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

October 23, 2026

1. WEST BANK: Netanyahu Threatens Major WB Operation; IDF Reportedly Scales Up Outpost Removal
2. EAST JERUSALEM: Amana Advances New Sheikh Jarrah Plan; Demolition Warning in Al-Bustan/Silwan, New Report by Ir Amim Documents “State Architecture of Dispossession”
3. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR
4. INTERNATIONAL SCENE: Canadian Complaint Targets Settlement Real Estate Sales
5. BONUS READS

---

WEST BANK

Netanyahu Threatens Major West Bank Escalation

On Friday, October 23rd a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israeli soldiers, and injured three others, near Herbon. In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu has threatened to shut down the entire West Bank and carry out an IDF operation “of a scale not seen since the Six-Day War.” According to reports Israeli forces have sealed off Hebron entirely and have carried out several demolitions in northern Hebron, with Netanyahu threatening to demolish the entire neighborhood where the gunmen were allegedly living. Prominent Hebron activist Issa Amro reports being trapped in his home.

Netanyahu continued:

“Israel is ‘going to destroy the terrorist infrastructure, and we are going to build settlement infrastructure…We are building and legalizing more than 100 new settlements right here, and not just here. And, of course, more than 100 farms as well. We will destroy the terrorist infrastructure and establish more and more settlements.’”

Outpost Removal

The Jerusalem Post reports the IDF has been demolishing 7-10 outposts each week over the past month in an effort to stem settler violence, and the IDF has reportedly looking to increase that weekly average moving forward. The Jerusalem Post article quotes Israeli security officials who complain that Israeli courts are failing to punish the settlers who are arrested for attacking security forces during outpost removals, allowing those settlers to continue establishing more outposts. A senior security official told JP:

“Outposts are constantly being evacuated. People are constantly being arrested. The question is what happens to them afterward.”

 

EAST JERUSALEM

Amana Advances New Plan for Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah

Ir Amim reports that the settler group Amana (which is sanctioned by Canada and the U.K.) is advancing a settler project in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, its first settlement plan in East Jerusalem. The plan calls for 122 settlement units to be built at the historic Shepherd Hotel.

Ire Amim reports the details:

“Under Amana’s new plan, the existing residential buildings would be demolished to make way for a substantially larger settlement, while the historic Shepherd Hotel building, once associated with the Mufti of Jerusalem, would be preserved. In recent years, the land has undergone formal land registration process, officially known as settlement of land title (SOLT). Parts of the property were registered under the Custodian of Absentee Property, while others were registered under a foreign company believed to be linked to Ateret Cohanim. It remains unclear how Amana came to lead the project or whether any property rights were transferred between the organizations. The plan was submitted by Eliyahu Menachem Hirschhorn on behalf of Amana.

Amana’s new settlement plan is part of a broader wave of projects being promoted in Sheikh Jarrah by Israeli government bodies alongside the longtime efforts of settler groups to displace Palestinian families and seize their properties for Israeli settlement. Together, these projects are advancing the construction of thousands of housing units for Israeli settlers rather than the neighborhood’s Palestinian residents. The sheer scale of the planned construction and the breadth of state and settler involvement underscore the systematic nature of Israel’s efforts to fundamentally reshape Sheikh Jarrah’s demographic character and further entrench Israeli control over the neighborhood.”

 

Israel Delivers Demolition Warning in Al-Bustan, Silwan

Ir Amim reports the Jerusalem Municipality has delivered a 20-day demolition notice to Fakhri Abu Diab, a well-known Palestinian activist in the al-Bustan section of Silwan. Abu Diab and his wife are living in a caravan on their land, after Israel demolished their home twice in 2024.

Ir Amim said:

“At Ir Amim, we are deeply concerned by this latest threat and stand in solidarity with Fakhri. His story extends beyond the demolition of a home or the removal of a temporary shelter. It reflects the reality facing Palestinian families across Jerusalem, including in Al-Bustan, where 42 structures, including 28 homes, have been demolished since the beginning of the year. Restrictions and threats persist even after families lose their homes, undermining their right to remain on their land and in the places where their lives and memories are rooted.”

 

NEW REPORT by IR AMIM: “Expulsion: The State Architecture of Dispossession”

In a new report, Ir Amim describes the network of state authorities that operate in an integrated manner to take over Palestinian land and property in East Jerusalem. The report takes a deep dive into the mechanisms by which eight Israeli government entities are driving the dispossession of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, those entities being:

1. The Jerusalem Municipality
2. Ministry of Interior
3. Minister of Jerusalem Affairs
4. Ministry of Justice
5. Statutory Bodies
6. Ministry of National Security
7. Ministry of Housing & Construction
8. Ministry of Finance

The report concludes:

“The report exposes a comprehensive, coordinated inter-governmental apparatus that works to take over Palestinian land and properties in East Jerusalem. In recent years, the activity of this apparatus has intensified, and the authorities now pursue this goal openly and in coordination.

Six government ministries, the Jerusalem Municipality, and statutory bodies work in concert to create facts on the ground that deepen annexation and drive Palestinians out of East Jerusalem. They do so through discrimination in planning, home demolitions, forced evictions, land registration, new Israeli settlement plans, takeovers of properties, and more. The synergy between these mechanisms turns the policy of expulsion and dispossession into a national project designed to cement Jewish supremacy and block a sustainable diplomatic solution.

As detailed in the report, what is unique about annexation and displacement in East Jerusalem is that they are carried out under the guise of Israeli law, through official state bodies and procedures. In this way, state mechanisms become instruments of displacement, both through discriminatory laws, exploitative application of these laws and through the deployment of old and new measures whose sole purpose is to facilitate dispossession and expulsion.”

 

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR

The olive harvest is underway, and state-backed settler violence continues to terrorize Palestinians. Yesh Din reports there have been at least 672 violent attacks since September 27th. Two stories that received a lot of coverage this week are a vicious attack by settlers on Washington Post reporter Heidi Levine who was covering settlers attacking olive harvesters in Abu Falah, and the detention of U.S. Congressional candidate Brad Lander and a large group of solidarity activists who joined Palestinians to harvest olives near Nehalim.

Attacks on Palestinians proceed on a daily basis.

INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Canada Legal Suit Challenges Settlement Sales

Global Echo Litigation Center and Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), have filed a first-of-its-kind complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau asking it to investigate the activities of five real estate companies that it alleges have purposefully misled Canadian customers while marketing the sale of settlement properties.

Global Echo writes:

“Our case summary explains how the complaint uses the activities of five real estate companies as representative examples of a longstanding pattern of allegedly misleading advertising about settlement properties marketed at events in Montréal and Toronto and online between 2024 and 2026

According to the complaint, these companies marketed residential properties located in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem (such as Adam, Ma’ale Adumim, Efrat, Gush Etzion, and Givat HaMatos) using slogans like, “Find Your Dream Home in Israel,” and in some cases advertising them as being located “in Israel.” If the allegations are substantiated, in obscuring the true geographic and legal status of these properties, these companies may have deprived Canadian consumers of information essential to making informed purchasing decisions and, moreover, potentially exposing them to significant legal and financial risks.”

BONUS READS

1. “Israel’s Moderate Settlers Would Rather Ethnically Cleanse the Palestinians More Politely” (Haaretz, 10/21/2026)
2. “Settlement security chief charged with shooting Palestinian woman at pirate roadblock” (The Times of Israel, 10/23/2026)
3. “How an Israeli outpost in the West Bank has become part of a wider cycle of violence against Palestinians” (CNN, 10/21/2026)
4. “Netanyahu: Israel needs to prep ‘alternate economy’ to circumvent any global sanctions” (The Times of Israel, 10/23/2026)
5. “Statement on E-1 Settlement Tender” (Statement by UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband)
6. “Outposts, violence, impunity: The anatomy of Israeli settler land grabs” (Al Jazeera, 10/22/2026)
7. “IDF Chief, Jewish Terrorism in the West Bank Is on You” (Haaretz, 10/19/2026)

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

October 16, 2026

1. EAST JERUSALEM: Cable Car Contract to be Announced Soon
2. WEST BANK: E-1 Tender and Sanctions News; New Land Allocation Procedures; Another Demolition in South Hebron Hills
3. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR: News from the Bloody Olive Harvest
4. BONUS READS

---

EAST JERUSALEM

Jerusalem Cable Car Contract to Be Finalized

Emek Shaveh reports that the Jerusalem Development Authority is planning to award th contract for the construction of the settler-backed cable car project to an Italian consulting firm. The project has been dormant for the past four years.

