Settlement & Annexation Report: March 13, 2026

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March 13, 2026

WEST BANK: Mount Ebal, Sha’arei Tikva Expansion, Court Rejects One “Relocation” Plan
SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM
Further Reading

WEST BANK

Settlers Take Up Residence in New Settlement on Mount Ebal

Settlers have moved residential structures (pre-fab homes) into the area of the new settlement on Mount Ebal, on a hilltop overlooking the Palestinian city of Nablus and surrounding villages. Settlers have also reportedly prepared to move to the settlement in the coming weeks. T

The settlement on Mount Ebal was approved by the Israeli government in May of 2025, along with 21 other settlements including Homesh and Sa-Nur. Despite its location in Area B, the Israeli Central Command signed off on a jurisdiction area for the settlement composed of several non-contiguous pockets of “state land.”

Settlers have agitated and organized for a settlement on Mount Ebal for years. Mt.Ebal/el-Burnat is purported to be an antiquity site where the biblical prophet Joshua built an altar, originally identified as such in the 1980s by an Israeli archaeologist though the majority of professional archaeologists do not support that conclusion. Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO with expertise in archaeology, called the settler campaign to seize Mt. Ebal as a “watershed in Israeli archaeology.” In July 2023, Emek Shaveh reported that a triad composed of settlers, an American Christian evangelical organization, and the Israeli army collaborated on a recent unlicensed excavation on Mount Ebal, which Emek Shaveh called antiquity theft. Further, the groups transferred some 80 cubic meters of soil from Mount Ebal to the Shavei Shomron settlement, where settlers then promoted an opportunity for members of the public to join the archaeologists in sifting through the materials (thereby promoting tourism to the settlements). Haaretz called the excavation “is mainly used as a tourist attraction to the West Bank and is of little scientific significance.”

Civil Admin Advances Plans for Expansion of Sha’arei Tikva Settlement

The Israeli High Planning Council met on March 11th and advanced planning for 126 new settlement units in the Sha’arei Tikva settlement.

In 2018, the settler-aligned Arutz Sheva media outlet reported that Sha’arei Tikva was one of a number of settlements (Elkana, Sha’arei Tikva, Etz Efraim, and Oranit) that agreed to a plan to unite multiple settlements in the area into one “super settlement” and build the largest-ever settlement industrial zone. By uniting the settlements, Israel will significantly increase the footprint of developed land, allowing for massive projects like the industrial zone. The four settlements and the land between them are located in the “seam-line” zone, the area created by the weaving route of the Israeli separation barrier that was built to keep many settlements on the Israeli side of the barrier despite being east of the 1967 Green Line.

Israeli High Court Rejects State’s Plan for “Relocation” of Palestinian Village, Demands State Planning

The Israeli High Court rejected a plan by the State to relocate – – aka ethnically cleanse — the Palestinian village of Arab al-Ramadin from its land on the Israeli side of the Separation Barrier to a new location on the West Bank side. In a surprising position – the Court actually ordered the State to explain why it has not advanced planning for the Palestinian village, though such plans have been professionally prepared and proposed by the village residents with help from the Israeli NGO Bimkom.

Alon Cohen-Lifshitz of Bimkom told Haaretz:

“the state’s outrageous proposal for the forced transfer of Arab al-Ramadin was met with a wall by the Supreme Court, which is unprecedentedly demanding planning for the village in the place where it has been for many decades…The Israeli government must change its approach of ignoring the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and fulfill its duty to enable them to live safe lives with a future.”

IDF Demolishes Two Outpost While More Are Set Up

The IDF reportedly demolished the Shirat Zion outpost this week, located near Nablus.

It’s also reported that settlers established at least two new outposts:

A new outpost near Nablus on the lands between the Palestinian villages of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, south of Nablus, and Yasuf, east of Salfit. Reports say settlers brough in a movil home and are working to establish a road to the area.
A new outpost northwest of Jerusalem on the lands of Beit Iksa. Reports say 40 settlers were accompanied by the IDF while they brought in bulldozers and trucks to clear the land.

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

It’s been another horrific week in the West Bank as settlers and IDF continue to terrorize Palestinians, with at least six Palestinians killed by settlers since Israel and the U.S. launched their war on Iran and at least 109 incidents of settler violence documented by Yesh Din as of March 11th. Key events over the past weeks include:

Four Killed in Settler Pogrom on Khirbet Abu Falah (March 8th). Masked settlers raided the town at 2:00a, and, when Palestinians emerged from their beds to get the settlers to leave, the settlers shot and killed three. When the IDF arrived on scene, soldiers fired tear gas towards Palestinians, resulting in the death of a fourth man from suffocation. Khirbet Abu Falah is located northwest of Ramallah.
Uniformed Settler Shoots, Kills One in Masafer Yatta region (March 7th). A settler-soldier serving on a regional defense reserve unit opened fire towards Palestinians in Wadi al-Rakhim who were attempting to herd settler livestock off of their privately owned fields. Two Palestinian brothers were hit, one died on scene and the other was transferred to a hospital in serious condition with a gunshot. Five days after the murder, settlers ransacked the family’s home. Kerem Navot documents the history of the settler, Luria Luski, who fired the kill shots,
Settlers Set Fire to Homes in Masafer Yatta (March 11). Settlers set several structures on fire in the Khalwa village in the Masafer Yatta region south of Hebron. Palestinians report the settlers had raided the village earlier in the day, bringing flocks of sheep and a camel.
Settlers raid Khirbet Homsa in the Jordan Valley (March 13), attacking Palestinian residents and activists. Activists report 30-40 settlers arrived in the middle of the night, handcuffed and beat people, and then stole 350 sheep. Settlers reportedly retreated to the nearby Beqaot settlement.
Settlers ran over a young girl in Umm al-Khair (March 13). The girl was sent to the hospital with a head injury. The settler who allegedly ran her over was filmed leaving the scene.
In Qusra, settlers filmed brutally assaulting a Palestinian man (March 13).
Reserve soldiers filmed shooting at Palestinians in the village of Sa’ir (March 13), near Hebron. IDF arrived and allowed the shooters to leave without consequence.

Breaking the Silence writes:

“On Saturday, settler terrorists targeted Masafer Yatta, killing 28-year-old Amerr Shnaran, a father of two, near Susya. Later that night, between Saturday and Sunday, settler terrorists attacked Khirbet Abu Falah, killing two residents: 24-year-old Thaer Hamayel and 57-year-old Fare’e Hamayel. When the IDF arrived in Khirbet Abu Falah, it fired tear gas at Palestinians, killing 55-year-old Mohammad Marra, who suffocated from the gas. The attacks in Qaryut, Masafer Yatta, and Khirbet Abu Falah follow a disturbingly similar pattern: settler terrorists, often wearing IDF uniforms, enter Palestinian villages with firearms and kill people. Afterwards, instead of stopping the terrorists, the IDF punishes the very people whom they attacked.

Critically, the line between the IDF and the settlers is becoming increasingly blurred, with many attackers wearing IDF uniforms, serving in regional defence units, or using IDF-issued weapons. These attacks are yet another tragic piece of evidence of a coordinated effort by the IDF, the state of Israel, and settler terrorists to drive Palestinians from their land. On Thursday, these coordinated efforts forced the last families of the Bedouin community on the outskirts of Duma, Nablus district. To learn more about the eroding line between violent settlers and the IDF, see the new report by our partners at Yesh Din: “Settlers in Uniform: Violence Against Palestinians by Israelis in Military Uniforms.”

MK Ayman Odeh posted on X:

“Amid Netanyahu’s survival war, gangs of settlers move from village to village, sometimes alongside the army, and kill Palestinians simply because they are Palestinians.”

All of this occurs under the army’s protection and with government encouragement. This is an official, deliberate policy aimed at ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and the realization of the government’s messianic and fascist vision: more occupation, more killings and pogroms, more expulsions, and more annexation. The war with Iran will end, but as long as the occupation continues, the bloodshed will continue.”

Haaretz columnist Amira Hass writes:

“behind every scruffy teen or cowboy with a tzitzit and a gun is a long line of well-dressed lawyers and planners who graduated from the best universities, cabinet ministers and Jewish National Fund clerks, military commanders and heads and inspectors of the Civil Administration. The ones who for years pretended that “security” was the sole reason for declaring firing zones and prohibitions on land cultivation. The ones who, in the name of law enforcement, ordered the destruction of water cisterns and prohibited Palestinian communities from connecting to water and electricity. The ones who drafted and are drafting laws and orders that stipulate, in crude military language or in grandiloquent legalese, that public land will be allocated only to Jews. They are the ones who designed and authorized separation walls and highways so as to devour as much Palestinian farmland and future building lots as possible – on both sides of the Green Line, in the Negev and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Jewish holy terror, which reaches new heights every day, only greatly accelerates the bureaucratic violence and dispossession that the state has carried out for decades.”

BONUS READS

“The Netanyahu Government Approves Hundreds of Millions for Settlements in Coalition Funds” (Peace Now, 3/11/2026)
“Dirty Work by Nathan Thrall” (The New York Review, 3/26/2026 Issue)
“In This Palestinian Village, There’s Nowhere to Hide From Iranian Missiles or Settler Pogroms” (Haaretz, 3/7/2026)
“Sanctions on Israeli settlements are working – even without the US” (The Guardian, 3/10/2026)
“Humanitarian Situation Report | 6 March 2026” (OCHA, 3/6/2026)
“A Message to All IDF Soldiers: You May Rampage, Assault and Abuse, and You Will Never Be Punished” (Haaretz, 3/13/2026).

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)

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

February 27, 2026

ANNEXATION: U.S. Offers Consular Services in Settlement, More
WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS & OUTPOSTS: Smotrich to “Relocate” Seam Zone Village, New Bypass Road, Outpost Rebuilt Near Mukhmas, Eliyahu Raises Israeli Flag on Jordan Valley Peak, New Outpost Phenomenon Near Barrier, More
SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM: Firey Attack on Masafer Yatta, More

ANNEXATION

In First – US To Offer Consular Services in Settlement

The United States Embassy in Jerusalem announced that it will be hosting one-day consular services inside of the Efrat settlement – marking the first time the U.S. will conduct official consular services in a settlement. The announcement further promised to schedule consular services in the Beitar Illit settlement in the coming months.The move is a significant show of support for Israel’s sovereignty over the settlements which under international law are illegal civilian settlements inside of an occupied territory. The move is tantamount to recognizing Israel’s annexation of West Bank land. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson told the New York Times that the policy of the government vis a vis settlements has not changed.

Israeli annexationists praised the announcement. MK Yuli Edelstein, former Speaker of the Knesset, called it ““a blessed step of tremendous importance” and said the move:

“adds to the international legitimacy of our right to the regions of our homeland in Judea and Samaria.”

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard said:

“This cannot be construed in any way other than as a political statement of legitimization of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”

News & Analysis on Annexation

“Smotrich: Jerusalem will ‘never’ cede control of Judea and Samaria” (JNS, 2/24/2026)
“4 Questions for an Expert: Israel’s De Facto Annexation of the West Bank” (IMEU, 2/25/2026)
“Israel’s Perfect Storm: The West Bank Has Been Sacrificed for Trump’s Gaza Plan” (Haaretz, 2/23/2026) Hagar Shezaf writes: “Anyone with eyes knows it’s foolish to think that the annexation of the West Bank will happen through a declaration. The government’s actions are making annexation a reality, and it’s happening now, out in the open.”

