Settlement & Annexation Report: August 14, 2026

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

August 14, 2026

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

WEST BANK

The Noose Around Jenin Tightens

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tender for 627 New Settlement Units in the Kochav Yaakov Settlement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace Now writes in said in a statement:

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

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Settlers Lay Siege to Qusra

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

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

CNN reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BONUS READ

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

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

August 7, 2026

EAST JERUSALEM: E-1 Update; Settlers Take Over Old City Property
WEST BANK: Mass Demolitions Target Al-Walaja; Beit El School Opens to “Rehab” Hilltop Youth
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

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

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

July 31, 2026

WEST BANK: Plans for 853 Settlement Units Advance; IDF Siezes Area A Land for Settlement Road; Wave of Settler Attacks & New Outposts; Knesset Amends Budget to Give Millions to Settlements; UNESCO Recognizes Sebastia as Endangered World Heritage Site
BONUS READS

WEST BANK

Israel Advances Construction Plans for 853 Settlement Units

The Israeli High Planning Council convened on July 29th and advanced plans for 853 new settlement units, including a plan that would triple the size of the Eli settlement. According to JNS, Israeli Minister Smotrich said the plans include:

763 new settlement units in the Eli settlement, located between Nablus and Ramallah in the northern West Bank as part of a string of Israeli settlements reaching from the Green Line to the Ariel, Eli, and Amichai settlements that bisect the northern West Bank and reach through to the Jordan Valley;
90 new settlement units in the Har Adar settlement, located near Jerusalem in what Israel calls the “seam zone,” i.e., the area of the West Bank that runs along, and sometimes on the Israeli side of, the separation barrier.

Earlier Peace Now reporting suggested the High Planning Council would also take up plans to advance 498 new units in the Givat Zeev settlement, but those plans are not reported to have advanced at this meeting.

IDF Seizes Land in Area A for Settlements

Kerem Navot reports the IDF has seized land in Area A in order to connect two new settlements in the northern West Bank, marking the first time the IDF has seized Area A land for (admittedly) non-military purposes.

The order affects land belonging to the Palestinian villages of Qabatiya, which is being seized in order to construct a road connecting the settlements Noa and Emek Dotan, two completely new settlements the Israeli government approved for construction on March 25, 2026. Haaretz reports settlers are expected to move into the new settlements as early as next month.

Emek Shaveh founder Dror Etkes told Haaretz:

“I have never seen anything like this before…there have already been a few seizure orders in Area A, but they were for military purposes, such as building the separation barrier or a military base. Here, this is a clearly political civilian purpose of connecting settlements…[this represents] a deliberate collapse of the agreements by the military, which is acting under a political directive. Without explicitly saying so, the State of Israel is dismantling the Oslo Accords by violating Palestinian sovereignty in Area A.”

Settlers Establish Several New Outposts Following Attack in Tell

Settlers established several new outposts over the past weekend, with reports suggesting between three and six new illegal encampments. Settlers carried out a wave of attacks on Palestinians and organized efforts to establish new outposts in the aftermath of the murder of four Palestinians in the village of Tell who were killed by settlers and/or Israeli soldiers while trying to stop a settler raid on the village. Two settlers were killed in the clash. Settlers had set fire to a home in Tell just one week before. In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz announced the government would accelerate the “legalization” of outposts and support the establishment of more outposts. Settler immediately took up his call.

One of the new outposts is in Tell. Drop Site News reports settlers, under the protection of the IDF, brought several caravans to the site of the clash, and uprooted hundreds of Palestinian-owned olive trees.

New outposts were also reported on land belonging to Deir Istiya, Umm Safa, Sinjil, Deir Ballut,and Asira al-Shamaliya.

According to the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, so far in 2026 Israeli settlers have established 42 new outposts: 13 in the Hebron region, nine near Ramallah, eight near Nablus and four near Bethlehem.

Knesset Is Out, But Financial Committee Convened to Allocate Millions for Settlements

Peace Now reports the Knesset Finance Committee concerned on July 29th to amend the state budget, including a government request to allocate millions more to the settlements and violent outposts.

Among the government’s requests:

NIS 335.4 million to the Ministry of Settlements,
NIS 658.1 million for security and protection measures, most of which are designated for settlements. This could include providing settlements with utility vehicles, road construction, solar panels, drones, cameras, electric gates, and more.
NIS 112 million ($36.5 million)for archaeology in the West Bank. This will fund the development and preservation of sites across the West Bank, including sites in Areas A & B, which the Israeli government took authority over in February 2026.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“In a pre-election budget grab, the government is looting public funds to deepen Israeli control and occupation in the territories. It is now clear to everyone that the violence, attacks against Palestinians, and the dispossession and forced displacement of Palestinians are part of an organized and well-funded government policy. It is no longer possible to claim that this is merely the work of a small group of lawbreakers. It is a small group acting in the service of a government plan.”