As a reminder, the Jerusalem cable car project is an initiative backed by the powerful, state-backed Elad settler group and advanced by the Israeli Tourism Ministry. While public efforts to “sell” the cable car plan focused on its purported role in helping to grow Jerusalem’s tourism industry or in serving supposedly vital transportation needs, in reality the purpose of the project is to further entrench settler control in Silwan, via archeology and tourism sites, while simultaneously delegitimizing, dispossessing, and erasing the Palestinian presence there. Notably, the cable car line is slated to terminate at the settler-run Kedem Center compound (Elad’s large tourism center  at the entrance of the Silwan neighborhood, in the shadows of the Old City’s walls and Al-Aqsa Mosque). The cable car project received final approval in May 2022.

Emek Shaveh said in a statement:

“As we have repeatedly stated, this project threatens the Palestinian communities of Silwan and the timeless landscape of Jerusalem’s historic core. Over the years, its planners have failed to demonstrate that the cable car will meet any transportation need. It is clear that the project’s central motivation is to consolidate the settlers’ hold on Silwan and adjacent areas as part of an effort to displace Palestinians from the Historic Basin and reshape Jerusalem’s cultural landscape.

More specifically, the project aims to reroute tourism away from the established routes through the Muslim and Christian Quarters, bypassing the historic approaches through Damascus and Jaffa Gates and seeks to funnel visitors through the settler-controlled City of David site.

If implemented, the plan will marginalize the Muslim and Christian Quarters and threaten their economies with collapse. The initiative is underscored by a desire to undermine Jerusalem’s multicultural and multifaith character which has defined it for thousands of years, and transform the Historic Basin into a space dominated by an ultranationalist, exclusivist vision for the city.”

 

WEST BANK

E-1 Bidding Set to Close on Oct. 19th; UK To Sanction Involved Companies

The bidding period for the first tender for the construction of the E-1 settlement is set to close on October 19th, though the Israeli Attorney General and the Israel Lands Authority have said that the decision to award the bids will will not be considered until after the Oct. 27th national elections.

In conjunction with the upcoming d-day for the E-1 tender, the United Kingdom has announced sanctions regulations that would target any company involved in the financing and/or construction of the E-1 settlement. A group of U.S. Democratic Senators have also introduced similar legislation threatening to sanction any company involved with E-1. In light of the UK sanctions, Peace Now called on the Israeli authorities to warn companies and banks against even submitting a bid, owning the risks of being involved in the project.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“This tender must be canceled. Postponing the opening of the tender box does not change the fundamental fact that the Israeli government is seeking to prevent at all costs the chance for peace based on two-state solution. In fact, even under the new date set for opening the tender box, there is still a strong likelihood that contracts will be signed with contractors before a new government is formed, leaving the incoming government facing a done deal that is far harder to change. Construction in E1 not only destroys the chance for peace, but also poses a real threat to Israel’s economic stability due to economic sanctions that countries around the world intend to impose on anyone involved in the construction.”

 

New Land Allocations Procedures Announced

Peace Now reports the Civil Administration has published new procedures that commit the government to publish advance notice of its intention to allocate land in the West Bank. The change, which was spurred by Peace Now’s legal action, is meant to allow greater opportunity for Palestinians to learn about and have an opportunity to challenge Israel’s plan to allocate land for the settlements.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“For nearly 60 years, the State of Israel has treated land in the West Bank as if it could do whatever it wanted with it, without transparency and outside the rules of proper administration. As a result, the authorities have allocated approximately 99.76 percent of the land to Israelis, while Palestinians have received virtually none. This is one of the reasons Israel has been accused of maintaining an apartheid regime in the Territories. Had there been even minimal transparency in the government’s conduct there, officials might not have dared to act in such a blatant and discriminatory manner.

The road to genuine transparency remains long. The new procedure does not cover roughly half a million dunams within the jurisdiction of Israeli settlements, nor the hundreds of thousands of dunams transferred by the government to the Settlement Division. Peace Now is continuing its legal battle to require disclosure of those allocations as well.”

 

South Hebron Hills Demolitions Continue

The Israeli government has continued its campaign of demolition in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills, this time demolishing several structures in the Umm al-Khair village on October 14th. In recent weeks, Israeli forces have demolished structures in four other villages: Khirbet a-Taban, Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet al‑Fakhit, and Khirbet Khallet a‑Dabe’.

Peace Now, together with the residents of Umm al-Khair, filed a petition this week asking the High Court of Justice to order Israeli security services to protect village residents and its lands from settler violence. The petition also comes amidst the ongoing siege by settlers and the IDF on a Palestinian home and lands in the South Hebron Hills.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“It is neither the first time nor any surprise that the establishment of outposts leads to increased settler violence and harm to innocent people. The Umm al-Khair community is facing mounting pressure from harassment and violence perpetrated by residents of the Carmel settlement and nearby outposts. The takeover of private land, the blocking of access routes, and damage to infrastructure and essential communal spaces are intended to make residents’ lives unbearable and drive them out. This is forced displacement, plain and simple. The authorities are failing to provide even minimal protection and, at times, effectively enable settler actions. The Court is therefore being asked to compel the authorities to protect the land, guarantee free access to it, and prevent further harm to residents and to the fabric of life in the village.”

 

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

Key Reads on the Olive Harvest

As the olive harvest gets underway, state and settler violence is ratcheting up even further. Here are key reads to understand what’s happening in the West Bank:

• “Settler attacks reported across West Bank as Palestinians begin olive harvest” (The Times of Israel, 10/3/2026)
• “Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and Washington Post photographer in West Bank” (Washington Post, 10/16/2026)
• “Settlers beat Palestinians, US journalist in West Bank attacks: ‘They kept kicking me and kicking me’” (The Times of Israel, 10/16/2026)
• “Israeli settlers continue pogrom amid olive harvest in occupied West Bank” (Al Jazeera, 10/16/2026)
• “IDF Threatens to Close Palestinian Olive Groves if Activists Accompany Farmers” (Haaretz, 10/7/2026)
• “Settler Violence and Restrictions at the Onset of the Olive Harvest” (Yesh Din, 10/8/2026)
• “Military Orders Restrict Access to 90,000 Dunams of West Bank Olive Groves Ahead of Harvest Season” (Peace Now, 10/7/2026) 
• “‘They want to displace us’: Israel launches new demolition of West Bank olive groves” (Middle East Eye, 10/3/2026)
• “IDF completes preparations for West Bank olive harvest, as nationalist violence, clashes expected” (Jerusalem Post, 10/11/2026)
• “Top Settler Rabbi Rules Jews May Harvest Olives From Palestinian-Owned Groves” (Haaretz, 10/16/2026)
• “Herzog says Israel needs bigger police force to stop violent crime, settler attacks” (The Times of Israel, 10/12/2026)

 

BONUS READS

1. “Series: Choke Points” (Just Vision / Palestine Reporting Lab, 10/8/2026)
   1. “Choke Points” (WIRED, 10/8/2026)
   2. “The Farmer and The Settler” (Visualizing Palestine, 10/8/2026)
   3. “VIDEO: How Checkpoints Are Suffocating Life in the West Bank” (EVIDENT, 10/8/2026)
2. “Israeli Resettlement Activists Set up Outpost Near Gaza Border” (Haaretz, 10/16/2026)
3. “Some Israeli settlers use sheep as tool to push Palestinians from their West Bank homes” (CBS News, 10/11/2026)
4. “In this West Bank village, Israel won’t let Palestinians visit their dead” (Mondoweiss, 10/12/2026)
5. “’Compassionate’ Expulsion: ’60 Minutes’ Exposes Ben-Gvir’s Great Replacement Plan for Palestinians” (Haaretz, 10/15/2026)
6. “If Trump Wants to Stop Settler Violence, He Must Change the Rules of the Game” (Haaretz, 10/15/2026)

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

October 2, 2026

1. WEST BANK: E-1 Tender Postponed; Five New Settlements Inaugurated; Fourth Village in Masafer Yatta Demolished
2. INTERNATIONAL SCENE: UN Updates Business Database; U.S. Legislation Related to Israeli Settlements
3. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR: 150 Settlers Violently Prevent Return of Family to Home in Jalud
4. BONUS READS

New from FMEP:

• “The Elimination Project:” Israel’s Effort to Systematically Dismantle Palestinian Collective Life” (10/1/2026). FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak about B’Tselem’s newest report, “The Elimination Project,” which “looks at the current reality not as a collection of isolated incidents or specific harms, but as part of a comprehensive mechanism of elimination that works to dismantle the conditions for continued Palestinian existence in the West Bank, while deepening Jewish control and supremacy in an irreversible manner.” Yuli and Ahmed discuss the report, which draws from more than 2,000 interviews with Palestinians since October 2023 as well as three decades of B’Tselem’s work in the West Bank. They also talk about growing incitement to violence and the upcoming Israeli elections.