WEST BANK

Smotrich, Katz Advancing Plan to Relocate – AKA Ethnically Cleanse – Palestinian Village in Seam Zone

The Israeli government informed the High Court that it is advancing a long-stalled plan to “relocate” 430 residents of the Palestinian village of Arab al-Ramadin al-Junabi, a village which has lived on its land since the 1950s. The government argues the relocation plan is in the best interest of the community, which due to its location in the so-called “Seam Zone” (in the West Bank but on the Israeli side of the Separation Barrier which was built by Israel in 2002), is cut off from receiving infrastructure services from the PA and remains unserviced by Israel. Now, the village is trapped in poverty and lacking approved planning guides, though the village has worked with planning professionals at Bimkom to advance a Master Plan which Israel has rejected. Israel – which has created this situation to coerce its residents to leave – is now using it as a weapon against Arab al-Ramadin al-Junabi to carry out a court-approved ethnic cleansing.

New Settler Bypass Road Expands Apartheid Road Matrix

Peace Now reports that Israel has kicked off construction on a new settler-only bypass road – known as the Road 45 of the “Quarries Road” – that will connect settlements east and north of Ramallah more seamlessly to the Qalandiya Underpass and on to East Jerusalem, avoiding Palestinians, security checks at the Qalandiya checkpoint, and the constant traffic near the Hizma checkpoint. Beyond providing settlers a Palestinian-free path to Jerusalem, the road also creates more capacity for settlement growth in these areas.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Peace Now: While roads inside Israel are collapsing and unable to cope with the traffic load, the government is pouring enormous budgets into a small minority of settlers in grandiose projects that Israel will ultimately be forced to evacuate. The belief that bypass roads around Palestinian villages will erase the political, diplomatic, and security problem known as the settlement enterprise is a dangerous, costly, and violent illusion. The theft of hundreds of dunams for expensive roads that serve so few, only highlights the injustice and absurdity of government policy. Israel does not need more roads that bypass Palestinians, but rather ways to reach a political solution with them.”

Settlers Rebuild Outpost Near Mukhmas

The Times of Israel reports settlers rebuilt an illegal outpost near the village of Mukhmas, which has been violently and repeatedly terrorized by settlers (under IDF supervision) recently resulting in the murder of a 19-year old Palestinian American just last week. The outpost, called “Kol Mevaser,” is located in Area B of the West Bank, underscoring the total erosion of the Oslo framework. Though the IDF has repeatedly dismantled the outpost, settlers still manage to bring in heavy construction equipment to rebuild.

Prominent Israeli activist and settlement watchdog Rabbi Arik Ascheman notes that, in the area near to Kol Mevaser outpost, the “mother outpost” Nakhalat Tzvi continues to expand illegally.

Heritage Minister Raises Israeli Flag on Mount Sartaba

Israeli Heritage Minister Eliyahu raised an Israeli flag on the peak of Mount Sartaba, located in the Jordan Valley, saying it is “a symbolic step showing Israel “reoccupying” the West Bank and vowing to use it for religious observance.” Eliyahu said the act was part of a series of similar symbolic acts planned for across the West Bank.

Mount Sartaba is also known as Alexandrium – the site of the ancient Hasmonean fortress.

New Outpost Strategy Takes Advantage of Israeli Military Zones Near Barrier

Kerem Navot reports the emerging phenomenon of new outposts built along the Israeli security road that trods along the path of the West Bank separation barrier. There are currently 11 such outposts, accessible only via the Israeli security road not meant for civilian use.

Kerem Navot founder Dror Etkes told Haaretz,

“The establishment of a chain of illegal outposts along the barrier fence route, and the fact that large segments of the barrier route have become access roads to these outposts, indicate that since Avi Bluth became commander of the Central Command, the outposts project has transformed from one that takes place under the protection and with the cooperation of the military into an illegal project in which the military is directly involved, even financing part of it.”

Israel Systematically Denying Building Permits to Palestinians Living in Area C

Amira Haas reports for Haaretz ton the multifold mechanisms by which Israel has advanced its total control over the West Bank, expanded settlements, and displaced Palestinians. One such mechanism is systematic denial of building permits and subsequent demolitions of Palestinian homes. Haas reports that between 2009 and 2020 Israel:

Issued building permits for 66 Palestinian buildings in Area C
Issued building permits for 22,000 settlement units.

Haas continues:

“With construction permits effectively barred, thousands of Palestinian structures have been demolished—including 2,461 over the past two years alone—displacing about 2,500 people, data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs show. Israel’s security cabinet recently approved wide-ranging steps aimed at deepening Israeli control in the occupied West Bank and enabling further growth of settlements.”

More News & Analysis from the West Bank

“In Area C, Faster Demolitions Clear the Way for Jewish Expansion” (Haaretz, 2/23/2026)
“2025 was record year for settlement expansion, construction and planning, NGO finds” (The Times of Israel, 2/25/2026)
[Reported on last week] “’We Won’t Wait for Approval’ Israeli Settlers Declare New West Bank Settlement Deep Inside Palestinian Hebron” (Haaretz, 12/22/2026)

SETTLER TERRORISM

Pogrom in Masafer Yatta, South Hebron Hills

In a nighttime attack on February 24th, a group of at least 20 settlers were caught on film setting fire to several homes and vehicles in the village of Susya, located in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills. There were reportedly children inside one of the homes set on fire. The settlers also wielded sticks and damaged property and spray painted hateful graffiti. Four people were treated for smoke inhalation by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

On the same night, Palestinian residents of villages close to Susya reported settlers had also carried out smaller scale violent attacks and let out heads of livestock.

More Reports of Settler Attacks

In addition to the attack on Masafer Yatta, settler attacks over the past week include:

Tell: On Feb 23rd, settlers set a mosque on fire and spray painted “Revenge” and “Price Tag.”. Tell is located near Nablus in an area surrounded by violent settlements including Itamar and the Gideon’s Farm outpost, which was recently shortlisted for legalization by the Israeli government.
al-Mughayyir: On Feb 21st, settlers descended on a home in the village of al-Mughayyir, and proceeded to beat the Palestinian family living there. When two men came to the aid of the family, settlers and IDF soldiers in the area opened fire, wounding two. The family, the Abu Naim family, has decided to abandon their home out of fear.
Qusra: On February 27th, settlers attacked a group of Israeli activists in near the village of Qusra, located in the area of Nablus. Two were hospitalized with head injuries.

News & Analysis of State-Backed Settler Terrorism

“State indicts 19-year-old for alleged revenge rampage in West Bank village after outpost evacuation” (Jerusalem Post, 2/25/2026)
“US avoids condemning settler killing of Palestinian-American in armed West Bank attack” (The Times of Israel, 2/22/2026)
“Settlers Drive a Palestinian Family Off Its Land” (New York Times, 2/24/2026)

ANNEXATION: Cabinet OKs, and Funds West Bank Land Registry
EAST JERUSALEM: Israel to Expand Jerusalem Borders, plus News & Analysis
WEST BANK: Settlers Takeover Five Hebron Houses, plus News & Analysis
GAZA: MK Joins Gaza Breach
SETTLER TERRORISM: American Teen Killed By Settlers in Latest Attack on Mukhmas, plus News & Analysis

ANNEXATION

Cabinet Authorizes, Funds Publication of West Bank Land Registry

On February 15th, the full Israeli Cabinet approved the publication of the West Bank land registry and allocated a four-year, $78 million (NIS 244.1 million) budget to establish a mechanism (with up to 35 employees) for updating the records in Area C of the West Bank. The Israeli Justice Ministry is tasked with carrying out the land registration process, effectively transferring sovereignty over Area C from the Israeli military to Israeli civilian governance, clear annexation. According to Peace Now, the process of land registration in Area C carried out will lead to the wide scale dispossession of Palestinians from the area. The Cabinet set a target goal of completing the land registration process for 15% of Area C within the next five years.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued a joint statement saying:

“The decision means, among other things, the registration of extensive areas in Judea and Samaria that belong to the state in the name of the state.”

Israeli Justice Minister Levin said further:

“The resolution constitutes a real revolution in Judea and Samaria…The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Israeli government is committed to deepening its grip on all parts [of the land], and this decision is an expression of that commitment.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government’s decision on land settlement in the West Bank is a mega land grab of Palestinian property. Land registration will result in the transfer of ownership of the vast majority of Area C to the state, leaving Palestinians with no practical ability to realize their ownership rights. It is no coincidence that international law prohibits land settlement in occupied territory, and Israel itself issued an order prohibiting it after 1967.”

The move has been criticized internationally, including by the UN and other Arab nations some of which have normalized ties with Israel.

As a reminder, only one-third of West Bank land was registered and titled (under the British Mandatory government and then continued by Jordan) when Israel seized control of the West Bank and froze land registration proceedings. The publication of the West Bank land registry is something the settlement movement has pushed for in order to be able to identify landowners in all areas of the West Bank and approach them for purchase, which – with the repeal of the ban on the sale of land to non-Arabs – settlers can now do outright. Opening the land registry will help facilitate settler claims over disputed and/or unregistered lands, making Palestinians vulnerable to further settler harassment regarding the sale of land.

As reported by Israel Hayom in 2020, the Israeli land registration process would first require a survey of the land, after which time anyone claiming ownership could present documents to the Israeli government seeking to prove their ownership. In the case of land where Israel recognizes no valid ownership claims – including cases where Palestinians do not have documentation that Israel will accept – Haaretz has previously reported that the process gives heavy weight to whomever currently controls the land (e.g., if a settler has built illegally on Palestinian land and lived there, under the protection of the IDF, the process will give weight to their claim absent overwhelming documentation, accepted by Israel, from the Palestinian owner). The registration decisions can be appealed, but once the claims are resolved by an Israeli official appointed to oversee the process, no further appeal is possible. Moreover, all “unclaimed” land – that is, land over which Israel does not recognize any legal ownership, will automatically become “state land.

Shlomo Zacharia, a land lawyer working with Yesh Din, further explained how the process of Israeli-controlled land registration will dispossess Palestinians, saying:

“If a village has 30 plots, with [specific, documented] ownership claims on only 20 of those, the other ten automatically transfer to the state. If you haven’t filed a claim of ownership, it goes to the state. Period. The arrangement will primarily benefit the Civil Administration and the settlers, since most of the land allocated by the state goes to settlers, and because the arrangement process (in Israel and the West Bank) favors the person holding the land in practice.”

EAST JERUSALEM

Israel to Expand Settlement & Jerusalem Borders

Peace Now reports that Israel is advancing a plan that will, for the first time since 1967, effectively expand the borders of Jerusalem into the West Bank by building a new “neighborhood” or the Adam settlement. The plan to build a 6,000 unit new “neighborhood” of the Adam settlement is nothing but a run-around attempt to expand the East Jerusalem settlement of Neve Ya’akov onto West Bank land. While the Adam settlement is on the West Bank side of the Israeli Separation Barrier, the new “neighborhood” is planned for land on the Israeli side of the Barrier, closer to and more functionally a part of the Neve Yaakov settlement in East Jerusalem, rather than the Adam settlement under which the plan is being put forth. Peace Now reports that, in order to accomplish the same goal with less hassle and criticism, the construction is being framed as an expansion of a Wset Bank settlement towards Jerusalem rather than the expansion of an East Jerusalem settlement into the West Bank (i.e. annexation of West Bank land).

Peace Now explained in a statement:

“This is the first time since 1967 that Jerusalem is being expanded into the West Bank. Under the guise establishing a new settlement, the government is carrying out de facto annexation through the back door. The new settlement will function in every way as a neighborhood of Jerusalem, and its designation as a “neighborhood” of the Adam settlement is merely a pretext intended to conceal a move that effectively applies Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank.”