UNESCO Recognizes Sebastia as Endangered World Heritage Site

On July 24th the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to designate the Sebastia as an endangered World Heritage site. The designation comes after escalating Israeli government and settler moves to seize control of Sebastia. In its explanatory text, UNESCO writes:

“imminent expropriation orders by the IOP … aim to sever the link between the community and the heritage site Urgent protective measures are needed to prevent irreversible loss of these attribute.

…the IOP … seek[s] to alter the site’s identity and disconnect it from its Palestinian context. Protecting this authentic spirit requires safeguarding not only the stones but also the community that gives them meaning.

…the archaeological area is currently under the unilateral control of the IOP, which restricts Palestinian management authority, hinders conservation (particularly on the Acropolis), and poses existential threats through expropriation and settlement expansion.”

Emek Shaveh said in a statement:

“We congratulate the State of Palestine, the Municipality of Sebastia, and the people of Sebastia on this historic recognition. The inscription affirms that Sebastia is the shared cultural heritage of humanity and that the residents of the town Sebastia and the State of Palestine are the rightful custodians of that heritage.

The present-day village stands within the ancient settlement and incorporates Roman, medieval, Islamic, Crusader and Ottoman remains. Detaching the acropolis from the village and presenting it as a self-contained biblical site under exclusive Israeli control would destroy the integrity of the site.

Conservation cannot serve as a pretext for expropriation, exclusion, unilateral excavation or the replacement of a living Palestinian heritage economy with a site controlled by the occupying power and oriented towards settlements and Israeli tourism.The international community must ensure that the inscription is translated into meaningful protection. Israel must halt the expropriation process and all development, excavation and infrastructure work that could alter the site without the participation and consent of the competent Palestinian authorities and the local community.

In addition, we call on Israel to honor its commitments under the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and to allow experts and professionals on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, as well as the residents of Sebastia, access to the part of the site located in Area C to carry out the necessary restoration work to ensure that the site’s authenticity and integrity are preserved and safeguarded.”

BONUS READS

“Registering Dispossession: The Legal Architecture of Palestinian Land Confiscation and Erasure” (Law for Palestine, 7/29/2026)
“IDF increases West Bank deployment to 26 battalions amid sharp rise in violence” (Jerusalem Post, 7/27/2026)
“How Palestinians in the West Bank became so vulnerable to Israeli settler terror” (Mondoweiss, 7/30/2026)
“’Israeli settlers laid siege to our home’: Inside a Palestinian village under weekly attack” (BBC, 7/29/2026)

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

June 24, 2026

WEST BANK: New Settlement Approved; Multi-Billion Dollar Deals for Northern West Bank Settlements; Area B Outpost Construction Continues
GAZA SETTLEMENTS
BONUS READS

WEST BANK

Israel Approves New Settlement, Sa-Nur East

Peace Now reports that on July 15th Israel approved the establishment of a new settlement adjacent to the Palestinian village Sa-Nur, located in the northern West Bank south of Jenin. The new settlement is planned to be constructed on the site of a former military base close to the recently re-established settlement of Sa-Nur (a settlement that was dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005).

This is the 104th new settlement established since the current Israeli government came into power in December 2022.

Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement:

“We are leading an historic revolution in Judea and Samaria that will prevent the creation of a terror state in the very heart of Israel. Approving the community of Sa-Nur East is another significant step in this process, alongside 103 new communities, over 160 agricultural outposts, massive funding for infrastructure and roads, and pioneer neighborhoods in the new communities.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government has gone into overdrive ahead of the elections, racing to create as many facts on the ground as possible and leave scorched earth behind. With the stroke of a pen, it has decided to pour NIS 2.5 billion into establishing more and more settlements that will deepen the political and security abyss into which Israel is descending. By now it is clear to everyone—and the IDF has emphasized this repeatedly—that establishing settlements harms security, places an extraordinary burden on the military, and undermines the possibility of resolving the conflict and achieving any future security and peace.”

Israel Signs Multi-Billion Dollar Agreement with Settlement Council in Northern West Bank

Peace Now reports the Israeli government signed a $2.79 billion umbrella agreement with the Samaria Regional Council (which acts as a municipal council for settlements in the northern West Bank) guaranteeing support for the construction of new infrastructure and 12,000 new settlement units. Similar deals have already been signed for other settlement councils: In June 2026, Israel committed $650 million to the Karnei Shomron Local Council; and, in September 2025 for almost $1billion in guarantees to the Ma’ale Adumim municipality.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“This is a fire sale of the State of Israel. Not only is the government thumbing its nose at millions of Israelis and plundering their money for the benefit of a narrow settler sector — it is digging, with its own hands, the diplomatic and security pit in which the State of Israel may end up buried. From the government’s perspective, it is a double win: unbridled construction in the settlements, along with shackling the next government to commitments that will make it difficult to roll back this terrible government’s reckless policy.”