---

WEST BANK

Date for E-1 Tender Decision Postponed by Israeli AG

Israel’s Attorney General has delayed by one month the date on which the first tender for the construction of the E-1 settlement can be awarded, stopping the decision from being made until after the upcoming Israel elections scheduled for October 27th. The AG had originally suspended the tender process, but quickly changed her instructions so that companies may continue to submit bids on the project during this window, only delaying the decision date. 

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann warns this change is in fact a reversal:

“By deferring the bidding period by “a month or so,” [the AG] opened a thin crack that would allow a new government to reconsider the plan, and no forward movement by an interim government. Not huge but significant.

Today, under pressure, she reversed her decision so that the bids can be submitted, but only opened after the elections. That in essence is a reversal. At 00:01 on [October] 28 Smotrich will open those bids and we will have reached the point of no return.”

As a reminder, there are two tenders currently open for bidding that will, if awarded, result in the construction of the E-1 settlement. The second tender is set to open on October 25th and close after the elections. This tender was not affected by the AG’s instructions.

 

Five New Settlements Inaugurated This Week

Continuing the flood of inaugurations for newly approved settlements, over the past week Israeli officials attended ceremonies marking the opening of five new settlements.

On September 27th, a ceremony was held in the South Hebron Hills marking the establishment of four new settlements in the area: Makeda and Karmei Yehudah (where settlers have already taken up residence) and Meged and Maale Einav, where settlers plan to move in to soon. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Science Minister Gila Gamliel, and Settlements Minister Orit Strock all attended the event, showing the full support of the government to the rapid expansion of settlements.

On September 23rd, government officials attended a ceremony at the newly established settlement of Mezoke Eretz (formerly called the Netzah Harel outpost), located near the Palestinian city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley. The outpost was build on privately owned Palestinian land belonging, and its establishment directly resulted in the displacement of the Mu’arrajat al-Markaz bedouin community. 

The current government has approved the establishment, or retroactive legalization, of 104 new settlements over its four-year term, almost doubling the number of formally approved settlements in the West Bank. The new Mezoke Eretz settlement is one of 19 new settlements the Israeli government has legalized since 2022 that have directly resulted in the expulsion of nearby Palestinian communities.

 

Fourth Village Demolished in Masafer Yatta

For a fourth time this month, Israeli forces have completely demolished a community, Jinba, in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills. The destruction left 180 Palestinians homeless.

Jinba is one of 12 villages located in the Israeli-designated Firing Zone 918, all of which are slated for expulsion. In recent weeks, Israel has demolished four villages leaving 285 people homeless: Khirbet al-Fakheit, Khirbet Al-Taban, and now Jinba. Israel’s efforts to remove all residents from the Firing Zone area, if fulfilled, would be a war crime of forcible transfer.

 

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

It is nearly impossible to keep up with the scale and impact of settler attacks terrorizing the entire West Bank, which is only likely to continue to increase as the olive harvest season begins and the Israeli government is proving unable and unwilling to change its approach to organized settler violence. Indeed, Smotrich has called for “war” on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Breaking the Silence writes:

“At this very moment, the IDF is imposing a closure on the entire West Bank, which severely restricts Palestinian movement for “preventing terror.” And yet, actual terrorists are free to come and go. Even after committing a pogrom, the vast majority of them, if not all, will never be held accountable and will continue to terrorise Palestinians. Why? Because the state backs it”

150 Settler Riot Prevents Return of Palestinians to Jalud Home

A gang of more than 100 settlers attacked a Palestinian family attempting to return to their home in Jalud, following a court order instructing the IDF to facilitate their return. Settlers set fire to the family’s car, threw stones at the building and invaded the home while the Tubassi family was still inside. While under ongoing attack by a group of 150 settlers, 15 IDF soldiers had to remove the family from their home, and get them to safety. Settlers then set the home on fire. IDF soldiers were injured by settlers during the riot. Three settlers were detained.  In July this year, the Toubassis family had been forcibly displaced from their home in Jalud, located near Nablus, under repeated, violent settler attacks.

The massive attack drew condemnation across the Israeli political spectrum, with Netanyahu claiming the attack was led by a “small number” of settlers (Haaretz estimates 150 took part).

 

INTERNATIONAL SCENE

United Nations Adds 61 Businesses to Settlement Database

The United Nations added 61 companies to its database of businesses involved in building, maintaining, securing, and servicing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The new companies are based in 11 countries: Israel, South Africa, China, USA, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, France, UK, Germany, and Mexico. Five companies were removed from the list, so now there is now a total of 214 companies listed, of which 204 are based in Israel. Details on the 61 companies can be found here.

As a reminder, on February 12, 2020, following nearly four years of delay, the UNHRC  published a (non-comprehensive) database of businesses involved in building, maintaining, securing, and servicing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The database was requested by members of the Council in March 2016, in order to assist member states in complying with international legal obligations with regards to doing business with companies involved in activities which violate the human rights of people around the world. The publication of the database was repeatedly been delayed due to heavy pressure from Israel and the United States, neither of which are members of the Human Rights Council. Even before its publication, Israel and the U.S. argued that the database would by definition be anti-Israel and antisemitic. From the start they also labeled the database a “blacklist,” even though the database itself neither calls for nor imposes any punitive consequences on the listed businesses. 

The database was last updated in September 2025.

 

Democrats Introduce Bills Upping Pressure, Scrutiny on Israeli Settlements

Several measures have been introduced in the U.S. Congress over the past month focusing on Israeli settlement activity. Full ongoing coverage of U.S  legislation, please subscribe to Lara Friedman’s Weekly Legislative Round-Up. 

From Lara’s reporting, the bills are critical of Israeli settlements are:

1. FAR-REACHING, MANDATORY SANCTIONS ON ISRAEL FOR SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY) HR XXXX [bill text]: On 9/30/26, Representative Castro (D-CA) issues a press release – Castro, Dean, Beyer, Casar, Jacobs, Escobar to Introduce Sanctions on Drivers of Settlement Expansion. As of this writing, the bill does not yet show up in the Congressional Record.  Per the press release, the bill has at least 41 cosponsors (listed by name), and is being supported by: J Street; New Jewish Narrative; IMEU; American Committee for Middle East Rights; A New Policy; Center for International Policy; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Refugees International; and Win Without War. Also see: one-pager explaining the bill. See sponsoring members’ websites and social media accounts for statements.
2. (FAR-REACHING SANCTIONS ON ISRAELIS FOR E-1 CONSTRUCTION) S. 5476 [bill text]: Introduced 9/23/26 by Senator Coons (D-DE) and 18 Democratic cosponsors (42% of Senate Democrats), “A bill to impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons that have facilitated Israeli settlement construction in the E1 area of the West Bank.” Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. This bill would require the imposition of MANDATORY, far-reaching sanctions aimed at Israeli government officials and foreign (non-U.S.) private sector actors — including banks, investors, construction/development companies, and government officials (and establish additional discretionary sanctions other parties related to their role in E1 construction). Notably: the sanctions under this bill would NOT apply to US persons — meaning dual-national Israeli-Americans are exempted, as well as non-dual national Americans who may play a role in E1 construction. Also worth noting: the bill repeatedly references “the E1 area of the West Bank” but never defines, as a matter of law, the actual area the term applies to (“E1 is NOT an internationally recognized/defined geographic area. The term E1 is, as noted by the New York Times, “a bureaucratic designation for planning and zoning purposes, with the ‘E’ standing for ‘east of Jerusalem.’”).
3. WE NEED ANSWERS RE: WEST BANK VIOLENCE) S. Res. 852 [resolution text]: Introduced 9/14/26 by Van Hollen (D-MD) and having 25 cosponsors (24 Democrats plus Sanders, I-VT), “A resolution requesting information on Israel’s human rights practices pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.”  Rejected on the Senate floor 9/29/26 by a vote of 47-51, with all Democrats but Fetterman (D-VA) voting YES, and all Republicans but Paul (R-KY) voting NO [note that this was a procedural vote – a vote to discharge the resolution from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations – that in the case was, in effect, an up-down vote on the underlying resolution].