The plan has been submitted to the Higher Planning Council and can be scheduled for discussions at any time. The government clearly supports the plan, as just one week ago the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing signed a development agreement with the Adam settlement which committed government funding forth te construction of the new neighborhood.

More East Jerusalem News & Analysis

“The Palestinians stuck in the no-man’s-land of Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement plan to expel them” (Mondoweiss, 2/19/2026)
“Ahead of Ramadan: New Policy Paper on Escalating Israeli Policy at Al-Aqsa and Growing Harm to Muslim Freedom of Worship” (Ir Amim, 2/16/2026)

WEST BANK

Settlers Takeover Five Homes in Hebron

Peace Now reports that settlers have taken over five homes in Hebron, claiming to have purchased them, effectively establishing new settlement enclaves in the Jabal Jalles neighborhood of Hebron. In advance of the settlers’ entrance into the homes, the IDF carried out an arrest operation in the Jabal Jalles neighborhood.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“We are seeing here an alarming example of the consequences of the government’s new policy regarding land purchases in the West Bank. A handful of real estate–hungry settlers will in the future be able to determine many more such facts on the ground, with far-reaching political and security implications. This is what annexation looks like!”

More West Bank News & Analysis

“Israel’s new separation wall will sever Jordan Valley from rest of West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 2/16/2026). Also see:
“Palestinians see Israel’s new West Bank security wall cutting off their farmland” (NPR, 2/18/2026)
“Smotrich: Next government should ‘encourage migration’ of West Bank Palestinians” (The Times of Israel, 2/18/2026)
“Palestinians see Israel’s new West Bank security wall cutting off their farmland” (NPR, 2/18/2026)
“Exclusive: Judea, Samaria Jewish population grew at twice Israel’s overall rate in 2025” (JNS, 2/20/2026)
“’Apartheid now exists’: In the West Bank, new Israeli regulations stoke Palestinian fears of annexation” (NBC News, 2/18/2026)
“Israel’s annexation drive has sped up – because the world allows it” (Middle East Eye, 2/18/2026)
“Meet the settlers of Instagram, the photogenic West Bank women documenting pastoral life” (The Times of Israel, 2/15/2026)
“Settler to Be Prosecuted for Fatal Shooting of Palestinian Activist in West Bank” (Haaretez, 2/15/2026)

GAZA

MK Joins Settlers in Breaching Gaza Fence

One far-right Israeli MK joined the Nahala settler movement in its latest organized breach of the Gaza fence, a repeated act that is intended to continue pressuring the government to reestablish Israeli civilian settlements in Gaza. MK Limor Son Har-Melech joined a group of a dozen or so settlers in crossing the fence to plant trees, saying: “Gaza will always be ours.” The IDF removed the settlers from Gaza, and issued a statement condemning the group for risking the safety of its members and the IDF.

SETTLER TERRORISM

Settlers, IDF Raid Mukhmas, Shoot/Kill Palestinian American Teen

A group of 30 masked settlers were accompanied by IDF troops during a violent raid on the Palestinian village of Mukhmas. The settlers stole 380 head of livestock and when Palestinians tried to prevent the theft, settlers attacked – shooting and killing one Palestinian, 19-year old Nasrallah Abu Siam who held American citizenship, and wounding many more. Despite IDF presence, there have been zero reports of arrests.

The Palestinian village of Mukhmas has come under intense settler violence over the past several weeks, with repeated and increasingly violent settler attacks.

News & Analysis on State-Backed Settler Terrorism

“10 settler rabbis warn against ‘violence of any sort,’ amid attacks on Palestinians” (The Times of Israel, 2/17/2026)
“Humanitarian Situation Update #358 | West Bank” (OCHA OPT, 2/19/2026)
“If an Outpost Isn’t ‘Illegal’ in the Eyes of an Israeli, Does the Crime Even Exist?” (Haaretz, 2/20/2026)

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

February 13, 2026

ANNEXATION: Cabinet Approves Annexation, Gov’t OKs “West Bank Heritage Authority”
EAST JERUSALEM: Demolitions in al-Bustan
WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS & OUTPOSTS: Settlers Bulldoze Houses, Land Seizure Near Qalqilya for New Settlement
SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM: 54 Injured in Wave of Attacks
BONUS READS

ANNEXATION

Cabinet Announces Sweeping Annexation Moves

On February 8th, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved seven new measures that result in the annexation of the entire West Bank, stripping powers from the Palestinian Authority and paving the way for massive settlement expansion and the continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from all areas of the West Bank. With the Security Cabinet decisions made and support from the Attorney General, the Israeli military is expected to quickly issue military orders duplicating the decisions in order for them to be a matter of law in the West Bank. In announcing the decisions, Israeli Ministers Katz and Smotrich issued a joint statement saying the moves are intended:

“to remove decades-old barriers, repeal discriminatory Jordanian legislation, and enable accelerated development of settlement on the ground,” the two ministers said in a joint statement.”

The seven significant acts of annexation are:

LEGALIZING SETTLER LAND PURCHASES – The Cabinet decided to repeal a Jordanian-era law that restricted the sale of land in the West Bank to the local Palestinian population (individuals and companies), effectively legalizing the sale of West Bank land to Israelis. Now, settlers will be able to purchase land anywhere in the West Bank including in major Palestinian cities – possibly creating new enclaves that bring Israeli security installments with it, a reality that has transformed Hebron into an apartheid dystopia.
REMOVING KEY OVERSIGHT OF LAND PURCHASES – The Security Cabinet repealed a law that requires individuals to obtain a special land purchase “transaction permit” from the Israeli Civil Administration, a law that was aimed at establishing oversight on to stem fraudulent claims of land purchases, which offered Palestinians some level of protection.
PUBLISHING THE LAND REGISTRY – The Cabinet approved the publication of the West Bank land registry, something the settlement movement has pushed for in order to be able to identify landowners in all areas of the West Bank and approach them for purchase, which – with the repeal of the ban on the sale of land to non-Arabs – settlers can now do outright. Opening the land registry will help facilitate settler claims over disputed and/or unregistered lands, making Palestinians vulnerable to further settler harassment regarding the sale of land.
REVIVING A “STATE LAND ACQUISITION COMMITTEE” – The Cabinet revived a “state land” acquisition committee to expand settlements. The revival of the committee is meant to facilitate the proactive government purchases of West Bank land for the purpose of settlement expansion and “to secure land reserves for settlement for generations to come.”
EXTENDING ISRAELI CONTROL TO AREAS A & B – The Cabinet extended Israeli oversight and enforcement in Areas A & B with regard to water issues, archaeological sites, and environmental concerns. This means that the Israeli military will be able to demolish Palestinian homes and property if it determines the Palestinian presence interferes with the concerns under their purview – water, archaeology, and environment. Now, Areas A & B will be subject to the same weaponization of the planning code that is currently being used by the Civil Administration to clear Palestinians
SEIZING HERITAGE SITE IN BETHLEHEM – The Cabinet voted to create a new municipal body to take control over the Rachel’s Tomb religious site, located within the municipal boundaries of Bethlehem. Seizing control over the site will allow the Israeli government to allocate state funds to renovating the site as well as a Jewish yeshiva next to it. Rachel’s Tomb is located just close to the heart of the city of Bethlehem, and with Israeli settlers in control over the space Mondoweiss reports that area is likely to be developed into a new settler enclave.
SEIZING PLANNING POWERS IN HEBRON – The Security Cabinet stripped planning and building authorities from the Palestinian Municipal Authority in Hebron and transferred it to the Israeli Civil Administration. Now, the Israeli military will exercise full control over settlement construction and planning for the Cave of the Patriarchs/Il-Ibrahimi Mosque.

Finance Minister Smotrich celebrated, saying:

“We are deepening our roots in all parts of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian state.”

The settlement Yesha Council, which oversees all settler municipalities, said in a statement:

“The government of Israel announced today, in practice, that the Land of Israel belongs to the Nation of Israel,” the council said, adding that the decisions “rectified an injustice of many years and are entrenching Israeli sovereignty on the ground, de facto.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Netanyahu promised to topple Hamas in Gaza, but in practice he chose to topple the Palestinian Authority, cancel agreements that Israel signed, and impose de facto annexation on us—completely against the will of the public, Israel’s interests, and the clear position of President Trump. The cabinet’s decision shows that this is not about deepening annexation in Area C, but about dangerous and irresponsible sovereignty measures also in Areas A and B, and about breaking every possible barrier on the path to massive land theft in the West Bank. This is an extreme and irresponsible government dragging us toward disaster. All democratic forces in Israel must act now, in every possible way, to stop this!””

Palestinian analyst Nour Odeh warns:

“These Israeli decisions are not administrative or bureaucratic. They’re transformative. The only logical next steps would be dismantling Palestinian political representation & mass ethnic cleansing. The only remaining obstacle to greater Israel are the remaining Palestinians.”

Government Endorses Bill to Establish West Bank Heritage Authority

On February 8th, in addition to the seven decisions to annex the West Bank as described above the Ministerial Committee on Legislation decided to throw the governing coalition’s support behind a bill in the Knesset that create a statutory body within the Israeli government that would exercise broad authority over heritage sites in “the area” of the West Bank — an act of de facto annexation.

Emek Shaveh, Peace Now, and the Geneva Initiative highlight that, if passed, this would be the first instance of Israel applying domestic Israeli law to territory (land) rather than persons (settlers) in the West Bank. The coalition further warns that the bill does not currently provide a definition of what area the new body would have jurisdiction over, as Emek Shaveh details in its latest update:

“Previous iterations of the bill explicitly stated the intention to bring antiquities sites in Areas A, B and C under the Authority’s jurisdiction, and even included an express reference to extending its jurisdiction to Gaza. In the current version of the bill, however, following a closed-door committee session, all references to Areas A, B, C and Gaza were removed, and the question of defining the territorial scope of “the Area” was deferred to a committee discussion after the bill’s first reading in the plenum. Nevertheless, yesterday’s cabinet decision may render any future discussion concerning the definition of “the Area” in the bill redundant, as the legislation provides for the transfer of all powers and responsibilities currently vested in the Staff Officer for Archaeology within the Civil Administration (ICA) to the new statutory authority (see section 2 in annex 1 below).

Taken together, these developments constitute a fundamental turning point. Empowering an Israeli civilian authority to carry out enforcement measures, expropriations, and excavations deep inside Palestinian Authority Areas B and A effectively dismantles the framework established under the Oslo II Accords. Under that framework, responsibility for antiquities and archaeological sites in Areas A and B rests with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which operates pursuant to the Palestinian Authority’s Antiquities Law of 2018.”

EAST JERUSALEM

Large Scale Demolitions in al-Bustan, Silwan

Peace Now reports the Israeli government carried out extensive demolitions in the al-Bustan area of Silwan. The municipality destroyed walls between houses, a construction supply business site, and a parking structure. The demolition notices were delivered just minutes before the bulldozers arrived, depriving Palestinians of the chance to challenge the actions and/or remedy the issues cited on the notices. Residents filed an emergency injunction, and the Jerusalem District Court issued an injunction stopping the demolitions after three hours. While no homes were demolished in this instance, Israel recently issued demolition notices to 15 Palestinian homes in al-Bustan.

