Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement and annexation activity this week.
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January 10, 2025
- Six Consecutive Weeks of Settlement Advancements
- Israel Expands Jurisdiction of Adam Settlement to “Legalize” Nearby Outpost, Formalize Violent Dispossession of Palestinians
- Israel Renews Plan for Yeshiva in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
- Smotrich Increases Subsidy Program for Illegal Farming Outposts
- Court Tells IDF To Publish More Land Allocations in Advance
- Rapid Outpost Growth Caps 2024
- Bonus Reads
Six Consecutive Weeks of Settlement Advancements
Israel has shifted to weekly planning approvals to end the 2024 year and start 2025.
Starting in early December 2024, the High Planning Council (which is the body in the Israeli Defense Ministry which oversees construction in the West Bank) has met weekly to approve settlement construction, a significant escalation in its activity. In the first eight days of 2025, the HPC has already met twice to advance construction plans for 1,213 new settlement units – a rate which could result in the soaring pace of final approval and construction commencement.
Peace Now said in a statement:
“The Higher Planning Council’s weekly meetings indicate an attempt to normalize settlement planning, aiming to maximize housing unit approvals while minimizing public and international criticism. These weekly sessions exemplify the Netanyahu-Smotrich government’s annexation policy, which is leading to either a political deadlock or, worse, a political and security crisis.”
The approvals/advancements are as follows:
On December 4, 2024 the HPC convened to advance the construction of 274 settlement units, including:
- Elon Moreh – 83 units advanced
- Mitzpe Yishai – 79 units advanced
- Ma’ale Amos – 112 units advanced
On December 11, 2024 the HPC convened to advance the construction of 227 settlement units, including:
- Telem – 196 units approved
- Eli – 21 units advanced
- Givat Ze’ev – 10 units approved
On December 18, 2024 the HPS convened to advance 286 settlement units, including:
- Eli – 118 units advanced
- Nofim – 168 units advanced
On December 25, 2024 the HPC convened to advance 198 settlement units, including:
- Givat Ze’ev – 5 units advanced
- Etz Efraim – 192 units advanced
- Alei Zahav – 1 unit advanced
On January 1, 2025 the HPC convened to advanced 765 settlement units, including:
- Beitar Illit – 765 units approved for construction
On January 8, 2025 the HPC convened to advance 448 settlement units, including:
- Kochav Yaakov – 1 unit advanced
- Geva Binyamin – 356 units approved
- Karnei Shomron – 68 units approved
- Beitar Illit – 23 units advanced
Israel Expands Jurisdiction of Adam Settlement to “Legalize” Nearby Outpost, Formalize Violent Dispossession of Palestinians
Peace Now reports the Israeli Civil Administration has published a notice of intent to expand the jurisdiction of the Adam settlement (aka Geva Binyamin) to include a nearby illegal outpost, Bnei Adam, as well as the land from which the Palestinian community of Briyat Hizma was violently expelled in October 2023 (one of the X communities coerced into abandoning the land and homes under the incessant, escalating, and uninhibited terrorism of settlers). This move will allow Israel to grant legal status to the outpost, claiming it as a neighborhood of the Adam settlement).
Peace Now said in a statement:
“This is an extreme example of the Israeli government’s method of dispossession and takeover: settlers establish an illegal outpost, then violently expel Palestinian neighbors, and finally the government steps in to permanently take over the land, include it within the settlement area, and allow for the legalization of the illegal outpost. Settler violence is not a bug; it’s a feature, and part of an illegal and immoral policy of dispossession and expulsion operated by Netanyahu’s government.”
Israel Renews Plan for Yeshiva in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
Ir Amim reports that Israel is planning to revive a highly controversial and potentially destabilizing plan to build a massive yeshiva at the entrance to the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The Jerusalem District Planning Committee was scheduled to hold a private discussion on the plan January 7th; the plan – referred to as the Glassman Yeshiva – calls for the construction of an 11-story building (3 stories below ground) which will include a religious school and dormitories for students and faculty. There are several settler enclaves in Sheikh Jarrah currently, while Palestinians are facing concerted eviction efforts by settlers and the government. The situation in Sheikh Jarrah has long been volatile and violent, and the focus of international solidarity protests.
The yeshiva is slated to be built on a patch of land that was expropriated from Palestinian owners for “public needs”; in 2007 the land was transferred by the Israeli government to the Ohr Somayach Institutions, an international organization which is promoting the yeshiva plan. Ir Amim reports that in 2023, the Ohr Somayach Institutions received over 6 million NIS from its U.S. branch and its donors.
Ir Amim has filed a formal letter to the District Planning Committee arguing that erroneous and incomplete information was provided to planning authorities regarding the plan, and that there is a severe shortage of available land for Palestinian use – including public buildings and schools. These same issues were formally raised by Ir Amim in 2021, and there has been no public reports that the issues with the planning of the yeshiva have been resolved or justified.
Smotrich Increases Subsidy Program for Illegal Farming Outposts
In late December 2024, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a increased funding for a grant program that provides subsidies to settlement agricultural farms, including illegal farming outposts. These types of illegal outposts are increasingly popular tools for settlers to assert control over a large amount of territory with only a few settlers and a herd of livestock. Smotrich celebrated the has increased the budget for supporting West Bank agricultural farms and expedited the grant process for those seeking government subsidies.