There is also one notable bill introduced in the U.S. Congress pushing for normalization of Israeli settlements (copied from Lara Friedman’s reporting):

1. (UNIVERSITIES MUST COOPERATE WITH GREATER ISRAEL – OR ELSE!) HR 4795: Introduced 7/29/25 by Foxx (R-NC) and Gottheimer (D-NJ), “To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution that participates in a nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel from being eligible for certain funds under that Act, to require an institution that participates in certain programs under that Act to certify that students are not unreasonably obstructed from participating in academic programs in Israel, and for other purposes.” As previously reported in the Round-Up, HR 4795 was passed by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce 6/25/26, and reported out of the Committee on Education and Workforce on 8/27/26 with a report – H. Rept. 119-780. PASSED BY THE HOUSE 9/3/26 by a roll call vote of 237-169, with 33 Democrats voting YES and 2 Republicans voting NO. 

• • My [Lara Friedman’s] short comment on passage of this bill: “…The road to erasing US right to free speech/protest of ANYTHING in the US is quite literally being paved with laws to protect/promote Greater Israel/Israeli impunity.”

 

Bonus Reads

1. “Settlers divert West Bank spring waters as Israel pushes heritage site takeovers” (Times of Israel, 9/26/2026)
2. “King of the Hills: how one man is reshaping the West Bank” (Ynet, 9/28/2026)
3. “The ‘gray arm’ of Israeli annexation” (+972 Magazine, 9/26/2026)
4. “Under Siege: The West Bank After October 7” (Al-Shabaka, 9/23/2026)
5. “The 2026 Israeli Elections: Consolidation of Annexation Policies, Repression, and Forced Displacement in the Occupied West Bank” (Balasan Initiative, 9/29/2026)
6. “For Palestinians, Being an Israeli Citizen Doesn’t Mean You’re Safe From Settlers” (Haaretz, 9/30/2026)
7. “Israeli settlers target a Ramallah road, and the city’s future with it” (Mondoweiss, 10/2/2026)
8. “A U.S. Jewish Fund’s Ambitious Bid to Put a Settler Elite in Control of Israel’s Security” (Haaretz, 10/1/2026)
9. “Israeli passengers stopped, searched at Dutch airport as West Bank import crackdown begins” (Jerusalem Post, 8/27/2026)

 

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

September 18, 2026

1. WEST BANK: Second E-1 Tender Set to Open, Court Freezes WB Land Registraiton Tender, Update from Qusra, New B’Tselem Report: “The Elimination Project”
2. BONUS READS

---

NEW FROM FMEP

• PODCAST: What Will Sanctions on Israel do? ft. FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart in conversation with international lawyer Itay Epshtain about the recent decision by 12 countries, led by the UK and France and including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, to UK, to impose sanctions on Israel, including import bans on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

WEST BANK

Second  E-1 Tender Set to Open

On September 16th, the Israeli government announced it will soon open a bidding period for a second tender for the construction of the E-1 settlement area. This new tender provides for the construction of 2,167 new settlement units, adding to the 1,234 units attached to the first tender for E-1 which was published less than one month ago, The new tender is set to open on October 25th, just two days before the Israeli elections. Together, the two tenders provide for the construction of the entire E-1 settlement as planned.

Ir Amim also reports the Israeli government updated the publication date for a third tender related to the E-1 area to provide for the construction of an employment and commercial zone. This tender is now set to open on November 2nd.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The Israeli government is making a deliberate effort to tie the hands of the next government and make it as difficult as possible to halt the E1 project, even if the next government wants to do so. It is seeking to create facts on the ground that will make any future political agreement guaranteeing peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians even harder to achieve.

Following the UK announcement last week, should Israeli companies and institutions choose to participate in and cooperate with these tenders, they risk being subjected to UK sanctions, potentially causing further damage to the Israeli economy as a whole.

Beyond the direct damage to the possibility of ever reaching a two-state solution, and thus to Israel’s security, it seems that nothing in this world could cause greater collateral damage to Israel’s economy and our foreign relations than the actions of the Israeli government itself, particularly its actions regarding E1.”

Court Freezes Tender for West Bank Land Registration

The Jerusalem District Court has issued an order temporarily freezing a tender that was issued for the job of managing land registration across the West Bank. The tender was challenged by a petition filed by a trio of Israeli human rights groups – Yesh Din, ACRI, and Bimkom

Qusra Update

Palestinians in Qusra remain trapped in their homes and their village as the IDF has failed to keep settlers freely roaming the hillsides of Qusra, threatening violence against any Palestinians who venture out. In the month since the IDF dismantled two outposts settlers had built outside the two homes, the military has failed to enforce a close military zone order to keep the settlers away from the village – though the order has been enforced to keep Palestinians from leaving their homes. Settles have also taken up residence in buildings inside of Qusra, including a multistory building under construction – using the village’s own buildings as outposts inside Area B.

Rather than removing the settlers, the IDF soldiers are regularly seen speaking cordially with the settlers, and were filmed celebrating Rosh Hashanah with the settlers.

In addition, the IDF arrested a Palestinian American reporter (a young mother of three) whose coverage had focused on the ongoing siege on Qusra. Israel has said the reporter, Naqaa Hamed, has been placed under administrative detention (so, imprisoned with no charge) for at least six days.

B’Tselem Report: Israel Is Carrying Out Systematic Ethnic Cleansing in West Bank

B’Tselem has published a new report calling Israel’s policies and actions in the West Bank ethnic cleansing. The report, entitled “The Elimination Project” documents and explains what B’Tselem identifies as five mutually reinforcing mechanisms that Israeli is using to dismantle Palestinian collective existence in the West Bank and to establish a permanent, contiguous Jewish-Israeli presence and sovereignty. Those five mechanisms are:

1. Violence and intimidation: Israel is using military forces and armed settler militias to impose violence, fear and coercion. From 7 October 2023 through 31 August 2026, Israel killed 1,107 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 245 children.
2. Ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover: Israel is using military operations, demolitions and state-backed settler farms and outposts to drive Palestinians from their land and expand Jewish presence there. To date, 75 Palestinian communities have been forcibly displaced; settler farms and outposts have taken control of 1.07 million dunams of land (18% of the West Bank); and about 33,000 Palestinians have been displaced from refugee camps in the northern West Bank.
3. Movement restrictions: Israel is fragmenting Palestinian space through checkpoints, gates and roadblocks. By the end of 2025, OCHA documented 925 movement obstacles throughout the West Bank.
4. Economic strangulation: Israel is using its control over employment, Palestinian revenues, finance and infrastructure to deepen economic crisis and dependence. Unemployment rose from 13.1% in 2022 to over 31% in 2024, amid mass permit revocations and intensified withholding of revenues.
5. Social and political destruction: Israel criminalizes political organizing, raids and shuts down civil society offices, suppresses protests and arrests activists, students and journalists. Since October 2023, Israel has arrested at least 60 Palestinian journalists from the West Bank.

In the New York Times, B’Tselem’s Executive Director Yuli Novak writes: 

“The word we settled on to describe what these seemingly separate acts add up to is “elimination.” The logic of elimination does not require every Palestinian to disappear. It seeks to make Palestinian collective life increasingly impossible while securing permanent Israeli Jewish control. In Gaza, the logic of elimination has taken its most extreme form: genocide. In the West Bank, it dismantles the conditions that allow Palestinians to remain on their land and live as a society and a people.

And yet, even as Israel states its goals openly, international governments and institutions keep recasting those aims in conventional political language: a conflict to be managed, an occupation expected to end, an extremist government that needs to be restrained. That reframing lets governments condemn violence without confronting the system behind it. It lets them remain within a reassuring political story, rather than facing their obligations under international law and exerting the sustained pressure it would take to reverse it. It obscures the larger reality: a new phase of the political project to make Israeli Jewish control permanent while dismantling the conditions for Palestinian collective life.”