Peace Now explains how these demolitions are a part of a much larger scheme to replace Palestinians with Israeli settlers and tourist attractions which erase Palestinian heritage:

“Since the demolition of the Mughrabi Quarter in 1967 to make way for the Western Wall Plaza, Israel has not carried out the expulsion of an entire neighborhood. Now, the municipality, backed by the government and the police, is advancing the displacement of a whole neighborhood in order to establish a tourist-settlement park. This policy, which on the one hand virtually prevents Palestinians in Jerusalem from building homes and on the other hand demolishes their houses, is a cruel, settlement-driven policy with no limits. For years Israel has claimed that Jerusalem is a ‘united’ city, but its policy toward the Palestinian population shows that this is not ‘unity,’ but occupation.”

WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS & OUTPOSTS

Settlers Bulldoze 15 Palestinian Homes Near Jericho

Haaretz reports a group of about 30 settlers accompanied by IDF protection arrived in the village of Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta, located near the Hasmonean Palaces antiquity site near Jericho, and proceeded to attack Palestinian residents and bulldoze 20 structures, including 15 homes. The IDF told Haaretz that the demolitions were not carried out by Israeli authorities (though eye witnesses said IDF troops were on site the whole time providing security), and said that the IDF is opening an investigation into the incident.

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu said during a live video posted on X:

“We will destroy any [home] built on Jewish people’s heritage. We will return here, pave roads and make the place flourish. “We do not apologize for holding onto our land. Through hard work and the investment of millions, we are reclaiming our heritage sites and deepening our historical hold on the land of our forefathers for the sake of our children’s future…Here at the Hasmonean Palaces in Jericho, the gateway to the Land of Israel, we are raising the flag of our sovereignty.”

Israel Seizes Land Near Qalqilya

Peace Now reported that in early January 2026 the Civil Administration declared 694 dunams adjacent to the Wadi Qana nature reserve (east of Qalqilya in the central West Bank) as “state land.” The seizure, along with the purchase of land near the area by an Israeli developer, appears to indicate a new settlement, called “Dorot”, is being planned for the area.

Peace Now explains:

“In 2020, an outpost known as Nahal Qana Farm (sometimes referred to as “Dorot Farm”) was established in the area and began exerting pressure on nearby Palestinian residents and farmers. Those operating the farm grazed cattle inside Palestinian orchards and cultivated fields and forcibly prevented Palestinians from accessing hundreds of dunams in the vicinity of the outpost.

In recent years, private developers have begun marketing building plots to the public for a future city called “Dorot Illit,” intended for the ultra-Orthodox community, despite the absence of a government decision to establish a settlement in the area or an approved construction plan. As part of the land marketing, the development company presents a rendering of the planned settlement that includes all nearby Israeli settlements, while the surrounding Palestinian villages are effectively erased and are absent from the promotional materials.

It has now emerged that the government is joining the settlement planning effort: the Civil Administration has labeled the land declaration adjacent to the developers’ holdings as “Dorot.” This is not the first settlement to be established at the initiative of private developers claiming to have purchased land from Palestinians. In February 2023, the government formally approved the establishment of the settlement of Mishmar Yehuda, where state land was likewise designated adjacent to plots acquired by developers. Other settlements established in a similar manner in the past include Modi’in Illit, Revava, Avnei Hefetz and others.”

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

Mass Attack Leaves 54 Wounded

On Friday February 13th settlers and Israeli troops carried out a wave of attacks on Palestinians concentrated in the area south of Nablus but extending across the West Bank, leaving at least 54 wounded.

Al Jazeera reports the following attacks:

Settlers fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians near Talfit and Qusra, south of Nablus, shooting at least one man.
Settlers stormed the Khillet as-Sadrah gathering near the town of Mikhmas, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Near Ramallah in Turmus Aya, settlers cut down roughly 300 olive trees and bulldozed agricultural land, while military forces raided homes in the village and arrested multiple people.
In the same area, the military stormed Deir Ghassaneh and Beit Rima, while forces also descended upon several towns near Jenin, including Jaba, Siris and Meithalun.
In the Jordan Valley, settlers set fire to a building

In West Bank, Israel’s Goal is Expulsion

Israeli government policy facilitates and augments the continued settler terrorism that is resulting in the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank – a reality that is now regularly in the headlines. Now, the Israeli Shin Bet is criticizing the Israeli Police’s refusal to allocate needed police force to confront the rampant settler terrorism that is only escalating as settlers face zero consequences to their violent criminality.

Haaretz columnist Amira Hass writes in the West Bank:

“Israel has only one goal: not maintaining quiet but fomenting military and socioeconomic explosions that will encourage emigration or allow a forcible population transfer. The line separating expulsions from mass slaughter is thin to the point of invisibility, as the army has taught us in Gaza. This isn’t a prophecy but another desperate cry for the world to wake up.”

BONUS READS

“2 settler activists cross into Lebanon to plant trees, are returned to Israel by IDF” (The Times of Israel, 2/12/2026)
“PODCAST: Documenting the settler takeover of the West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 2/13/2026)
“PODCAST: Entire Communities Fled: ‘The West Bank’s Area C Is Almost Completely Ethnically Cleansed‘” (Haaretz, 2/11/2026)
“Bezalel Smotrich’s long struggle to annex the West Bank for Israel” (Al Jazeera, 2/12/2026)
“Israel Escalates its Settlement Expansion in the Heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bethlehem: Battir” (Balasan Initiative, 2/5/2026)
“Settlers Violence Doesn’t End With Palestinians in the West Bank” (Haaretz, 2/13/2026)

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

February 6, 2026

ANNEXATION: Knesset Initiates Bill to Establish “Judea & Samaria Heritage Authority” Run by Settlers
EAST JERUSALEM: Land Registration, Dispossession in Silwan
WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS & OUTPOSTS: 140 Farming Outposts to be Legalized, Five Outpost Complete Legalization Process, Plans for 161 Units Advanced, Peace Now Releases 2025 Settlement Data
GAZA: Settlers Briefly Enter Gaza
SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM: IDF Admits it Does Not Protect Palestinians,
BONUS READS

ANNEXATION

Knesset Initiates Bill to Establish “Judea & Samaria Heritage Authority” Run by Settlers

On February 3rd, the Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee voted 7-5 to approve the first reading of a bill that would establish a statutory body within the Israeli government that would exercise broad authority over heritage sites in “the area” of the West Bank — an act of de facto annexation. The bill needs to pass two more readings to become law. The bill will now be considered by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which is when the governing coalition will decide whether to support the bill.

The Israeli Civil Administration, a body within the Defense Ministry, currently exercises authority over all matters in Area C and increasingly operating in Area B in contravention to the Oslo Accords. As proposed, the new “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority” would transfer those powers to Israel’s domestic, civilian government. Emek Shaveh, Peace Now, and the Geneva Initiative highlight that, if passed, this would be the first instance of Israel applying domestic Israeli law to territory (land) rather than persons (settlers) in the West Bank. The coalition further warns that the bill does not currently provide a definition of what area the new body would have jurisdiction over, and previous versions of the bill included Areas A, B, and even C.

A nine-member body of settlers would be appointed by the Israeli Heritage Minister to oversee and direct the work of the new Authority which would be tasked with “for all matters of heritage, antiquities, and archaeology in the area, including preservation, restoration, development, and rescue of antiquities, excavation, development, and management of sites, and making them accessible to the public.”

Peace Now warns:

“The bill includes several extreme provisions concerning land: the authority to purchase land for the purpose of safeguarding, conserving, researching, and developing sites; and the authority to expropriate land and antiquities. In practice, this would allow the Authority to expropriate privately owned land under the pretext of protecting antiquities. Since Palestinians do not sell land to Israelis and generally reject compensation in cases of expropriation, the bill creates a mechanism enabling settlers to take control of archaeological sites and Palestinian-owned land…

The bill does not yet specify what powers the Heritage Authority would hold in Areas A and B. In 2024, the Security Cabinet instructed the Staff Officer for Archaeology to enforce antiquities-protection measures in Area B. If the new law authorizes oversight and management of antiquities in Areas A and B, it would mean that any construction within Palestinian Authority areas would require approval from the Heritage Authority. It is important to recall that all Palestinian towns and villages are situated near archaeological sites, so such a decision would have far-reaching consequences for Palestinian development and construction possibilities.”

EAST JERUSALEM

Israel Doubles Down on Land Registration in East Jerusalem, Posing Major Threat to Palestinians

Ir Amim issued a warning that Israel has expedited its work to complete land registration in East Jerusalem, a process which is likely to lead to the mass dispossession of Palestinians. The Israeli government has adopted a mandate to complete the registration by 2029.

Ir Amim writes:

“Since 2018, the land registration process, formally known as settlement of land title (SOLT), has become one of the state’s primary new tools for seizing Palestinian land and expanding Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The recent government decision allocates new budgets, increases government personnel, and explicitly stipulates the official involvement of the Custodian of Absentee Property, indicating a concerted effort to expand and expedite implementation of the process. As a department within the Ministry of Finance, the Custodian of Absentee Property is directly under the authority of Minister Bezalel Smotrich and has for years been one of the main Israeli bodies behind the transfer of Palestinian lands into state hands.

The formal inclusion of the Custodian in the land registration process raises serious alarm and underscores the government’s intent to accelerate mass land confiscations in East Jerusalem, placing Palestinians at an unprecedented risk of dispossession and displacement. This decision should not come as a surprise given the government’s clear intent to fast-track as many irreversible facts on the ground as possible ahead of Israeli national elections this year…

Further amplifying the threat, settler activist, Hananel Gurfinkel, was recently appointed to oversee and expand the operations of the Custodian of Absentee Property. Gurfinkel has long worked to advance Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem and takeover of Palestinian properties, while actively cooperating with settler groups. It is likely not a coincidence that Gurfinkel was appointed to the Custodian of Absentee Property under Smotrich’s authority as Finance Minister. Prior to this appointment, Gurfinkel served in the General Custodian under the Justice Ministry where he was responsible for administering pre-1948 Jewish assets in East Jerusalem. In this role, Gurfinkel helped to facilitate the eviction of Palestinian families and settler takeovers of their homes, including in Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and the Old City, while directly initiating settlement plans within Palestinian neighborhoods, including those noted above.”

Israel orders demolition of 14 homes in Silwan

On February 1st, Israel issued demolition notices to 15 homes built without Israel-issued building permits, located in the Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. Ir Amim reports that the orders affect 134 Palestinians, who have been ordered by Israel to self-demolish their homes or watch Israeli forces do so and later be billed for it.

On February 3rd, Israeli authorities issued partial eviction notices to two additional families in Batn al-Hawa section of Silwan based on claims of pre-48 ownership by Jews of small parts of land where the homes are built. Meanwhile, 32 households are bracing for court-ordered dispossession within the next two months at the behest of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization.

WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS & OUTPOSTS

Israel is Working to Legalize 140 Farm Outpost

The Israeli Defense Minister announced that he is working with the Prime Minister to grant retroactive legalization to 140 farming outposts, which are in many cases tiny outfits manned by just a few settlers who are able to take over a massive amount of land through livestock farming. These farming outposts are also a very common locus for violence and terror.

Five Settlements Approved

On February 5th, the Israeli Ministry of Interior announced its recognition of five settlements, completing the process of legalizing outposts. Now considered legal under Israeli law, the settlements are eligible for: direct budget allocations from the Israeli government, connection to Israeli infrastructure including water, electricity, and postal service, and formal security protection.

The new settlements are:

Havat Gilad
Eival
Ma’oz Tzvi
Tamar
Neve Gedid – Gadi Camp

Smotrich celebrated, saying:

“In about two months, we managed to bring 25 settlement symbols and complete years of regularization processes. This is the result of hard work by many loyal partners.”

