadly West Bank Car Collision” (Haaetz, 8/9/2026)
“Israeli efforts to seize more Palestinian land have reached a frenzied pitch” (NPR, 8/7/20260)
“Explaining the West Bank Map: What Are Areas A, B and C?” (Haaretz, 8/10/2026)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

March 6, 2026

WEST BANK: 2.2% Settler Growth Rate in 2024; IDF Taking Over Palestinian Homes
EAST JERUSALEM: E-1 Delay?, Report on EJ Settlement Surge Since Oct 2023
SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM: Severity
U.S. NEWS

WEST BANK

Settler Population Grew by 2.2% in 2025

According to data from West Bank Jewish Population Stats (a setter-run enterprise), the settlement population in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) grew by 2.2% in 2025. The rate is twice as high as the rate of Israel’s overall population growth rate, which is likely reflective of an on-average large family size of settler families. Settlers in the West Bank constitute 5.32% of the Jewish Israeli population.

The fastest growing settlements in 2025 are worth noting, all of which were established as illegal outposts and legalized by the Israeli government in February 2023. All are located in high friction areas:

The Avigail and Asael settlements in the South Hebron Hills. Avigail grew by 720% while Asael grew by 644.8%.
Shaharit settlement grew by 600%.
Givat HaRoeh settlement grew by 169.4%.
Beit Hogla settlement in the Jordan Valley grew by 111.6%.

The settler growth rate continues to see small declines year on year: the 2024 growth rate which was 2.4%; the 2023 growth rate was 2.9%.

IDF Takeover of Palestinian Homes

There are increasing reports of the IDF entering PAelstinian private residences, evicting families with moments notice, and claiming the home as a new military base. Recent reports document this in Ni’lin, Al-Bireh, and Haris. Two months ago, another instance in Yabad was spotlighted by Amira Hass in Haaretz. Documenting the recent case in Ni’lin, Breaking the Silence writes:

“As one of our testifiers shared, homes are typically vandalised during these takeovers: “You do a Straw Widow, and then you need to do a spray paint of north-south-east-west […] And then someone takes [the spray paint] and writes: ‘Without settlement, there is no victory.’””

EAST JERUSALEM

E-1 Settlement Bidding May Be Delayed

Terrestrial Jerusalem reports that, due to the Israeli and U.S. war on Iran, it is likely that the bidding window for construction of the E-1 settlement might be delayed – opening a small opportunity for international engagement particularly by Arab states.

Peace Now Report Shows Totality of Post-October 2023 Settlement Surge in East Jerusalem

In a new report (PDF) on settlement activity in East Jerusalem from 2023-2025, Peace Now documents the rapid surge in state-backed settlement expansion and expulsion of Palestinian communities since 2023. The full report includes numerous maps and graphics that capture the detail and the totality of the new East Jerusalem.

The reports key findings are:

Advancement of plans for 33,519 new settlement units in East Jerusalem
Approval of the E1 plan and publication of tenders for its construction, alongside steps to seal off the entire Ma’ale Adumim area (the heart of the West Bank) from Palestinians, including through the construction of a new roads.
Planning of four new settlements located within or on the edges of Palestinian neighborhoods: Givat HaShaked, Kidmat Zion, the Lower Aqueduct, and Kiryat Menachem Begin in Sheikh Jarrah. (Two additional settlements—Atarot and “Nahlat Shimon”—were advanced in January 2026.)
Promotion of four new settlements in the outer ring surrounding East Jerusalem: Nahal Heletz, Shdema, Mishmar Yehuda, and Adam West.
Development of road infrastructure around East Jerusalem at a cost of billions of shekels for the service of the settlements.
Eviction of 11 families (64 individuals) from six homes in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan, followed by the entry of settlers into those properties. Dozens of additional families face imminent eviction.
Demolition of 37 homes in the al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan, as part of a process that threatens the destruction of the neighborhood in its entirety, leaving hundreds of residents displaced.
Advancement of tourism-oriented settlement projects in Jerusalem’s Historic Basin, including land expropriations for the cable car project to the Old City/Silwan; the opening of a new visitors’ center on the outskirts of Jabal Mukaber and the “Omega” project; and the opening of a tunnel connecting Silwan to the Western Wall excavations, running beneath homes in Silwan and under the Old City walls.
Approximately 100 million shekels annually allocated to security for settlers within Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

It’s been another horrific week of state-back settler terrorism in the West Bank. Yesh Din has documented 50 settler attacks since Israel and the U.S. began their war on Iran. In addition, since the war started Israel imposed severe movement restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank. B’Tselem reports the entry and exit from most villages and cities in the West Bank has been fully or partially blocked, and passage between the various areas of the West Bank has also been blocked – – leaving Palestinians locked in and isolated, and easy pray for settler attacks.