BONUS READS

1. “A West Bank-style settler outpost comes to northern Israel” (+972 Magazine, 9/17/2026)
2. “From Hilltops to Houses: A New Phase of Israeli Settlement Expansion” (Arab Center DC, 9/18/2026)
3. “Israel merges two settler outposts near Jerusalem, furthering the fragmentation of the West Bank” (Mondowess, 9/14/2026)
4. ““Mishmar Yehuda”: From an Outpost to a Massive Settlement, Linking E1 and E2 Settlement Projects While Marking the Largest Land Seizure in Bethlehem in Decades” (Balasan Initiative, 9/9/2026)
5. “Besieging Palestinian Communities: Escalated Pattern of Settler Terror and Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank” (Balasan Initiative, 9/17/2026)
6. “Israel Razes Homes in Three West Bank Villages Inside Firing Zone, Displacing Over 100 Palestinians” (Haaretz, 9/14/2026)
7. “Israeli Soldier on Leave Arrested After Firing Toward West Bank Village” (Haaretz, 9/13/2026)
8. “Police Officer Tied to Illegal West Bank Antiquities Thefts Also Visited Area B Cave” (Haaretz, 9/15/2026)

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

September 11, 2026

1. WEST BANK: Three Outposts “Legalized,” Court Rejects E-1 Emergency Petition, Israel Demolishes Another Village in South Hebron Hills, Reports Say Bib Ordered 100 Outposts Removed, Govt Requests More Funds for WB Land Registration; New Joint Report on Ethnic Cleansing Extending to Areas A & B
2. EAST JERUSALEM: New Hotel in Abu Tor/Silwan
3. INTERNATIONAL SCENE: UK, France & Canada Annouce Ban on Trade with Israeli Settlements
4. BONUS READS

---

WEST BANK

High Planning Council Advances Plans for 1,670 New Settlement Units Including “Legalization” of Three Outposts

Peace Now reports the Israeli High Planning Council convened on September 9th and advanced plans for 1,670 settlement units, including plans that would “legalize” three outposts as new settlements. 

The three new settlements are:

• Adei Ad: The illegal Adi Ad outpost was granted final authorization under the guise of being a “neighborhood” of the nearby Amichai settlement though the built up areas are non-contiguous. The government announced its intention to legalize Adei Ad in 2018. Adei Ad is located in the northern West Bank’s Shiloh Valley and is known for its extreme violence to nearby Palestinian communities including Turmusayya and Jalud.. In 2013, Yesh Din published a full report on Adei Ad as a case study on how violent outposts dispossess Palestinians.
• Ein Yitav West: The Ein Yitav outpost was granted retroactive legalization for 281 settlement units. The new settlement is located in the Jordan Valley, near the Ein Yitav settlement but a distance from its borders. The outpost is adjacent to the Palestinian community of Ras Ein al-Auja, which was coerced by violent settler terrorism to abandon its homes and lands in January 2026. 
• Ma’oz: Located in the northern West Bank near Jenin.

The settlement plans include:

• Ma’ale Amos: final approval for 365 settlement units. Ma’ale Amos is located between Bethlehem and Hebron.
• Talmon: final approval for 200 settlement units. Talmon is located northwest of Ramallah.
• Givat Ze’ev: a plan for 2 settlement units was deposited for public review. Givat Zeev is located south of Ramallah in an area that is on the Israeli side of the barrier.
• Pedu’el: a plan for 95 units was deposited for public review. Peduel is located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley.
• Alei Zahav: a plan for 259 settlement was deposited for public review. Alei Zahav is also located ina string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley.

 

Court Rejects Request for Interim Injunction Against E-1 Tender

The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a request for an interim injunction to stop the tender process for the E-1 settlement, ruling that the Court has ample time to consider the underlying petition without interfering in the tender process. The petition was filed by Palestinian communities who stand to be forcibly displaced by the E-1 plan along with four Israeli organizations. It argues 

As it stands the State is ordered to respond to the petition in writing by September 24th. A tender for the construction of 1,234 settlement units at the E-1 site is set to close on October 19th, at which time the government can issue construction contracts.

Ir Amim writes:

“It should be underscored that the court’s decision effectively facilitates the government’s efforts in exploiting the final months of its term to establish facts on the ground to create a near-irreversible reality ahead of the elections. The decision further underscores the limits of domestic avenues in preventing the advancement of E1 and reinforces the urgency of international intervention and accountability.

Meaningful international action is therefore necessary to uphold international law, ensure compliance with the obligations set out in the ICJ’s 2024 Advisory Opinion, and guarantee that measures advancing settlements, annexation, and forcible displacement carry concrete consequences. This period is particularly critical, as further progress in the tender process could significantly narrow the window for effective intervention.”

 

Israel Destroys Another South Hebron Hills Village

On September 8th Israeli forces demolished the village of Khirbet al-Fakheit, located in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills, leaving 35 residents forcibly displaced. Israeli forced demolished homes and livestock buildings, destroyed water tanks and solar panels, and filled in a water well in attempts to prevent the village from reestablishing a presence on the land.

The demolition comes one week after the nearby Khirbet Al-Taban was similarly demolished. Like all the villages in Masafer Yatta, the recently demolished villages were located in Firing Zone 918 and have been targeted for demolition for years. Israel’s efforts to remove all residents from the Firing Zone area, if fulfilled, would be a war crime of forcible transfer.

 

Reports: Netanyahu Orders Removal of 100 Outposts

Ynet has reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu has issued an order to dismantle roughly 100 outposts across the West Bank, of which 15-20 are located in Areas A & B. The order was reportedly issued under pressure from the U.S. to stem settler violence. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a press conference that Nethanyahu gave “an instruction to evict places built in Areas A and B,” which would be a more limited effort as compared to what was reported by Ynet.

 

Finance Ministry Request More Budget for Land Registration Effort

Peace Now reports the Israeli Finance Ministry has requested the Knesset allocate an additional nearly $12 million (NIS 36.3 million) to fund land registration across the West Bank, a process that will lead to Israel’s annexation of vast tracts of West Bank land.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“The government is using the election period to push through measures that would create far-reaching and destructive facts on the ground. Land registration in the West Bank would amount to full annexation and a massive land grab from Palestinians. Registering the land would transfer ownership of the vast majority of Area C to Israel, while Palestinians would in practice have no ability to exercise their property rights. It is no coincidence that international law prohibits land registration in occupied territory, and that Israel itself issued an order suspending such procedures after 1967.”

Joint Report on Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of the West Bank

In a new report “Maximum Land, Minimum Population” three leading Israeli human rights groups show that outposts, settlements, settler and military violence and movement restrictions are not separate phenomena, but parts of a mechanism that serves Israel’s declared policy: annexing as much of the West Bank as possible while leaving as few of its Palestinian residents as possible. The report looks at the systematically cruel and racist tactics used to displace Palestinians, and how these tactics which were previously used mainly against isolated communities in Area C, are now directed at the entire Palestinian population in the West Bank.

The groups call this ethnic cleansing, a war crime under international law.

The report was jointly authored by Yesh Din, Bimkom & HaMoked.

 

EAST JERUSALEM

Plans Advance for a New Hotel in Abu-Tor/Silwan

Ir Amim reports that Israel is advancing a plan for the construction of a 39-room hotel on the northern edge of the Palestinian neighborhood of Abu-Tor neighborhood in East Jerusalem overlooking Silwan. While the plan was submitted by two Palestinian brothers, Ir Amim says there are indications that settlers are involved, noting that the proposed site for the hotel would be more easily accessed via one of the Elad settler groups’ facilities rather than through the Abu-Tor neighborhood due to the poor road conditions there (due to decades of Israeli neglect).

Ir Amim further reports:

“Although the plan was formally submitted by two Palestinian brothers, there are indications that settlers may be involved. It is a known practice for settler organizations to use Palestinians as intermediaries or front men to obscure the true nature and beneficiaries of real estate transactions. The two brothers, who have a serious criminal record, claim to have purchased the plot from its original owners—a Palestinian family from Silwan. Transaction documents indicate that the brothers were represented by an Israeli attorney who had, in a previous case, represented a Palestinian involved in assisting settler organizations in the acquisition of Palestinian-owned land.

Moreover, the Jerusalem Municipality joined the two brothers in submitting the hotel plan. While there are instances in which the municipality collaborates with private landowners in the submission of planning schemes, this is generally limited to large-scale neighborhood development plans. Ir Amim is not aware of any previous case where the municipality has co-submitted a hotel plan together with private individuals. Furthermore, when the municipality does participate in the submission of planning schemes or zoning plans, it typically does so only in plans submitted by Israeli landowners (not by Palestinian landowners), making this case particularly noteworthy.”

 

INTERNATIONAL SCENE

UK, France, and Canada Issue Broad Sanctions Targeting Israeli Settlement Enterprise

On September 8th, the United Kingdom announced a ban on imports from Israeli settlements – with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband saying violent settlers are carrying out the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. Miliband also expressly acknowledged Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and that there is increasing evidence of war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. Canada and France announced it plans to follow the UK in imposing a settlement trade ban.

The trade ban on items produced in Israeli settlements is widely interpreted to be a symbolic move, one that will not likely affect the bilateral trade between the countries to a significant extent. Many Palestinians are skeptical that the trade ban will be implemented or that, if implemented, it will make a difference in the fate that awaits them in the West Bank. 

In response, Israel has announced that it will close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem, amongst other measures.