Plans for 161 New Settlement Units Advanced

Peace Now reports the High Planning Council met on February 11th to advance plans for 161 new settlement units. Those plans are:

Shvut Rachel: 160 new units (deposited for public review).The Shvut Rachel settlement is located near the Shilo settlement in the central West Bank.
Alon: 1 new unit (deposited for public review). The Alon settlement is located on the Palestinian side of the separation wall within sight of the Khan al-Ahmar bedouin village that Israel has been threatening to forcibly relocate. Israel recently raided Khan al-Ahmar and press reports indicate a new outpost had been built nearby.

So far in 2026, the High Planning Council has continued to meet weekly for consideration of settlement building plans.

Settlers Rebuild Outpost for 9th Time

Haaretz reports that settlers have managed to rebuild the Kol Mevaser outpost for the ninth time. The outpost has been demolished by the IDF eight times, in response to the vicious terrorism settlers living in the outpost have perpetrated on nearby Palestinian villages – most notably Mukhmas.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman tells Haaretz:

“It’s the same repeating loop,. The main story isn’t just violence. The army has been evacuating the outpost only for the settlers to rebuild it within a few hours. The defense establishment isn’t effectively using all its tools to prevent recurring attacks.”

2025 Settlement Data

Peace Now published “Summary of a Year of Terror, Expulsion, and Annexation — 2025 in the Settlements”. Key findings are:

86 new outposts, including 60 “agricultural farms” (an average of 1–2 outposts per week).
54 new official settlements approved by government decisions.
27,941 housing units approved by the Higher Planning Council
9,629 housing units included in settlement tenders.
27 new settlements were granted municipal jurisdiction areas.
1,269 Palestinian structures were demolished in Area C due to lack of building permits (OCHA data).
1,828 incidents of settler attacks resulting in bodily injury or property damage (OCHA data). 9 Palestinians were killed by settlers, and 838 Palestinians were injured.
22 Palestinian communities were fully or partially displaced due to settler violence (B’Tselem data).

Peace Now said in a statement:

“While inside Israel the government is dysfunctional, thousands of evacuees have not yet returned to their homes and tens of thousands of victims need rehabilitation, in the settlements the government acts like a well-oiled machine, investing billions and advancing construction and planning for the benefit of a small group of settlers in the government’s base. October 7th proved that one cannot simply “manage” the conflict — it must be resolved, and the solution requires a political agreement. The government’s rampage in the settlements condemns us to many more years of bloody conflict, diplomatic isolation, and heavy economic burden.”

GAZA

On February 5th hundreds of settlers attempted to illegally cross into Gaza for a tree-planting event organized by the Nachala settler group. Only a few managed to cross into the war zone, and were forced back out of Gaza by Israeli troops.

In conjunction with the illegal entry into Gaza, Nahala posted on social media: “no surrender to Trump’s dictates, no to an international Gaza, yes to a Jewish Gaza!””

SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM

IDF Tells Court It Can’t Protect Palestinians, Data Confirms

State counsel told the Supreme Court that the IDF is unable establish a permanent protective presence near the Palestinian village of Ras al-Ein al-Auja because of a personnel shortage. The state was arguing its case in response to a petition filed by the residents of Ras al-Ein al-Auja, seeking the State’s protection — a case filed nearly one year ago but taken up by the Court to late stop the forcible displacement of the village under constant settler terrorism. The petitioners are seeking to get the State’s cooperation in facilitating the safe return of the residents to the village and ongoing protection from settlers.

Confirming that the IDF is unable to stop settler violence, new Israeli Police data shows that settlers committed an average of four crimes a day against Palestinians during the first two weeks of the year. According to the police report, Israeli intelligence bodies belive that 300 teenage settlers are involved in violence, with 70 of them being “dominant and problematic.” Al Shabaka reminds in a new analysis: “Although media outlets often distinguish between settler and army violence—framing the former as “wildcards” acting independently of the latter—in practice, state and settler violence are indistinguishable, operating as mutually reinforcing arms of the same settler-colonial system. “ The Guardian recently reported on the settler-only IDF units that were set up in the wake of October 7, 2023 and have since come to be a vigilante militia force across the West Bank.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote in Haaretz:

“A violent and criminal effort is underway to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank. Gangs of armed settlers persecute, harm, wound and even kill Palestinians living there. The rampages include burning olive groves, houses and cars; breaking into homes; and physically assaulting people.

They also harm, scatter and try to steal flocks of sheep. The rioters, the Jewish terrorists, storm Palestinians with hate and violence with one objective: to force them to flee from their homes. All this is done in the hopes that the land will then be prepared for Jewish settlement – en route to realizing the dream of annexing all the territories.

Police officers and soldiers are closing their eyes to all this. Those who try to defend the rioters claim that they are a small minority, a few dozen teenage hooligans who do not represent the public living in the territories, who ostensibly oppose the acts of violence. But we are talking about hundreds of violent young men who could not riot without having been armed at the initiative of, and inspiration by, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In other words, a militia is operating in the West Bank with the backing, support and aid – direct and indirect – of Israeli government officials.

…In a properly functioning state (and Israel hasn’t been a properly functioning state for years), the police, State Prosecutor’s Office, courts, government, prime minister and the president would stand against these rioters. But it seems that in a country where all the rules of public conduct have been broken, and the most basic principles of human decency and tolerance have been trampled, the chances that any of them will stand up and stop the crimes are vanishingly small.”

BONUS READS

“The theft at the heart of Israel’s booming wine industry” (+972 Magazine, 1/30/2026)
REPORT: “Israel is Illegally Forcing Out Thousands of West Bank Palestinians” (DAWN, 1/21/26)
“Thwarted tree-planting underscores daily torments for embattled Palestinian hamlet” (The Times of Israel, 2/3/2026)
“Life and loss in Umm al-Khair, an island within a settlement” (Mondoweiss, 2/5/2026)
“Yair Golan vows not to fund settlements if he comes to power” (The Times of Israel, 2/3/26)
“What Yair Golan’s Vow to Cut Settlement Funding Could Mean for Israel’s Next Election” (Haaretz, 2/3/26)
“Sovereignty Movement highlights importance of safeguarding Israel’s state land in Samaria, Judea” (JNS, 1/8/2026)
“Yes, Israel Can Apply Israeli Law to the West Bank” (Eugene Kontorovich in Tablet, 1/14/2026)

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

January 30, 2026

West Bank Settlements & Outposts: More Funding for Settler-Only Roads; Expanded Settler Access to Joseph’s Tomb, Soil Smuggling, and More
Settler Terrorism: Pogrom in Masafer Yatta, Displacement in Sinjil, and More
Bonus Reads

West Bank Settlements & Outposts

Israel Allocated More Funds for New Roads & More for Settlers

Peace Now reports that the Israeli government approved some 550 million shekels ($177.97 million) for the “reinforcement of security components,” most of which will be directed to the West Bank. The funds will be used for paving new settler security roads, upgrades to bus stations and armored buses, and new security features for settlements like fences, lighting, gates, cameras, and sensors.

The Palestine Chronicle further reports that part of the budget will be used for the construction of Route 45 (aka the “Quarry Road”), a settler-only bypass road that would connect settlements south of Ramallah to Jerusalem. Israel expropriated Palestinian land in January 2025 to allow for the construction of this road.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Under the pretext of “security components,” the government has already invested hundreds of millions of shekels in illegal outposts and violent settler farms in the occupied territories. It is now seeking to further expand this budget, deepening Israel’s security and economic entanglement in the occupied territories. It is now clear to all — especially after Oct. 7 — that the settlements constitute a security and economic burden on Israel, yet the government continues to serve only its settler base.”

For the First Time in 25 Years, Settlers Allowed Morning Prayers Joseph’s Tomb

Israeli Defense Minister Katz agreed to allow settlers to perform morning prayers at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus for the first time in 25 years. Joseph’s Tomb is a holy site for Jews and cultural site for Palestinians, located in the heart of Nablus. The site has long been a flashpoint for violence because the Tomb (and entrance to it) requires settlers to pass through very densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods.

On January 29th, Israeli ministers and settler leaders led a group of 1,500 people under a heavy security escort to Joseph’s Tomb. In 2000 during the Second Intifada, Israeli officials restricted Israeli access to the site to nighttime hours in hopes of minimizing conflict.

Israel is Trucking Soil from Tel Aviv to West Bank to Build New Outposts & Settlements

Kerem Navot told Haaretz that Israeli trucks are smuggling a large amount of soil from Tel Aviv construction sites to the West Bank in order to prepare the land for the expansion of at least two outposts. The soil has been transferred reportedly without the permission of the Israeli Civil Administration, and is apparently a widespread phenomenon in part because environmental regulations in the West Bank and relaxed (and bent to favor Israeli interests) and because Israel lacks regulated sites where excess construction debris can be deposited.

There has been increased construction at the two outposts, Havat Tzurim and Shacharit, preparing for what Haaretz calls “the outposts’ emerging farm operations.” Schacharit was granted retroactive legalization by the Israeli government in 2023 along with 9 others outposts, but Havat Tzurim remains illegal under Israeli law. None of the current construction is legal.

Haaretz reports:

“Settlers often frame the establishment of outposts and farms as a means of protecting nature and preserving landscapes from damage allegedly caused by the activity of Palestinians, such as overgrazing and illegal hunting. However, the dumping of excess soil increases the risk of waste contaminants seeping into groundwater reservoirs, which communities rely on for drinking and irrigation, while road construction and other land preparation activities increase the risk of erosion, flooding and other runoff issues.”

Greater Jerusalem: Atarot, Sheikh Jarrah, Sovereignty Road, UNRWA

Atarot

Peace Now (link) and Ir Amim (link) report the Israeli District Planning Committee met on January 12th to advance a plan for the construction of the Atarot settlement, located on the northern tip of east Jerusalem. Though the plan was eligible to be deposited for public review, the committee asked for amendments to the plan, and will schedule another hearing to once again consider depositing the plan.

The plan for the Atarot settlement, which has existed since 2007, calls for a huge new settlement on the site of the defunct Qalandiya Airport, located on a sliver of land between Ramallah and Jerusalem. In its current form, the plan provides for up to 9,000 residential units for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing for 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be an Israeli city surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north. Geopolitically, it will have a similar impact to E-1 in terms of dismembering the West Bank and cutting it off from Jerusalem. For more on the Atarot settlement plan, please see here.

Sheikh Jarrah – “Nahalat Shimon” Plan

In addition to its consideration of the Atarot plan, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee also discussed an “urban renewal” project that outlines the construction of a new settlement enclave in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, requiring the demolition of the Um Haroun Palestinian section of Sheikh Jarrah. The Committee discussed the plan, but decided to hold another, yet unscheduled, meeting for further consideration.

Palestinians in Umm Haroun have spent years in legal battles against Israeli settlers (backed by the Israeli courts) to remain in their homes, and now – making an end run around the legal cases – the Israeli government is pursuing the demolition of 40 homes in Um Haroun. See Ir Amim’s comprehensive July 2025 report on Sheikh Jarah, including the Nahalat Shimon plan, here.

Apartheid Road

Israel announced that it will soon begin construction on a new section of the so-called “Sovereignty Road” between Elazariya and A-Az’ayem. Peace Now estimates that the road will close the entire area of Ma’ale Adumim and the E1 area to Palestinians, some 3% of the West Bank, and de facto annex the area to Israel. The “Sovereignty Road” is designed to seal and divert Palestinian traffic around the area where Israel intends to build the E-1 settlement just east of Jerusalem.