Israel Approves $330 Million for New Settler Roads

The Times of Israel reports Israeli Defense Minister Katz approved $330million to build new access roads for West Bank settlements. In a statement, Katz’s office said:

“We are continuing to lead a settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria,” his office says, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “Alongside the approval of 104 new communities and 160 farms, we are also ensuring the infrastructure that will enable their development, strengthen security, and improve residents’ quality of life. This is a strategic investment in the future of settlement and in the security of the State of Israel.”

Peace Now Report: 21 New Outposts in Area B Since 2024

In a new report, Peace Now documents and maps the continuing settler success in establishing outposts in Area B of the West Bank, a trend Peace Now raised the alarm over in 2024. While illegal under Israeli law, the current Israeli government unmistakenly supports outposts. IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth recently said outposts “greatly strengthen security” for Israel.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The establishment of settlement outposts deep inside Area B demonstrates the government’s annexation agenda and its efforts to weaken the Palestinian Authority. Alongside the massive takeover of Area C, the government is allowing settlers to extend their control into areas that were transferred to Palestinian civil jurisdiction under the Oslo Accords. The fact that these outposts continue to expand even after the Prime Minister publicly stated that they should be evacuated shows that, in practice, the State is violating the agreements it signed and creating unprecedented tensions with the Palestinian population.”

GAZA SETTLEMENTS

Katz Announces Plan for Three “Nahal Outposts” in Gaza as Policymakers Join Gaza Settlement March

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced he planned to establish three “Nahal outposts” in northern Gaza, referring to a type of outpost that serves as both a military base and a farming presence – a type of settlement precursor that has previously led to permanent civilian settlements. Israel now controls nearly 70% of the Gaza Strip.

Dror Etkes told The Guardian:

“The military is only the first phase, which aims to prepare it for future settlement. All together, dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were established in this way.”

On July 19th, Israeli Cabinet Members and MKs joined march called on Gaza in support of building Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. Amongst the hundreds who participated in the march: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The march was organized by Daniella Weiss’s Nachala Movement, which is an extreme settler group that has set its sights on reestablishing settlements in Gaza.

BONUS READS

“West Bank family says IDF order has barred them from accessing their own bathroom” (The Times of Israel, 7/20/2026)
“‘Sip your coffee while watching the sunrise’: How Israel is colonizing the West Bank by selling Palestinian land to Jewish Americans” (Mondoweiss, 7/17/2026)
“PHOTO ESSAY: Palestinian shepherds endure life alongside Israeli settler outposts” (AP, 7/15/2026)
“Netherlands to ban products from Israeli settlements beginning September 22” (The Times of Israel, 7/21/2026)
“Israeli settlers escalate violent takeover of Palestinian homes in areas under Palestinian Authority control” (Mondoweiss, 7/17/2026)
“Report: Cabinet quietly okayed plan to curb settler violence; PM called phenomenon ‘cancer’” (The Times of Israel, 7/21/2026)
“On a West Bank Eviction Tour, Israeli Settlers Advertise “No Arabs Here”” (The Intercept, 7/23/2026)

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

July 3, 2026

EAST JERUSALEM: E-1 Tenders Expected Aug 5th; Appeal to UN to Intervene in Israel’s Seizure of Church Land in Silwan; Huckabee Hosts Theatrical Ceremony for New U.S. Embassy in South Jerusalem
WEST BANK: Smotrich Announces Three New Settlements Ready to Go in Norther WB; Settlers Push Plan to Takeover 100 Sites in Area A; Report Looks at ‘103 Nails on the Map’
BONUS READS

EAST JERUSALEM / JERUSALEM

E-1 Tenders Set to Open Aug. 5th

According to reports the Israeli government has set dates for the publication of two tenders for the construction of the E-1 settlement:

On August 5th, the government will open a tender for the construction of 3,401settlement units. The tender will be open for two months, during which companies can bid on the project.
On July 21st, a tender will be opened for the construction of an employment and commercial zone in the E-1 settlement area. The tender will close September 14th.

Ir Amim writes:

“The new dates were published despite the fact that petitions against the E1 settlement project remain pending before the District Court. These include a petition filed by Attorney Michael Sfard on behalf of Ir Amim, Bimkom and Peace Now. While the June 15th court hearing on the petitions delivered an interim positive outcome, there is currently no standing injunction to halt or freeze the opening of the tenders. The court ordered the state and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement municipality to file a detailed response to the petitions’ arguments by September 1, 2026, suggesting that the petitions’ core legal questions carry sufficient weight and warrant fuller deliberations. Therefore, the court declined the state’s request to dismiss the petitions outright, allowing them to proceed to the merits phase, after which it will issue a ruling.”

Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Danny Seidemann writes:

“Earlier this year, the Government published its intent to issue tenders for the construction of E-1, which was, to all intents and purposes, a declaration of intent. The actual tender process begins on the date upon which the tender documents are published. Before that date, contractors and developers do not have the details needed to file the copious documents required to submit a bid. That date has now been fixed. That means that the clock begins ticking on August 5, and the contractors and the developers will have until October 5th to submit their bids. Once a bid is selected and the contract awarded, it will be virtually impossible to stop E-1. Until now, the Government has been able to suspend all of its plans regarding E-1 at its sole discretion. Once the contracts are signed, third-party rights come into play, and reversing course on E-1 becomes almost impossible.

The countdown that begins on August 5th will culminate shortly after the end of the bidding period on October 5th, with the signing of contracts for the construction of E1, at which time the project will have reached the point of no return…

The new dates mean that the entire bidding period will take place in the heat of the upcoming Israeli elections. Firstly, this makes the already unlikely possibility of Netanyahu freezing E-1 even less likely. He is already consolidating his rather extreme right-wing base. Secondly, E-1 may become a wedge issue in the campaign. By touting the implementation of E-1, Netanyahu will force the opposition to take a stand on the plan – and that is the last thing the opposition would like to do. Regardless, there is little likelihood of significant and vocal opposition to E-1 during the election campaign.”

Palestinians Ask UN to Intervene Against Israel’s Seizure of Church Property

The Balasan Initiative has appealed to the UN Special Procedures to intervene against Israel’s seizure of Church property in Silwan, East Jerusalem (background here). The appeal asks the United Nations to urge Israel to restore possession of the land to the Greek Patriarchate.

Balasan Initiative writes:

“Notably, based on the latest developments and increased settlement expansion and forced evacuations in Silwan, there is an increasing likelihood that this seizure will be integrated into broader plans linked to the “City of David” and “King’s Garden” settlement project administered by entities affiliated with the Elad organization.

These indicate that the developments in Silwan are part of a broader and escalating pattern of attacks that seek to undermine the indigenous Christian presence in Palestine. Expressing serious concern over the growing incidents targeting Christians and churches, in the context of what it described as unacceptable international inaction, as that in 2024 alone, incidents of violence or attacks attributed to Israeli actors were documented against Christian clergy, nuns, worshippers, and church communities, including 35 cases directed at churches, monasteries, and religious symbols.”

U.S. Advances Construction of New Embassy on Stolen Palestinian Land in Southern Jerusalem

On July 1st U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar signed an agreement to build a new U.S. embassy compound in southern Jerusalem, to be built on a stolen plot of land confiscated from Palestinians by Israel in 1950. Palestinians have produced documentation showing the land is Palestinian refugee property confiscated by the Israeli authorities, and that the site was part of an Islamic waqf. Palestinians have sustained a campaign to prove these facts since at least 1989 when Israel first signed a lease on the land to the U.S..

Huckabee paid a single dollar to lease the plot, called the Allenby Compound, in a purely symbolic act of theater. In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would move its Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Huckabee said at the ceremony:

“We are going to plant our flag, our American flag, on the soil of Jerusalem for a permanent and a brand-new embassy compound that will serve as our mothership of diplomatic activities here in Israel. I would say God made that decision 3,800 years ago, and we finally got around to acknowledging what had been determined long before the United States of America came along.”

Rashid Khalidi told Haaretz:

“The Allenby compound does not belong to Israel, which has no right to offer the site to the United States for the location of its embassy in Jerusalem.. [this] collaboration of the United States government with Israel in the theft of Palestinian private and waqf property is yet another American infringement on Palestinian rights, in keeping with a long and disgraceful record of such hostile behavior towards the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights, national, religious and private.”

WEST BANK

Smotrich Says Three More New Settlements Are Imminent, Pushes for Total Annexation of Gaza

During a visit to the Israeli town Sderot near the Gaza boundary, Finance Minister Smotrich announced that Israel is ready to begin construction on a bloc of three new settlements in the northern West Bank pending a final green light from the Prime Minister. Haaretz reports Smotrich appears to be referring to the settlements Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit. Smotrich also called on the IDF to complete its conquest of the whole Gaza Strip.

Settlers Push “Execution Day” Plan to Seize 100 Sites in Area A

According to Al-Andalou Agency, Israel Hayom reports Israeli settler groups have a plan to seize 100 sites located in Area A of the West Bank, the 18% of the West Bank that the Palestinian Authority is supposed to have total administrative and security control over (but in reality, does not) and where Israeli settlement activity has only recently started to target. Settlers have prepared a plan to take the sites, calling for an “execution day” where Israel takes the sites by force.

The plan was reportedly authored by the Settler Farms Association and the Havat Forum, and handed to the Israeli government ministers for consideration. The Farms Association was recently sanctioned by a group of European governments

103 Nails on the Map and in the Two-State Coffin

by Peace Now and Kerem Navot

Haaretz has published a deep dive report on the massive wave of settlements approved and constructed in the wake of October 7, 2023. The report, entitled “103 Nails on the Map: How Israel’s Government Is Burying the Two-state Solution” uses data and maps produced by Peace Now and Kerem Navot to show the overwhelming picture in totality, that Israel has undertaken sweeping efforts to fracture beyond repair any hope of a Palestinian state in the West Bank.