 

BONUS READS

1. “IDF Officials Warn Army Will Struggle to Defend New Israeli West Bank Settlements” (Haaretz, 9/9/2026)
2. “Israel’s new West Bank separation wall closes in on Palestinian communities” (+972 Magazine, 9/9/2026)
3. “As settler violence surges, some ask whether Israel can’t crack down, or simply won’t” (The Times of Israel, 9/11/2026)
4. “The Israeli right is rekindling a Zionist classic: Judaizing the Galilee” (972 Magazine, 9/7/2026)
5. “Israeli Settler Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Killing Palestinian Woman in 2018” (Haaretz, 9/9/2026)

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

September 4, 2026

1. WEST BANK: Three New Settlements Inaugurated, Major “State Land” Declarations for Outpost Legalizations, New Seizure Order for Bi’ilin, Israel Expels Khirbet al-Taban
2. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR
3. BONUS READS

---

WEST BANK

Three New Settlements: Noa, Maqada, Ma’ale Arugot

Three new settlements were inaugurated this week by Israeli officials. Two of the settlements, Noa and Maqada, were approved for construction in March 2026, when the government approved a total of 34 new settlements. It took just five months from the time of approval to construction.

1. Noa: Located in the northern West Bank near Jenin, the Noa settlement is surrounded on three sides by Area A. Even ahead of the ceremony, the land has been cleared and mobile homes have been moved to the site. Earlier this year, in preparation for the Noa settlement, the IDF approved the construction of a road inside of Area A in order to connect the settlement site to the new Emek Dotan settlement to its north. In total, there are 19 new settlements planned for the area surrounding Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to Peace Now, this is the first time since the Oslo Accords that Israel has used a military seizure order to take land in Area A for a civilian construction project, without any pretext of security.
2. Maqada: Located west of Hebron on a narrow strip of land considered to be Area C, where Palestinians are currently living. Maqada is one of three new settlements planned for that area, which will combine with the already built Negohot settlement to completely bring the area under tight Israeli control, bringing new Israeli roads and infrastructure to the area. The other two new settlements, Meged and Ma’aleh Anav, are expected to be established in the coming months. Co-founder of Breaking the Silence, Yehuda Shaul, notes the inauguration of the Maqada settlement was attended by representatives of the World Zionist Organizaiton, the Amana settler group, and heads of the settlement Regional Councils.
3. Ma’ale Arugot: Located near Bethlehem. In inauguration the settlement, Israeli Minister Smotrich said this is part of his settlement revolution, a plan to bring 1 million settlers to the West Bank.

According to Prime Minister Netanyahy, since coming to power in 2022 his government has established 84 new settlements and 150 outposts. 

Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Heba Morayef, said:

“These latest confiscation orders from Area A show how Israel is now brazenly expanding its annexation agenda to areas that have been under the control of the Palestinian authorities since the Oslo Accords. States with close trade and political relationships with the Israeli government must urgently take action to pressure Israel to rescind these land confiscation orders. Any states providing assistance to Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements or other war crimes risk complicity in international crimes against Palestinians.

“By building new roads linking settlements to one another, Israel is carving up the Jenin governorate into isolated cantons, undermining the area’s geographical and economic integrity and tearing Palestinian communities apart; further fragmenting them and restricting their freedom of movement. Alongside Israel’s forcible transfer and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Area C, these measures illustrate in action the Israeli authorities’ determination to intensify its formal annexation of Palestinian land across the occupied West Bank.”

 

Israel Declares 1,522 Dunams to be “State Land” in order to Legalize Two Outposts

Israel’s rapid legalization of outposts continued this week with the declaration of 1,522 dunams of land to be “state land” so that two outposts that were illegally built on that land can be retroactively legalized. The two outposts that are in the process of being legalized are:

1. Givat Harel: located south of Nablus on lands belonging to the Palestinian villages of Sinjil, Luban a-Sharqiya, and Qariyut. With the “state land” declaration, Smotrich announced the outpost will be renamed “Carmei Oz.”
2. Keidar South/Mishmar Yehuda: located just east of Jerusalem on lands belonging to Abu Dis and as-Sawahra a-Sharquiya. With this state land declaration, the Keidar South outposts will be connected to the land where a new settlement, Mishmar Yehuda, is planned to be built. The area is part of the Israeli government’s plan to control the area east of Jerusalem where the E-1 settlement is planned to be built.

Peace Now reports that the government has declared 28,641 duman to be state land since December 2022.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Netanyahu and Smotrich are determined to fight against the entire world and against the interests of Israel’s citizens for the sake of a handful of settlers who are handed thousands of dunams as a gift — land taken from Palestinians through disgraceful means. This is another government grab before the election, in a race to create more and more facts on the ground that will make it harder for Israel to reach peace. Today it is clear to everyone that this conflict cannot be resolved without a political agreement that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, yet the Israeli government chooses instead to make this more difficult and move us further away from the possibility of peace and an end to the bloodshed.”

Israel Siezes Land from Bi’ilin for New Road

+972 Magazine reports the Israeli army is planning to seize land belonging to the Palestinian village of Bil’in in order to build a new “security road” connecting the settlements of Modi’in Illit to the outpost Sde Ephraim, which is in the process of being retroactively legalized. While the road is ostensibly for IDF use, settlers routinely use the current dirt road that the plan seeks to pave. The road can also pave the way for new settlements and outposts in the area.

Muammad Khatib, who has been a leader in Bilin’s popular resistance activism, told +972 Magazine:

“They claim it’s a security road to Jabal Al-Risan [the hilltop on which Sde Ephraim was established], but it isn’t. It’s a settlement road. The aim is to create a settlement corridor, expand Israeli settlement toward Bil’in, seize around 600 dunams, and establish additional outposts. 

Bil’in was a symbol of popular resistance. The struggle succeeded in reclaiming a large portion of the village’s land and preventing the establishment of a planned major expansion [of Modi’in Illit]…The goal is to shatter the symbol that Bil’in has become. They want to send a message that says, ‘We are in control; we will decide the fate of these lands.’”

Israel Demolishes Khirbet Al-Taban in South Hebron Hills

On September 2nd the Israeli Civil Administration carried out the forcible displacement of the Khirbet a-Taban bedouin community in the South Hebron Hills. 12 homes and many livestock structures were demolished, leaving 70 people homeless, deprived of their means of income, banished from their lands. This is the 66th Palestinian community expelled from their land since October 2023. An additional 18 communities have been partially displaced.

The Jewish Currents news desk reported:

“Israeli authorities on Wednesday flattened the West Bank village of Khirbet al-Taban, home to more than 70 Palestinians. Officials arrived at the tiny hamlet in the South Hebron Hills on Wednesday morning, ordered residents to leave their homes, and proceeded to destroy all 12 of the village’s cinder-block houses, nine sheep pens, 15 water tanks, a wheeled water tanker, and other village infrastructure, leaving virtually nothing standing. Israeli authorities also sealed up nearby caves to keep residents from taking shelter there. Video from the scene shows three yellow construction vehicles tearing through steel and concrete.

Khirbet al-Taban is located in Masafer Yatta, a region near Hebron that includes the villages of Tuba, which settlers burned in an arson attack in August, and Umm al-Khair, where the activist Awdah Hathaleen was shot to death by a settler last year. (Scroll down for a report from Basel Adra on livestock thefts in and around Masafer Yatta.) Much of Masafer Yatta, including Khirbet al-Taban, lies within an area the military decreed a “firing zone” in the 1980s, a designation the Israeli authorities have used to justify ongoing efforts to depopulate villages that have existed, in many cases, since long before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. “Settler outposts in the area continue to proliferate, while the Israeli escalation against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta only continues, especially in recent weeks,” my colleague Maya Rosen told me Wednesday. “A large-scale demolition also occurred in the nearby village of al-Fakhit two weeks ago. Yesterday’s demolition in al-Taban is the largest in the region since the destruction of Khalet a-Daba’ last year.”

After Israeli authorities reduced the village to rubble on Wednesday, men in Khirbet al-Taban worked to set up a large tent to shelter the villagers for the night. “The State of Israel cites formal arguments such as ‘living in a firing zone’ and ‘violating planning and building laws’ to justify its policy in Masafer Yatta,” the Israeli human rights group B’tselem wrote in its report on the demolition. “These are false claims, meant to conceal Israel’s aspirations to take over the land for its own purposes and use it to benefit the Jewish population only.””