UNRWA

Israel is moving towards the total closure of UNRWA operations in Jerusalem. See reporting:

“The UN Footprint in Occupied East Jerusalem is Shrinking Fast” (UNRWA, 1/14/26)
“East Jerusalem: Forced shutdown of UN clinic signals escalating disregard for international law” (United Nations, 1/14/26)
“Israel shutters UNRWA health clinic in Jerusalem’s Old City for 30 days” (The Times of Israel, 1/15/26)
“Palestinian UNRWA Vocational Training Center Faces Closure by Israel” (Haaretz, 1/16/26)

More News and Anlysis from Jerusalem

“For Hundreds of Palestinians, a 2-kilometer Jerusalem Commute Takes Three Hours” (Haaretz, 1/11/26)
“‘A race against time’: Jerusalem’s Silwan faces escalating Israeli expulsions” (Middle East Eye, 1/12/26)

West Bank Settlement & Outpost Construction

Israel Grants Licenses to Five Settlements

On January 14th the Israeli government approved licenses to five settlements that have recently been granted authorization. The settlements are: Homesh, Yondif, Jibot, Betron, and Kedem Arava. Except for Homesh, the newly licensed settlements are all currently existing outposts. With a license, the settlements are officially recognized as legal under Israeli law and can be fully integrated into Israel’s domestic planning and services. In a post on X about the licenses, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, the move is a step towards his goal “to crush the idea of a Palestinian state.”

Settler Terrorism

Confirming what seems obvious, Haaretz reports that settler violence against Palestinians rose dramatically in 2025, by 25% compared to 2024, and increase that the IDF ties directly to the rapid expansion of settlement farms in the two years since October 2023.

Ras Ein al-Auja

The bedouin community of Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan Valley, has been displaced at the hands of violent settlers backed by the IDF. Over 100 residents were forced to dismantle their homes and flee the area, where settlers recently established an outpost which has been used as a base for violent attacks on Ras Ein al-Auja.

Al Mugghayir

On January 16th Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year old Palestinian, Mohammed Naasan, during a military raid on the village of Al-Mughayyir, located near Ramallah. Earlier that same day settlers invaded under IDF protection, land belonging to Al-Mughayyir. Settlers have repeatedly raided Mughayyir in recent weeks.

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

December 19, 2025

Rajabi Family Evicted from Home in Silwan, Settlers Move In; More Evictions Expected
Israel Advances Plans for the Atarot Settlement
Preliminary Details on 19 New Settlements
Settlers Cross Into Gaza, Again, With No Repercussions
Governing Coalition to Push Annexation Ahead of 2026 Elections
Israel Continues Holding Jordan Valley Activist With No Charges
State-Backed Settler Terror this Week
The History and Power of Settler Militias
Bonus Reads

Rajabi Family Evicted from Home in Silwan, Settlers Move In; More Evictions Expected

On December 14th, three households of the Rajabi family were forced by settlers and the Israeli court system to leave their home of 50 years in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, East Jerusalem. In distressing scenes captured on video, 14 members of the Rajabi family left the home that they owned and built. Two family members are disabled, one of which is in a coma and was displaced from his home on a stretcher. Once the Rajabi family had left, settlers promptly moved in.

Dozens of Palestinian families – hundreds of people – in Batan al-Hawa are awaiting the same fate as the Rajabi family. This week the Basbous family was handed an eviction notice, ordering them to leave their home by January 5, 2026.

Ateret Cohanim is behind nearly a dozen lawsuits seeking the eviction of approximately 700 Palestinians from the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan. The settler group has pursued the mass displacement of Palestinians in Silwan since gaining control of a pre-1948 land trust – called the Benvenisti Trust – which owned land in Silwan in the 19th century. In 2002, the Israeli Custodian General agreed to transfer land in Batan al-Hawa to the Trust/Ateret Cohanim. Since then, Ateret Cohanim has accelerated its multifaceted campaign to remove Palestinians from their homes, claiming that the Palestinians are illegally squatting on sacred land owned by the Trust. Notably, under Israeli law, Palestinians enjoy no similar right to reclaim land that belonged to them before 1948 (to the contrary – Israeli law is engineered to erase Palestinian properties rights based, largely based on the absentee property law).

Ir Amim writes:

“With this eviction, the number of Palestinian families who have lost their homes to settlers in Batan al-Hawa in less than 15 months rises to 12 families, as part of a systematic campaign aimed at displacing Palestinian residents. Hundreds of more residents from Batan Al-Hawa face the same fate as the Rajabi Family as Ateret Cohanim and the state intensify their efforts against Palestinian families in the area.”

For more resources on Ateret Cohanim and the mass displacement of Palestinians it is effectuating in Silwan, see resources from Ir Amim and Peace Now.

Israel Advances Plans for the Atarot Settlement

The Israeli government is advancing plans for the construction of the massive Atarot settlement, planned for the site of the former Qalandiya airport between Ramallah and East Jerusalem. The plans were submitted to the Jerusalem District Planning Committee for a hearing on December 17th, and were expected to approve an outline plan for the settlement.

The Atarot settlement plan was last considered in 2021 when Naftali Bennet was Prime Minister, but was delayed from consideration by the planning committee – reportedly at the urging of U.S. Secretary of State Blinken. The Committee delayed advancement of the plan by ordering an environmental study which was expected to take about one year. Notably, in ordering the study, the Court made it clear that the environmental study is “standard practice” and expressed support for the underlying plan, saying it believes the plan represents a proper use of unutilized land reserves.

Just recently, he Israeli Knesset recently approved a large budget for the Environmental Protection Ministry to restore and rehabilitate contaminated land a the Atarot site for eventual settlement construction.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“This is a destructive plan that, if implemented, would prevent any possibility of connecting East Jerusalem with the surrounding Palestinian area and would, in practice, prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The Netanyahu government is seizing every moment to bury our chances for a future of peace and compromise. Especially now, when it is clear to everyone that the ideas of ‘managing the conflict’ and ‘decisive victory’ have led to a security disaster for Israel, we must act to resolve the conflict.”

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann notes that it is worth recalling that, under the Trump “Peace to Prosperity” plan unveiled in 2019, the area where the Atarot settlement is planned for was designated as a “special tourist zone” under Palestinian control. Following news that the plan is being revived, Seidemann posted:

“This is also a big middle finger to Trump. The Trump “Deal of the Century” awards virtually all of Jerusalem, East & West, to Israel. The one exception that is reserved for the Palestinians is the area of Atarot/Qualandia. The Netanyahu regime is now taking that.”

Preliminary Details on 19 New Settlements

As reported last week as news broke, the Israeli security cabinet has reportedly voted to approve the establishment of 19 new settlements. If the approvals are confirmed, Peace Now reports this will mean the Israeli government has approved the establishment of 68 new settlements since 2023. Prior to 2023, there were 141 settlements, the new total would be 209.

Mu’ayyan Sa’ban, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told The Times of Israel:

“The decision by the so-called ‘Israeli occupation cabinet’ to establish and settle 19 new colonies across the West Bank constitutes the latest step in a race to annihilate Palestinian geography for the sake of settler colonialism.”

While precise information about all of the new settlements plans are not known (the security cabinet deliberates in private and does not publish its decisions), Peace Now reports what is believed to be details of the 19 new settlements:

- 2 settlements – Ganim and Kadim – that were dismantled by the Israeli government as part of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Plan. Haaretz adds that “in practice, it completes the repeal of the Disengagement Plan in the northern West Bank and paves the way for rebuilding the settlements that were evacuated from that area in 2005. It would increase army presence in the area, most of which was placed under Palestinian control by the Oslo Accords. It’s an explosive, unilateral move that deepens Israel’s control over a sensitive, densely populated Palestinian area, and it will quite likely lead to escalation”
- 10 might be currently-existing illegal outposts that the government is granting full authorization to (rewarding settler lawlessness):
  - Bezek – currently a farming outpost located on the highest peak between the Jordan Valley and the Jenin area.
  - Esh Kodesh – located near the Palestinians village of Jalud and Qusra
  - Kida – located near the Palestinian town of Duma
  - Kokhav Hashahar North – likely to be constructed at the site of the Nahalah Ephraim farming outpost, located east of Ein Samia. This outpost and future settlement are built on the lands from which the Palestinian village of Ein Samia was expelled.
  - Mishuol – reportedly to be constructed west of Ramallahe near the Naaleh settlement, potentially at the site of the Shalom Farm outpost. This outpost and future settlement are built on the lands from which the Palestinian village of Arab al-Jahalin was expelled.
  - Nof Gilad – while not totally clear, this might be establishing a settlement at the site of a farming outpost of the same name located in the Jordan Valley (inside the Umm Zuqa nature reserve), or it might be a new settlement at the site of the Nezach Harel farming outpost located between Taybeh and Jericho. This outpost and future settlement are built on the lands from which the Palestinian village of Mu’arrajat was expelled.
  - Rosh HaAyin East – reportedly to be constructed at the site of the Shirat David farming outpost near the Palestinian villages of Zawiya and Deir Ballut, south of Qalqilya in the central West Bank.
  - Shalem – currently a farming outpost located just east of Nablus.
  - Yitav West – this might be constructed at the site of the Aujua farming outpost, near the bedouin village of Ras al-’Ain, a community which is facing the threat of displacement under constant settler violence.
  - Yatziv (Shadma) – this outpost was established only one month ago on an abandoned Israeli military base adjacent to the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem.

- 5 appear to be new settlements on land where there is currently no Israeli presence:
  - Allenby – reportedly to be constructed near the Allenby checkpoint, located in the Jordan Valley by Jericho.
  - Tamum – likely near the Palestinian village of Tamum, located between the Jordan Valley and the Nablus area.
  - Nahal Doran – expected to be built between the settlements of Shima and Adoraim, located just north of the Palestinian village of Yatta in the southern West Bank.
  - Ya’ar al-Keren – reportedly to be constructed south of Bethlehem, between the Palestinian towns of Beit Ummar and the Al-’Arrub refugee camp.

- 2 are reportedly neighborhoods of existing settlements, but are being upgraded to new status which will allow for greater growth:
  - Givat Harel – located between the Palestinian towns of Sinjil and Lubban al-Sharqiya. The Times of Israel reminds that Givat Harel was granted status as an authorized, independent settlement in February 2023. It is unclear why it is being approved again.
  - Pnei Kedem – currently considered a neighborhood of the Mezad (Asfar) settlement, located east of the Palestinian village of Sa’ir.
  - Reihanit – reportedly to be constructed near the Palestinian village of Ya’bad in the far northern West Bank.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government is doing everything it can to entrench Israel’s presence in the territories and to foreclose the possibility of a future of peace and two states for two peoples. Establishing settlements in areas where Israel has not previously had a presence is intended to sever Palestinian territorial continuity and to destroy what little economic development remains possible for Palestinians. The government’s policy is not only immoral, but also a security and economic folly that will further worsen Israel’s situation.”

Settlers Cross Into Gaza, Again, With No Repercussions

Over the past week the settler group Nahala has organized at least two groups of settlers to enter Gaza (an active war zone) and perform symbolic acts pushing for the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza. The illegal crossings were part of a Hanukkah celebration on December 18th, attended by several MKs from the ruling party, called “Raising the Flag in Gaza.” Reportedly, the settlers asked to hold the event in Gaza, but did not receive permission.

The event organized at least two groups to enter. One group drove a vehicle into Gaza and were able to raise an Israeli flag before being removed by the IDF. In a separate location, another large group broke down a barrier and attempted to cross a fence border, but were stopped by Israeli forces.

No settlers were arrested.