A supplementary article from the Haaretz Editorial Board entitled, “Israel Must Rid Itself of the Government Behind the Settler Revolution” the editors write:

“A special Haaretz project proves that the effort involves solidifying and deepening the splintering of the Palestinian territories, and confining them into increasingly smaller areas, while increasing the physical, social and economic disconnect among the enclaves. It’s a step in keeping with the principles of Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich’s “subjugation plan.” In addition, several phenomena have become apparent, some of which involve steps from which Israel had refrained for decades, and others that are entirely new…The person who promoted this revolution, including the terrorist arm on the ground, is Smotrich. But the person who appointed him and granted him the power, authority and resources and who gave him the green light was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If Israel is to cherish life, it needs to rid itself of the settler, Kahanist government that he heads.”

WEST BANK

Israel Seizes Land South of Nablus to “Legalize” Givat Haroeh Outpost

Peace Now reports the Israeli Civil Administration declared over 115 acres of land belonging to the village of Sinjil, located south of Nablus, as “state land” in order to enable the “legalization” of the Givat Haroeh outpost under Israeli law. The declaration more than quadruples the size of the outpost’s boundaries, allowing for massive growth in the future and consolidating the contiguous sting of Israeli settlements in the Shilo Valley area.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Netanyahu and Smotrich are determined to fight against the entire world and against the interests of Israel’s residents for the benefit of a small group of settlers who receive thousands of dunams as a gift, as if there is no political conflict to resolve. They are exploiting every moment in power 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 is choosing instead to make this possibility more difficult and move us further away from peace and from ending the bloodshed.”

The Israeli government approved the legalization of the Givat Haroeh outpost in 2023 as part of a Cabinet decision to legalize 10 outposts, setting in motion the legal process to do so. Givat Haroeh was known to the Israeli government to have been illegally built on land that is at least partially privately owned by Palestinians; these landowners now have 45 days to file objections to the new military seizure order.

As noted at the time, a source told Haaretz that the Israeli Cabinet chose the ten outposts for authorization specifically because they are all located in remote or isolated locations — meaning they cannot be “legalized” via expanding the borders of a nearby settlement and declaring the outposts to be merely neighborhoods of those “legal” settlements (a legal maneuver Israel has repeatedly used to expand settlements and retroactively legalize settlements). This means, among other things, that legalization of these 10 new settlements would inevitably l lead to additional land seizures for related infrastructure work.

Joint Report: Israel’s Seizure of Land Near Hasmonean Palaces

In new analysis, Emek Shaveh, the Palestine Solidarity Co-op and Emek Shaveh detail Israel’s recent military seizure order taking control of land near the Hasmonean Palaces, a West Bank archaeological site located on the outskirts of Jericho in Area C of the West Bank. The seizure order will allow Israel to construct a new road to the site that bypasses Jericho.

The construction ratchets up the violent and coercive conditions facing the Kaabneh bedouin community of Ein ad-Duyuk al Tahta, which is located on land immediately adjacent to the Hasomonean palaces. The community has been subjected to increasingly violent daily settler attacks and harassment, a trend which crescendoed on February 10, 2026 when dozens of settlers carried out a pogrom against the community. Settlers attacked violently, including women and children, looted the village, and brought in a bulldozer to level 13 homes. Israeli police and military did not respond to calls from the community for intervention. The community lives now on the ruins of these homes, while Israel is pursuing the development of the Hasmonean Palaces into a major tourist attraction.

The three groups write:

“The Hasmonean Palaces are also one of several major antiquity sites that the current Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu, had defined as “anchor sites” in the plan to develop Judeo-centric archaeological theme parks across the West Bank. In July 2023, the government had allocated 20 million NIS for the development of the site into a tourist attraction. At the time it was said that the Binyamin Regional Council would operate the site. The community of Ein ad-Duyuk al-Tahta is situated in part on what Israel considers state land and in part on land privately owned by East Jerusalemite families. The area under seizure order is privately owned, but as of June 2026, the owners have not yet been located.

In recent years, a settler-led campaign, spearheaded by the NGO Guardians of Eternity, claimed deliberate destruction of “Jewish” antiquities by the Palestinians, in an attempt to push the government to expand control over West Bank sites. The Hasmonean Palaces site was often mentioned in this context. Over the years, the SOA has carried out numerous enforcement actions at the site, including stopping works, confiscating equipment, and demolishing what it defines as illegal construction.”

Dror Etkes told The Forward:

“We will see an area completely disconnected from its surroundings. Palestinians won’t be able to enter the area. Two roads [for Israelis] will lead to this area. Settlers will be very violent, it will be very restricted for the Palestinians, construction in the area [by Palestinians] will be completely banned, the construction that already exists is without a permit and a large part of it will be demolished by Israeli authorities.