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

Major Settler Attacks this Week: Al-Mughayyir, Jalud, Bizzariya

Settlers have continued their violent attacks on PAlestinian communities across the West Bank. A few of the attacks include:

• Al-Mughayyir: On September 2nd, settlers and IDF soldiers raided the besieged town of al-Mugghayir, located in the central West Bank near Ramallah. Two Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by the raiding forces. Al-Mughayyir has been near constantly terrorized by settlers, leading +972 Magazine to call the village “a laboratory of Israeli ethnic cleansing.” The village lives under curfew and the main road into the village is blocked off.
• Jalud: On August 29th, settlers violently attacked an elderly Palestinian women and an NBC news crew which was in Jalud to interview the woman regarding the impact of settler violence and land confiscations. Jalud is located near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
• Bizzariya: On September 1st, settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Bizzariya, located near Nablus. Settlers also spraypainted various phrases on nearby buildings, saying things like ““Evacuations [of outposts] = trouble. You’ve been warned,” and “Regards to Huckabee from the terrorists.”

BONUS READS

1. “Israel Isn’t Debating a Palestinian State. It’s Preparing for Expulsion” (Haaretz, 9/1/2026)
2. “To Save My Home, I Fly the American Flag” (New York Times, 9/2/2026)
3. “Qusra Under Siege” (The New York Review, 9/24/2026)
4. “Under Israel’s watch, Palestinian gangs are sowing chaos in the West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 8/25/2026)
5. “These Generals Fought for Israel. Now They See ‘Jewish Terrorism’ as the Threat.” (New York Times, 8/31/2026)
6. “Is West Bank Settler Terror Really the Work of a Handful of Teenagers?” (Haaretz, 8/28/2026)
7. “Backed by the Government and Army, Israeli Settlers Gain a Foothold in West Bank’s Area B” (Haaretz, 8/30/2026)
8. “New Maps Show How Israel Has Thwarted Hopes for a Palestinian State” (The New Yorker, 8/29/2026)
9. “Militarized Industrial Policy and Israeli Surveillance Firms” (7amleh, 9/1/2026)
10. “Israeli Settlers Blast Trance Music at Him Day and Night. He Just Smiles” (Haaretz, 9/4/2026)
11. “Who are the ‘Hilltop Girls’ behind Israel’s ‘soft settlement’ strategy?” (Al Jazeera, 9/3/2026)

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

August 28, 2026

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

---

WEST BANK

IDF Formalizing Siege on Qusra

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

Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti writes:

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

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

Palestinian journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud writes:

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

 

Settlers Expand Outpost Near Bethlehem

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

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

 

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

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

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

Read the full report online.

 

BONUS READS

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

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

August 21, 2026

1. WEST BANK: E-1 Tender Published; Kadim Settlement Reestablished; Groups File Petition to Stop West Bank Land Registration; Ben Gvir Wants WB Powers
2. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM: Qusra, Al-Mughayyir, Sa’ir
3. BONUS READS

---

WEST BANK

Israel Publishes Construction Tender for Dooms-Day E-1 Settlement

On August 18th, the Israeli Lands Authority published one tender for the construction of 1,234 settlement units in the E-1 settlement, planned to be built on a stretch of land east of Jerusalem that would split the West Bank in half and entirely surround East Jerusalem with Israeli settlement areas. Now, construction companies will bid on the construction project, with the bidding set to end on October 19th – just 8 days before the scheduled Israeli elections.

A petition against the E-1 settlement plan remains pending at the Jerusalem District Court, a petition which was filed on behalf of the bedouin communities living on the lands where E-1 is planned and which stand to be forcibly displaced to make way for the new settlement. Ir Imim explains that as part of the ongoing proceedings the State is required to provide notices to the petitioners ahead of the publication of tenders on the project, but the State provided no such notice ahead of the publication of one tender on August 18th. Ir Amim speculates that 

“The 1,234 units represent nearly half of the 3,401 units approved for the E1 project. Rather than opening the existing tender (No. 460/2025) which covers the entire approved number of housing units, the State has just issued a new and separate tender for only part of the overall total and opened it immediately for bidding. This move appears to have been intentionally designed to mislead the public and circumvent the State’s commitment to provide advance notice made in ongoing court proceedings.

It it should be underscored that even this partial implementation would create irreversible facts on the ground, fundamentally altering the geographic and strategic character of the area — severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem.”
The bedouin petitioners, which are represented and joined by several Israeli groups including Peace Now, Ir Amim, and Bimkom, have filed a request that the Jerusalem District Court issue an interim injunction to freeze the tender and to prevent the government from issuing any additional tenders until the petition has been settled by the Court.

An array of Western governments have also stepped up their efforts to pressure Israel to stop the construction. Most notably, the European Union is reported to have prepared a slate of sanctions against Israeli commerce, academics and security companies and will start demanding products from Israel be labelled as “Made in Israel” in addition to its existing requirements that settlement producers be labelled clearly “Product from the West Bank (Israeli settlement).”

Peace Now explains the significance of the E-1 plan:

“When announcing the E1 plan in August 2025, Bezalel Smotrich was explicit: ‘This reality definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state.’

E1 sits at one of the most strategically consequential points in the West Bank, between East Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.

Building there would connect Ma’ale Adumim more closely to Jerusalem, cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank, and fracture Palestinian territorial continuity between north and south.

That is why E1 has been treated for decades as a red line. Once built, it would reshape the West Bank’s geography in a way that could make a viable two-state agreement much harder to achieve.”

 

Ministers Celebrate Re-Establishment of Kadim Settlement, Completing Erasure of 2005 Disengagement from Northern West Bank

Settler leaders continued the string of celebrations at new settlements in the northern West Bank, this time at the settlement of Kadim – one of the four settlements dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005 but now, after years of settler advocacy and legal backbending, are being re-established. Kadim is the last of the four settlements to be reestablished, and Ynet reports thirty families moved into the Kadim settlement this week. Kadim is located east of Jenin, and is amongst the 19 new settlements between Jenin and Nablus, which are designed to affect the total fragmentation of the northern West Bank.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana a, settler leader Yossi Dagan said:

“The spirit of settlement and the people of Israel are stronger than any withdrawal/ We are not only bringing life back to Kadim, but rewriting the future of northern Samaria through construction, expansion and a firm hold on our land. This is a determined Zionist response that makes clear: We have returned home, and this time to stay and grow twentyfold. We are raising the flag again, closing the circle and continuing to build Samaria with full force.”

 

Groups File Petition to Stop West Bank Land Registration

Yesh Din reports that it joined Bimkom and ACRI to file a petition against the Israeli government’s plan to conduct land registration – via a process called Settlement of Land Title (SOLT) – in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Specifically the petition, filed in June 2026, challenges the government’s move to outsource the registration process to a private company by opening a tender for the job. The petition came weeks after the government announced that it launched an electronic registration system for the “Land Registry and Settlement of Rights” for Area C of the West Bank. The online system is an instrument for the implementation of a February 2026 decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet to publish the West Bank land registry and to revive a “State Land Acquisition Committee.” These moves are best understood as a way to annex the West Bank, to help facilitate settler claims over disputed and/or unregistered land, and to spur the proactive government purchases of West Bank land for the purpose of settlement expansion. 

Yesh Din explains:

“The petition challenges the tender arguing that the Ministry of Justice lacks any legal authority to conduct land registration in the West Bank, much less authority to delegate this power to other parties, where such powers remain under the military commander as per prescribed International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Moreover, land registration proceedings in the West Bank have been suspended since 1968 and the tender seeks to implement a future government policy before the necessary legal changes have been enacted.

The petition further argues that the tender is unlawful on several grounds. First, it constitutes the privatization of core governmental powers by transferring public functions to a private entity. Second, it discriminates against Palestinians residing in the West Bank by unlawfully excluding them from participating as it is conducted under Israeli domestic procurement law rather than the military legal framework under IHL. The petition contends that comprehensive land registration may only take place with permanent sovereign authority and risks facilitating the appropriation of Palestinian land.

Alongside these principal claims, the petition requested an interim injunction to freeze the tender process before contracts are awarded and irreversible facts are created on the ground. Although the District Court acknowledged that the petition raises distinct legal questions, it postponed ruling on the injunction pending developments in those separate proceedings.  Unfortunately, the HCJ has also decided not to issue an injunction at this time, thus, allowing the tender process to continue and create irreversible administrative and legal realities before the courts have had an opportunity to determine its legality.”

 

Following Katz’s Call for Civilian Policing in West Bank, Ben-Gvir Wants Even More Power

Following his call last week to transfer all civilian law enforcement powers with regard to Israeli settlers from the domain of the Civil Administration to the Israeli police, Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir (who is the head of the Israeli police) has upped the stakes – and called assume total responsibility for the West Bank, specifically asking for authority to hold enemies of the state in detention without trial (administrative detention).