Daniella Weiss, leader of the Nahala organization, said:

“It is precisely in these days that we need to say in a clear voice what is obvious: Gaza belongs to the people of Israel. And we must start settling in Gaza now. This is a just and correct demand that has significant support from a large majority of the public in the State of Israel.”

Governing Coalition to Push Annexation Ahead of 2026 Elections

Haaretz reports that over the course of the Knesset’s winter session, and ahead of Israeli elections anticipated for the fall of 2026, the Israeli governing coalition is pushing bills that Knesset bills that impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, i.e. annexation.

Israel Continues Holding Jordan Valley Activist With No Charges

Israel issued a six-month extension on the administrative detention of Ayman Ghrayeb, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender who was detained at the direction of settlers on November 17th (and then disappeared for two days only to reappear and report severe torture requiring hospitalization). Israel’s administrative detention protocol allow for infinite renewals of the order, and does not require Israel to, at any point, bring charges or provide evidence of a crime. ACRI reports Israel is currently holding 3,350 Palestinians in administrative detention, a figure that is three times higher than it was prior to October 7, 2023.

State-Backed Settler Terror this Week

Settlers continued to terrorize Palestinians across the West Bank this week, and the violence has now spilled into Israel proper.

On December 12th, three settlers attacked a Palestinian family – including a woman who is 9 months pregnant and her two children – while driving in Jaffa. They admitted to pepper spraying the family and reportedly called the woman, Hanan Abu Shehadeh, a “stinking Arab.” The attackers are members of the Hilltop Youth settler group, and have at times banned from entering the West Bank because of their violence against Palestinians. The trio was arrested a few days after the attack, and appeared in court on the 16th where the Israeli police rep told the court the attack was planned and racially motivated. The Court ordered their detention for at least five days pending charges.

On December 16th in Tuqu’, settlers shot and killed a Palestinian teen who, along with four friends, was running away from a highway road and an unidentified black vehicle. The IDF alleges the teens had been throwing rocks at the vehicle. The murder of Muheeb occurred in the hours following a funeral for 16-year old Ammar Sabah, who was shot and killed by the IDF during a raid of Tuqu’ just the day before.

Writing in The Hill, a publication targeted at and widely read by staff members in the U.S. Congress, a Palestinian-American explains the violence and fear Palestinians are experiencing in Turmusaya, where there are many U.S. citizens living. The author, Yaser Alkam, calls on the U.S. to do more to protect its citizens and all Palestinians, writing:

“With only the rarest of exceptions, our attackers go unpunished. I have repeatedly reported settler attacks to the U.S. Embassy and asked for protection, only to receive vague and non-committal responses with little to no follow-up. Every U.S. administration for decades has fueled a sense of impunity among Israelis that they can do whatever they want — including killing U.S. citizens — and the U.S. will not demand accountability or place conditions on the billions of dollars in military funding given to Israel annually.

With the Gaza ceasefire deal, President Trump has shown that he is willing to rein Israel in. He can and must do the same when it comes to settler violence — not just for the sake of Palestinian-Americans, but for all Palestinians who are suffering daily from Israel’s military occupation and forced displacement.”

The History and Power of Settler Militias

Drop Site News reports takes a deep dive into the official deputization of settler militia groups, since 1964, to police Palestinians across the West Bank, creating a system of extreme violence and no accountability. The report says that 450 settler rapid response squads existed prior to October 7, 2023, after which 700 new squads were constituted by Ben Gvir, who also provided 10,000 assault rifles to the effort in addition to loosening gun ownership eligibility.

Drop Site writes:

“Rights groups report that complaints about organized violence by armed settlers routinely bounce between various jurisdictions of Israeli authorities. Police classify suspects as “military auxiliaries” and pass the files to the army; the army returns them as “civilian” cases; civilian authorities cite military jurisdiction, and the investigations close for “lack of evidence.”…’They don’t distinguish even between the hagmar and the rapid-response squads, everyone’s in uniform now,’ a resident from the South Hebron Hills told Drop Site on condition of anonymity. ‘I know many of them by name. Some even have criminal records. Now they’ve been given uniforms’.”

Bonus Reads

“Israel is seizing an ancient historical site to turn it into a tourist site” (NPR, 12/18/25)
“‘A Cause for Serious Concern’ Germany Condemns Israeli Plan to Build Over 750 Housing Units Across West Bank” (Haaretz, 12/13/2025)
“Katz and Smotrich: Palestinian waste burning in West Bank is threat to national security” (Ynet, 12/18/2025)

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

December 13, 2025

Israeli Cabinet Approves Smotrich’s Five-Year, $843 Million De-Facto Annexation Plan

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reports that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has earmarked $843million (NIS 2.7billion) over the next five years to expand settlements and outposts across the West Bank, describing it as de facto annexation. The earmark was added to the state budget, which was passed by the Israeli cabinet last week. The budget needs to pass three votes in the Knesset before becoming law.

Among the projects to be funded are:

$70 million to create a land-registration unit, a team of 41 staff which will takeover responsibility from the Israeli Civil Administration and initiate a systematic mapping of West Bank land registrations, transferring those records to a new dedicated West Bank registry.
Establish 17 new settlements;
$300M for new settlement construction and reinforcement;
$93M for outposts being legalized;
Mobile “absorption clusters” of 20 caravans each thatcan rapidly move in settlers to establish new settlements;
3 Israeli army bases to be relocated into northern West Bank Palestinian areas, including the relocation of the “Menashe” brigade, which is a “dramatic” move “intended to strengthen the military and colonial grip on the region.”;
New army roads, armored settler buses, synagogues, and utilities.

IDF Whistleblower: IDF Is Actively Facilitating New Farming Outposts

An IDF officers told a popular Israeli news program that the IDF is fully aware of and helping to facilitate the establishment of new illegal outposts, reporting that the head of the IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth issued an order that allocates IDF resources for establishing new farming outposts. As a reminder, farming outposts have become a preferred model of outpost growth because they require only minimal settlers with livestock that can take over huge amounts of land, dispossessing huge numbers of Palestinians.

The hand-in-hand partnership with the outposts was formalized by Maj. Gen. Bluth, who was appointed head of the IDF Central Command in July 2024. Previously, the whistleblower claims the army did not know about new outposts until they were set up by the settlers on their own accord. Marking a huge change in policy, Bluth appointed Elitzur Trabelsi as the key coordinator for new outposts, an arrangement described by the whistleblower:

“Trabelsi spares the Central Command chief from having to get his hands dirty. He goes, handles the matter, and gets involved in all of the plans to establish the farms. He tours the farm with the owner, interviews him. After the tour, he involves the regional brigade commander, updates him, sends out maps, and then goes to the command chief for approval – and thus the farm is established with full coordination…

It’s not just tacit coordination. In the division and regional brigade, there is actually an order for ‘establishing farms on the ground.’ It details the forces allocated to secure the farm, how they are deployed and how many caravans are on the farm. He runs a completely organized process…

You can no longer control it, and there’s this cycle: A farm is established, it creates friction, that friction generates more friction, which leads to an attack, the attack leads to the expansion of the farm, and the desire to turn it into a settlement. It’s an event that never ends,” the officer said. “The IDF is knowingly involved in an illegal activity that is not part of its role.”

Following the news program, Peace Now has called for an investigation and dismissal of Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth over this criminality, saying:

“Bluth has turned the IDF into an auxiliary force serving the Hilltop Youth terrorists. He cannot remain in uniform.”

B’Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli said:

“The “Zman Emet” expose provides the smoking gun – in the form of an officer whistleblower – for what we have been saying all along – that the Israeli Army, under the OC Central Command Maj Gen Avi Bluth, is instrumental in establishing settler terror farms. The success of the settler farm model in ethnically cleansing large swaths of land in the West Bank is the direct result of this state support, which takes the form of funding, political backing, military protection and orchestration, & police-granted impunity.”

Israel Announces Plans to Legalize Another 19 Outposts

Andalou Agency reports that on December 11th, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved plans to legalize 19 outposts, including the reestablishment of the Ganim and Kadim settlements in the northern West Bank (which were dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005 along with Homesh and Sa-Nur, both of which have already received government approval to be reestablished). The other 16 outposts to be legalized are not named in current news reports.

According to Ynet, the decision and announcement was coordinated in advance with the United States.

As a reminder, the Israeli Knesset passed legislation repealing the 2005 Disengagement Law in order to clear the way for settlers to reestablish four settlements in the northern West Bank – Homesh, Sa-Nur, Kadim, and Ganim. The IDF then issued a military closure order against three of the settlements, allowing settlers to enter the Homesh area (where settlers had illegally built and continue to run a yeshiva).

Eight Outposts Receive Final Authorization

The Israeli Interior Ministry publicly revealed municipal emblems to eight outposts that the government approved to be legalized, marking the end of the legalization process. In announcing the emblems, Smotrich said:

“We are advancing de facto sovereignty [of the West Bank] on the ground to prevent any possibility of establishing an Arab state in Judea and Samaria.”

Since returning to office in late 2022 (at which time Netanyahu agreed to granting full authorization and state services to all outposts), the Netanyahu-Smotrich government has been advancing the expansion of settlements and the legalization of outposts at an astronomical rate. The Times of Israel reports that: “in total, some 49 new settlements or illegal outposts have been approved for construction or retroactive legalization under the current government. Prior to the tenure of the current administration, which began in late 2022, virtually no new settlements had been approved or outposts legalized since the late 1990s.” In addition to the government’s actions to legalize existing outposts, the government has also fully enabled the establishment of at least 174 new illegal settlements over the past three years according to Peace Now.

The outposts which are now fully legal settlements are:

Sa-Nur: The establishment of a boundary for the Sa-Nur settlement is the culmination of years of agitation by settlers and eager support from Israeli officials to re-establish settlements which the government dismantled in 2005.
Ahiya: The Ahiya outpost received initial government approval in March 2024, when it was included in the expanded borders of the nearby Shilo settlement in the central West Bank. Ahiya is located in an string of settlements that are designed to form an uninterrupted corridor of Israeli control connecting sovereign Israel to the Ariel settlement, through the isolated Shiloh Valley settlements, all the way to the Jordan Valley. In so doing, it will completely bisect the northern part of the West Bank.
Haresha: Located east of Ramallah and surrounded by privately owned Palestinian land, the Israeli government has successfully used the Haresha outpost as a test case for new legal tools to justify the expropriation of privately owned Palestinian land in order to retroactively legalize outposts.
Adei Ad: Located in the Shiloh Valley, the Israeli government announced its plan to retroactively legalize the Adei Ad outpost in August 2018 by expanding the borders of the nearby Amichai settlement (a settlement which was established as a reward to settler law-breakers who evacuated from the unauthorized Amona outpost). The Adei Ad outpost has been a source of violent settlers launching attacks on nearby Palestinian communities, including Turmus Ayya.
Shvut Rachel: Located in the Shiloh Valley, the Israeli government expanded the boarders of the nearby Shilo settlement in order to legalize the Shvut Rachel outpost.
Tel Menashe: located located on the tip of the northern West Bank, inside the “seam zone” between the 1967 Green Line and the Israel separation barrier.
Migron: located south east of Ramallah.
Nofei Prat: located east of Jerusalem.

Netanyahu Denies Report He Ordered 14 Outposts to be Dismantled

On December 6th, Israeli Channel 12 news reported that at a recent security meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the removal of 14 illegal outposts defined as “centers of Jewish extremism and national crime”, a report that Netanyahu quickly denied. The order was reportedly aimed at responding to international criticism of and attention to settler terrorism, and U.S. In addition to evacuating outposts, the report also suggested the security cabinet decided to detain ~70 settlers known to participate in violence against Palestinians and Israeli forces, and issue orders banning 30 of them from the West Bank.