It will be another national park that will tell one story — the story the Israeli radical right wants you to hear.”

Emek Shaveh’s ED Alon Arad told The Forward:

“You change the identity so that from a village on the outskirts of Jericho it becomes a palace of a dynasty. You don’t need actual settlers there, it’s enough to build an access road, put up a fence and whatever comes with tourist development-a kiosk, a parking lot, someone to guard it…You start bringing in tourists and it’s a normalizing process for people to go inside the West Bank and return to Haifa or wherever they are from. They go in and out and it was fun for them and you create the idea that this is part of Israel.”

Smotrich Announces Millions to Renovate Illegally Seized Ancient Pool Near Jericho

Haaretz reports Israel plans to invest millions of shekels in developing an illegally-sized ancient pool and archaeological site near the Petza’el settlement in the Jordan Valley. Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich announced that he allocated 3 million shekels for the development and the site.

Settlers took control over the pool just a month ago, and began renovating the site. According to Haaretz, the IDF recognizes the area as privately owned Palestinian land. One landowner told Haaretz:

“They [the settlers] diverted the water, they are swimming in the pool, they put up Israeli flags and opened a tourist site for settlers, and they do not allow anyone to approach the area or repair anything…”We have springs on land we have owned for many years, and we use them for agricultural irrigation…we have no water.”

Dror Etkes from the Kerem Navot told Haaretz that

“trifles like Palestinian property rights do not interest the extreme and violent elements in the government. They have no problem reaching a site that settlers covet, attaching an invented history to it and looting it in the name of a historical past that has nothing behind it but a lust for plunder and nothing more.”

New Light Rail for Settlements?

On June 21st, the Gush Etzion Regional Council announced “the transportation revolution in the bloc continues” and that a new light rail line will connect the settlement block to Jerusalem. The press event announcing the project included an illustration of the light rail line, being held by the smiling Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Yaron Rosenthal, the head of the settlement regional council. Despite the public support for the announcement, the Israeli Department of Transportation denied the plan, saying it had not been approved or funded by the government.

STATE-BAKED SETTLER TERRORISM

Key Reads this week:

“Israeli Settler Indicted Over West Bank Rampage That Left Eight Palestinians Wounded” (Haaretz, 6/26/26); “Yitzhar resident indicted after armed sheep search erupts into violence in Huwara, West Bank” (Jerusalem Post, 6/25/26); “Israel prosecutors charge settlers with terror offences after West Bank attack” (The New Arab, 6/26/26)
“Former settlement chief charged with threatening Palestinians with assault rifle” (The Times of Israel, 6/25/26)
“Israel’s Top Court Slams Police for Failing to Probe Settler Attack on Rabbi Solidarity Activist” (Haaretz, 6/25/26)
“Israeli Soldiers Were Sent to Harass a Bedouin Community That’s Halfway to Expulsion” (Haaretz, 6/24/26)
“Israeli former leaders and security chiefs threaten legal action over ‘Jewish terrorism’” (The Guardian, 6/24/26)
“As settlers rampage, IDF soldiers accused of aiding violence, theft against Palestinians” (The Times of Israel, 6/26/26)
“An Israeli Settler Shot a Disabled Palestinian Five Times. Police Quickly Labeled the Wounded Man a ‘Terrorist’” (Haaretz, 6/20/26)
“Ethnic Cleansing 3.0: How Israel Became the Transfer State” (Gideon Levy in Haaretz, 6/25/26)

BONUS READS

“How the Jewish National Fund Became the Face of Israeli Expulsion” (Haaretz, 6/24/26)
“Chevra Kadisha Burial Society Seeks Payment From East Jerusalem Residents for Using Path to Their Homes” (Haaretz, 6/24/26)
“Death Penalty For Palestinians Only” (Visualizing Palestine, June 2026)
“IDF Eases Closures on West Bank Palestinian Town, but Keeps Key Highway Blocked” (Haaretz, 6/25/26)
“The Israeli right is marching under a new flag” (+972 Magazine, 6/15/26)
“Palestinians warn West Bank antiquities bill designed to expand Israeli control” (The Times of Israel, 6/25/26)
“Palestinians decry Israeli push for control over ancient West Bank sites” (Reuters, 6/25/26)
“Hundreds of Bedouin left homeless as Israel ramps up Naqab expulsions” (+972 Magazine, 6/24/26)

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

June 19, 2026

EAST JERUSALEM: Silwan Updates, Israel Seizes Church Land, New Report by Ir Amim
WEST BANK: Plans for 576 Units Advance, Israel OKs Settler Construction in Hebron’s H2, Doron Settlement Cornerstone Laid, IDF Clears Several Outposts
BONUS READS

EAST JERUSALEM

Court Continues Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem; Final Ruling Seals Displacement of Family in Batan al-Hawa