 

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

Major Settler Attacks this Week: Qusra, Al-Mughayyir, Sa’ir

Settlers continued to terrorize the West Bank, including major attacks on the following towns:

• Qusra: Settlers continued their no 13-day siege on several Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra.The situation of the Palestinian families trapped in their homes with little to no ability to receive visitors and supplies continues to deteriorate. 
• Al-Mughayyir: Settlers attacked the village of Al-Mughayyir near Ramallah, leaving six Palestinians injured. According to reports, dozens of settlers attacked Palestinians working their land by firing tear gas at them. Al-Mughayyir has been near constantly terrorized by settlers, leading +972 Magazine to call the village “a laboratory of Israeli ethnic cleansing.”
• Sa’ir: Settlers opened fire on Palestinians, killing one Palestinian teenager and wounding another man. The settlers were reportedly on a “hike” in the area (which is in Area B) and Palestinians gathered to throw stones at the settlers to get them to leave. Settlers also allegedly set fire to one building in Sa’ir. Some reports suggest that Israeli security officials might have fired the deadly shot.
• Taybeh: Settlers and uniformed Israeli soldiers have continued to regularly terrorize the village of Taybeh, where the Israeli army has issued a closed military order on the whole village. In practice, this order has allowed the IDF to prevent activists and humanitarians from entering the village while still allowing settlers to carry out their violence.

BONUS READS

1. “Israel-Backed Settler Violence Drives Displacement: Record Year for Settler Attacks on Palestinians” (Human Rights Watch, 8/21/2026)
2. “Israel’s roadblocks are choking emergency care in the West Bank” (972 Magazine, 8/13/2026)
3. “‘Destroying agriculture is the purpose’: How Israel is drying up the West Bank’s most fertile farmlands” (Mondoweiss, 8/18/2026)
4. “There Is No Israeli Settlement Without Violence – Even the ‘Mainstream’ Ones” (Haaretz, 8/17/2026)
5. “Violent Israeli settlers want to provoke a Palestinian uprising” (The Economist, 8/17/2026)
6. “Besieged by Israeli settlers and cut off from the outside world, Palestinian families on a West Bank hilltop refuse to leave” (Mondoweiss, 8/21/2026)

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

August 14, 2026

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

---

WEST BANK

The Noose Around Jenin Tightens

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

Tender for 627 New Settlement Units in the Kochav Yaakov Settlement

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Peace Now writes in said in a statement:

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

 

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Settlers Lay Siege to Qusra

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

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

CNN reports:

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

BONUS READ

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

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

August 7, 2026

1. EAST JERUSALEM: E-1 Update; Settlers Take Over Old City Property
2. WEST BANK: Mass Demolitions Target Al-Walaja; Beit El School Opens to “Rehab” Hilltop Youth
3. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM: Mass Attack on Tuba; Yinon Levy Indicted

---

EAST JERUSALEM

E-1 Update: Tenders Not Published (Yet)

The Israeli government announced that the publication of two tenders for construction of the E-1 settlement has been delayed but is expected to be published “in two to three months, or sooner.” The two tenders providing for the construction of 3,401 settlement units and for hte construction of an industrial zone were expected to be published on August 5th. The State notified Peace Now, Ir Amim and Bimkom of the delay in publication because the organizations jointly have a petition pending with the government against the E-1 plan.

The organizations put out a joint statement warning that this is not to be taken as good news, saying:

“It should be underscored that the carefully chosen language of the state attorney’s response commits the state to nothing, while deliberately fostering ambiguity. Nevertheless, it is clear that the government remains intent on opening the tenders prior to the upcoming elections to solidify an irreversible reality on the ground.”

Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Danny Seidemann writes:

“While there is no reason to doubt the State Attorneys’ notice, it remains clear that the publication will indeed take place in the near future. The fact that Israel is in an election cycle, with Netanyahu’s coalition parties competing for the role of “standard bearer” of West Bank settlements, it is not inconceivable that interested parties will force publication in the heat of the election campaign.”

 

Settlers Displace, Replace Elderly Family in Jerusalem’s Old City

Peace Now reports that settlers affiliated with the Ateret Cohanim organization have taken over a home in Jerusallem’s Old City after evicting its Palestinian owners, the elderly Basha family who had lived there since the 1930s. An Israeli Court ruled that the property belongs to a Jewish religious trust that owned and operated a religious school at the property a century ago.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“This is an injustice that cries out to heaven. While hundreds of thousands of Israelis live securely in properties that belonged to Palestinians before 1948, the law in East Jerusalem allows Palestinians to be dispossessed of homes that belonged to Jews before 1948. The government has established a mechanism for the dispossession and expulsion of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and the General Custodian, a governmental body, has become a central executive arm of this policy. In addition to dozens of eviction lawsuits filed in recent years against Palestinians, the Custodian has also initiated and advanced plans for new settlements within Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem.”

WEST BANK

Mass Demolition Orders Delivered to West Bank Section of Al-Walaja

Ir Amim reports that over the past four months the Israeli Civil Administration has issued 72 demolition orders against buildings in al-Walaja, a tiny Palestinian village to the south of Jerusalem that is partially in the West Bank Area C and partially inside of the Israeli municipal borders of Jerusalem. 

In total, because many of the targeted buildings are multi-story complexes, the demolition orders stand to forcibly displace over 100 families. The oders also target the village’s only school.

Ir Amim writes:

“Since the beginning of the year, approximately five homes have already been demolished, underscoring that these new orders pose a real risk of large-scale demolitions. Meanwhile, approval of a village outline plan that would have enabled residents to obtain building permits has remained frozen for more than five years. 

At the same time, in the Jerusalem-annexed part of the village, where demolitions have continued since 2016, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee has halted the advancement of an outline plan for this area despite a decade of painstaking efforts by the al-Walaja community and despite recognition by various Israeli authorities that the plan meets the required planning criteria. As a result, there is growing concern that demolitions in the annexed part of the village will escalate if the protection currently afforded to 38 homes through the planning process is withdrawn.”

Israel Opens School for “Hilltop Youth” Settlers in Beit El

On August 4th, Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch participated in the inauguration of a new school in the Beit El settlement intended to enroll members of the Hilltop Youth organization, a violent extremist settler group composed of mostly young settlers who terrorize the West Bank and participate in the rapid spread of illegal farming outposts that take over and control massive amounts of Palestinian land with only a few settlers and their livestock. Hilltop Youth also clash with the Israeli IDF, which they perceive to be limiting their territorial ambitions in the West Bank. The government plans a total of four schools geared towards “rehabilitating” Hilltop Youth.

According to a new report by Kerem Navot and Peace Now, farming outposts control ~18% of the West Bank (1,070,000 dunams).

 

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

Mass Settler Attack on Tuba

The small village of Tubas in the South Hebron Hills was attacked by settlers on August 5th.

According to reports from the village, approximately 40 Israeli settlers raided the village, destroyed the solar panels that provide electricity to the community, set fire to homes and buildings, vandalized homes causing extensive damage. Settlers injured several and assaulted a Palestinian child.

 

Settler is Indicted One Year After Murder of Awdah Hathaleen Caught on Film

Shortly after friends and family marked the one year anniversary of the murder of Awdah Hathaleen, a prominent human rights activist and beloved teacher in the South Hebron Hills, Israel announced that it has indicted settler Yinon Levy for manslaughter (reckless homicide). Levy is sanctioned by several European governments for his involvement in violence against Palestinians, and has been under house arrest since his murder of Hathaleen.

As a reminder, Yesh Din has shown that only 3% of cases of settler violence against Palestinians lead to a full or partial conviction. B’Tselem says Levy’s indictment s the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, that an Israeli has been indicted for killing a Palestinian in the West Bank. 

 

BONUS READS

1. “Israeli West Bank settler tells BBC attacks on Palestinians are justified as revenge” (BBC, 8/1/2026)
2. “After dissing IDF West Bank chief, announcing replacement on live TV, Katz now says he’s doing ‘well,’ isn’t ousted” (The Times of Israeli, 8/4/2026)
3. “Digitizing Occupation: The Role of Big Tech in Israeli Military Infrastructure” (Who Profits, June 2026)
4. “Abandoned by the US: Palestinian Americans trapped in a surge of Israeli settler violence” (The Guardian, 8/3/2026)
5. “A Year After a Settler Shot Awdah Hathaleen, His Village Still Can’t Mourn in Peace” (Haaretz, 8/2/2026)
6. “Who is behind settler violence in the occupied West Bank?” (Al Jazeera, 8/4/2026)
7. “Israel Captured 230 Square Miles of Lebanon, Razed Villages and Built New Bases” (Haaretz, 8/5/2026)