Several very serious events include:

In Qaryut, settlers – likely IDF reservists – shot and killed two Palestinians and injured many more. Videos captured the armed settlers firing towards Palestinians homes and its aftermath. Residents of Qusra report that settlers arrived with bulldozers to destroy the village’s olive groves and orchards, and then the settlers raided the village firing live ammunition. IDF, arriving on scene, arrested 20 Palestinians who emerged to defend the village from the settlers.
A bedouin village near Duma made the painful decision to leave their land under escalating settler terrorism and state-facilitation. Recently, the Israeli military issued orders banning activists from entering the bedouin village – where many Israelis had spent months offering protective presence to the village that was under constant attack from nearby settlers. Without activists present in the village, settlers seized the opportunity to expel the village, leading residents to abandon all of their belongings and land in fear for their lives. Once the village was empty – settlers trashed everything there.
In Qusra, settlers were filmed attacking Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists in the West Bank on Friday. Two Palestinians were hospitalized and two Israeli activists were severely injured and evacuated by Israeli helicopter. Israel has reportedly opened a military police investigation.

Yesh Din, an Israeli organization which closely documents settler violence, writes:

“We remind you that since the attack on Iran began, extreme restrictions have been imposed on Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the occupied territories. It now appears they are expected to wait in their homes until settlers come and attack. Neither missiles from Iran nor from Lebanon will prevent the ethnic cleansing taking place under the auspices of the State of Israel and the IDF. Don’t look away, we must stop this.”

B’Tselem reports:

“Under the cover of war, Israeli militias, with army backing, continue to harass and attack Palestinian communities across the West Bank in an attempt to expel them from their places of residence. The attacks include: raids on pastoral communities and villages, house searches, theft of sheep and vandalism, as well as assaults with clubs and stones on residents trying to protect their homes or herds, leading to severe injuries and bruises.”

Israeli journalist Roy Sharon captured the state of terror:

“The creeping transfer carried out by Jewish rioters in recent months against Palestinians echoes in right-wing pamphlets and Telegram groups. The method has become very simple: setting fire to buildings in small villages while unleashing physical violence against anyone who tries to resist or document it. Eventually, the residents will realize that no one will protect them from the terror, they will submit and abandon their homes. In the newsletter of the nearby synagogue, they will celebrate yet another victory of “space cleansing,” of course without telling their dear readers that the result was achieved through violence.

In agricultural areas, the method is similar. Outpost activists invade Palestinian grazing lands or orchards every day, and in such a situation, the Palestinian is left with three options: either to give up the land, or to call the police, or to try to expel the invader. The outcome of the first two options is the same—submission to violence and loss of the land. The third option is to enter into a violent confrontation with armed Israelis (Border Guard soldiers or civilians), meaning to end the incident either with an injury or with a bullet to the head, as we saw the day before yesterday in the village of Qaryot.

The shooter, in most cases (in the Qaryot shooting, the fatalities didn’t even throw stones according to the military investigation), will claim that he acted to remove a threat, that he fired because he felt his life was in danger, because a stone kills. This is of course true, but when the victims are Palestinians, no one in the security forces deals with the question of who provoked whom and who invaded whose land—the entire incident is defined by the IDF as a “friction” as if both sides met in a sterile area and started throwing stones at each other. And in the case where the victims are Jews, the stone-thrower immediately becomes “the terrorist,” and therefore either gets shot or arrested within a few hours plus a photo with a blindfold over his eyes.

The responsibility for the anarchy raging in Judea and Samaria lies first and foremost with the IDF’s Central Command (which, according to the law, is also responsible for enforcing law and order and therefore has failed in its role), whose forces are scattered throughout the area and in practice allow masked rioters to unleash violence; with the Samaria District of the police, which has failed in collecting evidence and filing indictments; with the Civil Administration, which does not enforce enough against illegal construction in new outposts; and with the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet, which has been failing for years to thwart terror and has been dragging its feet in recent months with too many investigations.

None of the four organizations has a chance of defeating the disturbing phenomenon on its own. The year with the fewest recorded incidents of Jewish terror was 2016; that happened after the arson attack in Duma where the Dawabsheh family—a couple and their baby—were burned to death. The State of Israel decided to take off the gloves, and all the security forces, together with the Ministry of Justice and with the backing of the Prime Minister (Netanyahu), fought against the perpetrators of the violence.

The motive that has joined the phenomenon of Jewish terror in the past year is transfer. This is no longer a motive of revenge because, unlike the past, there aren’t many attacks; not thwarting a political process (the price tag method was invented to thwart outpost evacuations) and not hastening the End of Days as we saw in the past. The new motivation is the expulsion of Palestinians and the takeover of new areas in Areas B and C, and the method is physical violence, arsons, and shootings—with a blind eye or backing from the security forces. The State of Israel stands idly by, and that’s about it.”

U.S. NEWS

1. “Senators demand investigation after ninth American killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in West Bank” (The Guardian, 3/5/2026)
2. “Exclusive: Ro Khanna to introduce sweeping resolution condemning Israeli settlements, settler violence” (Middle East Eye, 2/26/2026)