Peace Now reports the Israeli Supreme Court has summarily rejected the final appeal of the Palestinian Sarhan family, ruling that the family must vacate their homes of more than 60 years in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan so that the Ateret Cohanim settler organization can take possession of it. Ateret Cohanim has used discriminatory Israeli law to carry out the mass displacement of the local Palestinian community in Silwan and other communities of East Jerusalem.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Regrettably, there is no other term to describe this than ethnic cleansing. Settlers, with the assistance of the government and a discriminatory legal framework, are expelling an entire Palestinian community and replacing it with settlers. This is happening in Jerusalem in 2026, and it will remain a stain on the State of Israel. The government can and must stop the forced displacement of an entire community, and responsibility rests squarely on its shoulders. In its advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) explicitly addressed the discriminatory legal regime and Israel’s settlement policy in East Jerusalem, finding them to be in violation of international law.”

The Sarhan family is made up of 12 nuclear families, living in four buildings on the same plot of land; one of the buildings – a five story hose that can house up to 12 families – has already been taken over by settlers with the assistance of the state.

In Batan al-Hawa, 38 Palestinian families (numbering hundreds of people) have already been evicted from their homes and replaced with settlers. There are four more buildings scheduled to be evicted in the coming months, and still three ongoing lawsuits where Palestinian families are continuing to fight against settlers seeking their eviction.

JNF Targets Another Family in Silwan for Displacement

Peace Now reports the Palestinian Shaludi family has received an eviction order telling them to leave their longtime home in Silwan by June 24, 2026. The lawsuit behind their eviction was brought by the Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), which plans to move settlers into the home upon the family’s forcible displacement where they have lived since 1964. For more information on the legal mechanism behind this instance of displacement, see Peace Now’s reporting.

Abed Shaludi told Peace Now:

“My parents rented this house in 1964, I was born here 55 years ago, and here my four children were born. I have memories from every corner of this house. I cannot imagine myself in another place, without this house, without the olive tree in the yard upon which I built wooden houses where I slept during summer nights. No one can give anyone the right to expel a person from his home and his land. This is an injustice and a crime.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The Jewish National Fund has turned itself into the Settler National Fund and is trying to throw a destitute Palestinian family out of their home just so settlers can take over another house in a Palestinian neighborhood. This is cruelty and an ugly move of using the Absentees’ Property Law based on dubious testimonies in order to take properties from Palestinians and give them to settlers, and to destroy the delicate fabric of life in Jerusalem.”

Israel Raids, Takes Control of Jerusalem Patriarchate Property in Silwan

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem reports that Israeli authorities raided its Church property in Silwan on June 15th, forcibly removing Patriarchate staff, confiscating Church property, uprooting trees, and barricading the property off with fences and gates. The Jerusalem Municipality has said that it conducted these operations on the basis of “gardening orders”, which allow the government to take control of land in order to do landscaping.

The Patriarchate filed a lawsuit to stop the work and recoup damages, asserting that the Patriarchate is the registered owner of the land, which is not only adjacent to an ancient monastery but also contains significant historical, archaeological and religious artifacts.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court held a hearing on the matter on June 18th for a hearing, where the Jerusalem Municipality argued the land was neglected and does not recognize the Patriarchate’s ownership of the land, stating that since the land is uncultivated it is considered “state land.” A representative of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority further told the Court that it is his intention to establish a permanent Israeli presence on the site. The Court ultimately decided not to issue an injunction, and asked the parties to continue discussions for one week.

In a June 15th statement the Patriarchate said:

“…the seizure of this private Church property, with its Christian heritage and religious significance, sets a dangerous precedent for Church rights in Jerusalem. The Patriarchate added that reliance on a municipal gardening order issued on April 18, 2019, whose term expired in April 2024, provides no lawful basis for uprooting trees, removing the lawful caretaker, sealing off Church land, or denying the Patriarchate access to its own property.

The Patriarchate stated that the events in Silwan fall within a wider pattern of escalating assaults aimed at weakening the indigenous Christian presence in the Holy Land. It noted with deep concern the rising Israeli attacks against Christians and churches amid unacceptable international tolerance. In 2024, 111 Israeli attacks or acts of violence were recorded against Christian clergy, nuns, worshippers, and church communities, including 35 attacks targeting churches, monasteries, and religious symbols.”

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann posted:

“Let there be no doubt about what is happening here: this is the Jerusalem Municipality fronting for the settler organizations in Silwan, in a blatantly illegal attempt to seize Church properties for the benefit of the settlements in Silwan. I will not trouble you with the baseless pretext for seizing the property. I rely on the Church to do that. But this needs be said: when the biblically driven, messianic settlers of East Jerusalem covet property that happens to belong to a Church, nothing will stop the Government from using all their powers to seize that property. The vulnerable Christian communities struggling to maintain their communal presence, and secure their properties, are expendable. Acceptable collateral damage. Unless they happen to be end-of-days evangelical rapture mongers.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Jerusalem is a city of profound importance to three religions and to billions of people around the world. The State of Israel should serve as a model of governance that respects all faiths and affords dignity to all of Jerusalem’s residents. Instead, in recent years, Israeli authorities have increasingly pushed the city’s non-Jewish presence aside, not only Palestinians, but also Christians.