Settlers Removed from Four Outposts, Buildings Remain

On December 7th, Israeli Border Police removed settlers from four illegal outposts that were located in closed military zones across the West Bank. Though the settlers were removed, the outposts – which are not named in reports – have not been dismantled and no buildings were demolished – the IDF even denied that any outposts were “evacuated”, insisting that the army was just enforcing closed military zone orders.

Israel Approves 764 New Settlement Units

On December 10th the Israeli Higher Planning Council gave final approval for the construction of 764 in three settlements across the West Bank, in addition to depositing a plan for public review for 1 additional unit in the Eli settlement.

The final approvals were granted for:

Beitar Illit: 230 new settlement units
Hashmonaim: 478 new settlement units. Hashmonaim located in the northern West Bank just over the Green Line near the Israeli town Mod’in. Over half of the residents of the Hashmonaim settlement are American settlers from New York.
Givat Zeev: 56 new settlement units

Smotrich touted the fact that 51,370 new settlement units have been approved by the Higher Planning Council since his takeover of most municipal powers in the West Bank Area C.

Construction to Begin on Oz Station, Making Way for Expansion of Nof Zion Enclave

Peace Now reports the Israeli Knesset has approved financing for the construction of the new Oz Station, moving the station from its current location on the border of Jabal Mukaber to a site across the street (where it will become a massive Israeli security headquarters). Moving the police station will allow Israel to significantly expand the Nof Zion settlement enclave, located in the heart of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber.

With the approval of a budget for construction, work on the new station is expected to begin soon.

At the time the plan to move the Oz was introduced Ir Amim filed a petition against it, saying that it is an affront to the planning needs of the local community and continues Israel’s systematic, city-wide discrimination against the housing, educational, and service-based needs of Palestinian neighborhoods. Ir Amim further explained how the interconnected plans in Jabal Mukaber will impact Palestinian residents:

“Expanding the settlement towards the main entrance of Jabal Mukabber will infringe on the residents’ freedom of movement and further disrupt the fabric of life in the neighborhood. Prior experience show that during clashes and periods of tension and instability, Israel rushes to impose collective restrictions under the pretext of protecting Israeli settlers.”

The plan to expand the Nof Zion enclave outlines 100 new residential units and 275 hotel rooms in the settlement enclave, and is part of a larger scheme to connect the enclave to the built-up area of East Talpiot – a scheme which would cut deeply into the Jabal Mukaber neighborhood and entrench the expanding continuum of Israeli settlements surrounding Jerusalem.

IDF Uproots Olives Trees in Qaryut to Make Way for Settlement Road

On December 7th the IDF began destroying agricultural land and uprooting more than 500 olive trees belonging to the Palestinian village of Qaryut, located south of Nablus in the central West Bank and surrounded to the south, east, and west by settlements and outposts.

According to Kerem Navot, the IDF is confiscating privately owned Palestinian land and destroying the groves in order to facilitate the construction of a new ring road for the nearby Eli settlement and its satellite outposts. Residents of Qaryut report to Haaretz that the IDF failed to carry out the required procedure in advance of the destruction, and in so doing did not provide an opportunity for the village to submit an appeal against the confiscation.

In addition, residents of Qaryut say that the destruction has exceeded the boundaries of the land Israel recently confiscated via military order, and the IDF has not only uprooted centuries old olive trees but also destroyed the village’s water wells. Residents also say that the military order provides that the IDF remove the trees and replant them elsewhere, but video footage shows the trees have been severely damaged and are not able to be replanted.

Qaryut is surrounded by six settlements and has been the target of frequent violent attacks, which have continued to escalate in the wake of a new illegal outpost that settlers installed nearby in January 2025. Dror Etkes, founder of the anti-settlement watchdog group Kerem Navot, has documented the explained the terrible situation facing Qaryut saying, “What has been happening in the past few days in the Krayot is yet another example from which we can learn how the monster of settlement and land plunder operates in the West Bank.”

Settlers Enter Gaza & Ministers Press for Gaza Hanukkah Ceremony

Dozens of settlers crossed into Gaza on December 10th in an effort to advance their campaign to build Israeli settlements there. The group, which documented their activities, attempted to plant trees, declaring in a video “all of the Land of Israel is ours.” The IDF detained the group and transferred them back to Israeli police.

Meanwhile, a group of 11 Israeli Ministers and 21 MKs signed a letter to Defense Minister Katz urging him to allow settlers to raise the Israeli flag at the site of a former Gaza settlement Nisanit to mark the upcoming Hanukkah holiday. An anonymous source told The Times of Israel that Minister Katz is unlikely to approve the event. The letter read:

“It is time to proudly affirm that Gaza is part of the Land of Israel, belongs exclusively to the Jewish people, and must therefore immediately become part of the State of Israel….We request an authorization for this event, which is essentially intended to hoist the Israeli flag over the ruins of the town of Nisanit.”

Massive Delegation of U.S. Evangelicals Call for Israeli Annexation of the West Bank

Israel paid for a group of nearly 1,000 American Evangelicals to come to Israel, where the group appears to have been asked and trained to advocate for Israel’s annexation of the West Bank vis a vis Trump and U.S. Congress. The group is being touted as the larges delegation of Christian leaders to visit Israel.

The leaders of the trip was Mike Evans, who is the founder of Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Museum, and who served on President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory committee in his first term. Speaking the the group at the Shilo settlement, Evans addressed President Trump and VP Vance, referring to a Bible in his hand Evans said:

“This is more important than you. This is more important than me. This is the word of God, and it’s the reason the president is the president because we mobilized behind him, and we love him. But you said something that is not accurate. You said that the policy of the administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. Mr. Vice President, we love you, and we love America, but the policy of the God who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land. Eighty percent of Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria. So don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical Islam Jew-haters Judea and Samaria.”

Briefing the group, the head of a Benaymin settler regional council Yisrael Gantz names the delegation as “ambassadors of Judea and Samaria,” asking them:

“Guys, please help us with your representatives in D.C.. Applying Israeli law here is the justice of God. We didn’t take anyone else’s land. We came here because God sent us here, and we have to complete his mission. We will do it together.”

On December 10th, the Foriegn Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing entitled, “Understanding Judea and Samaria: Historical, Strategic, and Political Dynamics in U.S.–Israel Relations” (video). As reported by FMEP’s Lara Friedman in her weekly Legislative Round Up (subscribe):

“Witnesses were: Eugene Kontorovich, Heritage Foundation/Kohelet Forum (statement); Morton Klein, Zionist Organization of America (statement); and Jon Alterman, CSIS (statement) [Center for International Policy’s Matt Duss trenchantly observed on X: “A great demonstration of what “diversity” means in hearings on Israel-Palestine: Zionist, batshit right wing Zionist, and an actual Israeli settler. Imagine a hearing on the history and political dynamics of eastern Ukraine featuring only Russian or pro-Russian witnesses.“]

For details of this hearing — which offered a window into just how deep into Greater Israel, anti-Palestinian, fact-challenged crazy-land some people in this Congress and on this Committee are — watch it for yourself. One note: at around 1:25:30 in the hearing, Rep. Fine (R-FL) launches into a speech alleging the existence of apartheid in the West Bank, based on the fact that when he was traveling there he encountered a sign reading “Jews May Not Enter.” Fine goes on to suggest that these signs represent a Palestinian Authority policy of preventing Jews from accessing certain areas. Of course, Fine knows – or should know, since he presents himself as an expert on all things related to Israel and the West Bank, as does (or should, Mort Klein, who does not correct Fine’s mistake) – that this sign (and the many others like it, placed at the entrance to Palestinian cities and villages across the West Bank), was produced and placed there BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, reflecting an ISRAELI policy that makes it illegal for Israeli citizens to enter Area A of the West Bank [note that Fine is also incorrect in alleging the signs say anything about “Jews.” The signs refer in Hebrew to “Israelis” and in Arabic and English to “citizens of Israel”; Jews who are not citizens of Israel can and do travel into these areas; Israeli citizens who choose to enter these areas are breaking Israeli law, which in the case of settlers goes unpunished, and in the case of Israelis human rights activists, can be one of the many pretexts for Israeli authorities use to detain and/or ban them from the areas]. If Fine has an issue with these signs, it should be with the government of Israel, not with Palestinians. Some receipts: here, here, here.”

Adalah: Israel Has Passed 30 New Apartheid Laws Since October 7th

Adalah published a new report entitled, “Post-7 October: A New Wave of Anti-Palestinian Israeli Laws.” The report analyzes a wave of Israeli laws passed after October 7, 2023 that, collectively and by design, entrench segregation and discrimination against Palestinians living under Israeli control (in Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank).

The report details thirty laws that have been enacted, including:

laws that restrict the freedom of movement, thought, expression, and protest;
Laws that infringe on family reunification and change residency and citizenship access;
Laws that undermine due process and prisoners’ rights; and more.

Adalah writes in conclusion:

“A legal system organized along ethnic lines that denies fundamental rights to a racial group constitutes a crime under the 1973 Apartheid Convention. The laws analyzed in this report demonstrate the entrenchment of a dual legal regime which privileges Jewish Israelis by design, while systematically violating the rights of Palestinians. However, unlike regimes of segregation and racial or ethnic supremacy known throughout history, such as apartheid in South Africa, Jim Crow in the United States, or the Protestant Ascendancy regime in Ireland from the 17th to the early 19th century, where identity-based criteria (ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) were explicitly enshrined in law, most of the legislation examined in this report uses neutral language that, in practice, operates as proxies for ethno-national identity, systematically targeting Palestinians…

Taken together, the body of laws passed over the past two years indicate that the Israeli legislature is acting without restraint to impose far-reaching restrictions on Palestinians while further entrenching infringements of their rights. In doing so, the Knesset has and continues to ingrain recognition of Jewish citizens as the sole collective entitled to the full spectrum of individual and collective rights, and to further codify in Israeli law a regime of Jewish ethno-national supremacy, as explicitly and constitutionally enshrined in the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law.”

Israel Human Rights Groups Issue “State of the Occupation” Report

In it’s third report, a coalition of twelve Israeli human rights organizations have published a sweeping and comprehensive report on human rights violations resulting from Israel’s 58-year occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank as well as its current war on Gaza.

The authors urge:

“Public discourse surrounding the injustices of the occupation and the grave crimes associated with it is at best absent, and often violent and inflammatory. Crimes are rarely investigated by military or civilian law enforcement. In the absence of a resolute systemic response, there is little to prevent these wrongs from escalating, as evidenced by the continued destruction of infrastructure and buildings in Gaza even during the ceasefire, and the rampant violence in the West Bank.

The information presented in this report was rigorously gathered, verified, and cross-checked through sustained efforts. It is difficult to read and absorb. Still, we hope you will engage with it and join us in calling for action and for redressing the injustices it exposes.”

Bonus Reads

More on Sebastia:
- “Israel preparing largest ever act of ‘archeological cleansing’ in West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 12/11/2025)
- “An ancient Palestinian town in the West Bank may soon no longer exist – because Israel plans on stealing it” (Mondoweiss, 12/12/2025)
“New Israeli settlement in West Bank town near Bethlehem threatens the Christian presence in Palestine” (Mondoweiss, 12/11/2025)
“Knesset to Debate New NGO Bill, Seen as Targeting Israeli Human Rights Organizations” (Haaretz, 12/11/25)
“I used to report from the West Bank. Twenty years after my last visit, I was shocked by how much worse it is today” (The Guardian, 12/11/25)