While visiting the Mishkenot Harel farming outpost, Smotrich told press:
“Our policy is aimed at preserving national land reserves, creating secure and strategic territorial contiguity, and curbing Palestinian efforts to expand their illegal control over lands in the region,” declares Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with control over the recently established Settlements Administration.”
Court Tells IDF To Publish More Land Allocations in Advance
Peace Now reports that a new ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice has limited the exceptions under which the state can ignore its obligation to publish in advance notice of its intention to allocate lands in the West Bank that are outside of the boundaries of settlements. Since a previous Court ruling in 2015, the State has published only a small percentage of land allocations, not always including allocation renewals or allocations related to absentee properties. The ruling is the direct result of Peace Now’s petition challenging the secretive land allocation process which denied Palestinians any opportunity to prove land ownership claims.
Peace Now said in a statement:
“The court issued a red card to the government today and ruled that the time has come to stop the lawlessness and the distribution of land in the dark. For 57 years, the State of Israel has done whatever it wants with land in the Occupied Territories, with no transparency and outside the rules of proper administration. As a result, 99.76% of the land allocated by Israeli authorities in the Territories has been allocated only to Israelis, while almost nothing has been allocated to Palestinians. This statistic is one of the reasons Israel is accused of maintaining an apartheid regime in the territories. If there had been minimal transparency in the government’s actions in the Territories, it is possible they would not have dared to act in such a discriminatory and blatant manner.”
Rapid Outpost Growth Caps 2024
Peace Now reports that settlers have established at least seven new outposts in the last two months of 2024, all of which are located on land classified as Area B under the Oslo Accords. Five of the new outposts are located in the so-called “Agreed Upon Reserve” – a large area of land to the south and east of Bethlehem that has come under the intense targeting by Bezalel Smotrich and his settler allies who have moved to formalize unilateral Israeli sovereignty there. The other two new outposts are in the Ramallah area.
Peace Now documented over a dozen Palestinian homes that have been abandoned as a result of these new outposts, likely in fear of the violence settlers routinely inflict on Palestinians in their vicinity. Palestinians have already reported several violent encounters with one of the new outposts (called “Mikne Avraham” by settlers) located in the Agreed Upon Reserve. Haaretz reports that several young adults and teenagers are living at the Mikne Avraham outpost and they are terrorizing Palestinian herding communities who live nearby. In one case, the settlers have beaten a young Palestinian twice, conducted a home invasion posing as IDF, and set first to the same families’ granary. That Palestinian family has fled under the threat of escalating violence and non-responses from the Israeli military police.
Peace Now notes that, over the past decades, the Israeli government has not enabled or permitted settlement building in Area B, while allowing rampant illegal settlement construction across Area C. That seems to have changed now, with settlers seeing a green light to illegally establish Israeli presence in Area B. Of the five new settlements established in Area B in recent months, only one (which was built on lands north of Turmus Ayya) has been removed by the IDF, though settlers have already re-established the outposts.
In total, settlers established 52 new outposts in 2024, of which 13.5% are located in Area B. Commenting on the maximalist ambitions of Israeli settlers, Peace Now said in a statement:
“After seizing control of Area C and systematically displacing Palestinians through house demolitions and settler violence, settlers have now set their sights on Area B,” Peace Now said upon publishing its new report. The Israeli government’s annexation plans are not limited to Area C. By enabling settlers to establish outposts deep in Area B, the government blatantly violates another critical element of the Oslo Accords. If we do not act today, we will find ourselves returning to full military rule across the entire West Bank.”
The Haaretz Editorial Board writes:
“Supporters of annexation are no longer making do with Area C of the West Bank – that is, the part assigned to full Israeli control by the Oslo Accords. The success of the theft enterprise in Area C has increased their appetite, and they are constantly seeking to expand to other areas.For some time now, the movement to steal Palestinian lands has also been setting its sights on Area B, the part of the West Bank under Palestinian civilian control but Israeli security control….The demolition of Palestinian buildings in an area that Israel has until now refrained from interfering with, coupled with the establishment of new outposts, shows that annexation has begun creeping into Area B as well. This is a dangerous development. It threatens the Palestinians living there and accelerates Israel’s descent into a thuggish apartheid state that has removed itself from the family of nations.”
Bonus Reads
- “Humanitarian Situation Update #254 | West Bank” (OCHA OPT)
- “Overkill: A Critical Appraisal of the Use of Force by Israel in the West Bank” (Diakonia)
- “Israeli settlements, and the expanding divide of settlers and Palestinians” (CBS News)
- “Candidate for Israel’s Top Court Lives in House Illegally Built on Private Palestinian Land” (Haaretz)
- “Israel mulls calling int’l conference to divide Syria into cantons – report” (i24 News)
- “After decades fighting demolitions, Palestinian sees own home wrecked” (Washington Post)
- “ Israel’s Policy of Judaization Is Swallowing Arab Towns and Building Synagogues in Their Place” (Haaretz Editorial)