The takeover of Church land in Silwan is part of a broader effort, led by settler organizations, to gain control over the entire Wadi Rababa and Silwan area and transform it from a Palestinian space into an Israeli one. The Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have become instruments of the settler ideological agenda.”

New Report from Ir Amim: “‘Greater Jerusalem’ – Expulsion and Annexation”

In a new report entitled, “‘Greater Jerusalem” – Expulsion and Annexation”’ Ir Amim provides a comprehensive documentation of the settlement expansion, construction of outposts, construction of settler infrastructure, and the escalating state and settler violence against Palestinian communities that have propelled Israel’s accelerated annexation of the “Greater Jerusalem” area. The report documents how Israel has dramatically reshaped the West Bank area around Jerusalem over the past three years, and argues to understand the many mechanisms for Israel’s forcible transfer of Palestinian communities as a key tool in its annexation drive.

Ir Amim writes:

“These developments are part of a broader Israeli government agenda across the West Bank: expanding Israeli territorial contiguity while uprooting and pushing Palestinians into disconnected enclaves within an increasingly fragmented Palestinian space. This strategy is unfolding throughout the West Bank, but it is especially visible around Jerusalem.

[Thie report] details the cumulative system of pressure being used to make life unsustainable for Palestinian communities, including land confiscation, settlement and outpost expansion, demolition orders and denial of building permits, military closure orders, new permit regimes, settler and military violence, severe restrictions on movement, and the closure of entire areas to Palestinian access.”

Read the full report and/or executive summary here.

WEST BANK

Israel Approves 576 New Settlement Units Across West Bank

On June 17th the Israeli High Planning Council approved the construction of 576 new settlement units across the West Bank. the approvals include:

Mitzpe Yericho: 456 new settlements units were approved for the Mitzpe Yericho settlement, located just west of the Palestinian city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley. This plan will enable thousands of new settlers.
Karnei Shomron: 120 new settlements units were approved for the Karnei Shomron settlement, located in the northern West Bank, east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel has openly declared its intention to continue expanding settlements in this area with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area.
Approval of a new dormitory for yeshiva students in the heart of historic Hebron, see the next section for more details.

After Seizing Planning Authority, Israel Approves Construction of Dormitory in Historic Hebron

Peace Now reports that on June 16th the Israeli High Planning Council approved the construction of a new dormitory for settlers on Al-Shalala street, located in the heart of Hebron’s historic market (the Kasbah) and which has become the main route for Palestinians to access Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque since Shuhada Street has been sealed off to Palestinians. The dormitory will be built above a building called the “Romano House”, which the government gave to settlers in September 2025 and have since become a religious school (Shavei Hevron yeshiva).

This new construction approval comes just one week after the Israeli Higher Planning Council seized authority over Israeli settlement construction and planning in Hebron H2 area and Jewish heritage sites there (the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs), stripping the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality of the administrative powers assigned to it in the 1997 Hebron Protocol (which was signed by Israel). The Israeli Security Cabinet reportedly approved the assumption of these authorities, though

Israeli Minister Smotrich posted defiantly on X that he “canceled the Hebron Agreement.,” prompting the Israeli Foreign Ministry to put out a statement saying the Protocols have not been annulled but confirmed Israel had taken control of administrative powers from the Hebron Municipality. Nonetheless, while celebrating the opening of the Doron settlement, Smotrich said in a speech:

“Yesterday we annulled the Hebron Accords…For many years, one of the most absurd clauses of the Oslo accords remained in place, in which authority over the Jewish settlement in Hebron and the holy sites were dependent on the terrorist municipality of Hebron. Yesterday we put an end to that.”

Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian activist living in Hebron, released a video statement responding to these developments.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government is racing toward annexation and apartheid. Hebron is the most extreme example of the regime Israel imposes in the West Bank, under which Israeli Jews enjoy rights while Palestinians are denied them. It is a city where entire streets are closed to Palestinians so that settlers can move through them freely. The decision to strip Palestinians of planning authority and to build a large new settlement compound in the heart of Hebron’s Kasbah is a microcosm of the annexation being implemented by the government—one that is condemning us to a future of conflict and bloodshed.”

Doron Settlement in South Hebron Hills Opens

Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz participated in a cornerstone-laying ceremony at the new Doron settlement in the South Hebron Hills. Pictures show Smotrich planting a tree and raising a flag over the site of the future settlement. Makeshift structures were later brought to the site, which had been previously cleared, including several caravans, water tanks and equipment.

The ceremony punctuates the settlers’ takeover of the land and continued harassment of nearby Palestinian communities. The settlement is located on the lands of the Dura village, on Mount Tarousa. Last week Palestinians filmed the IDF escorting settlers and their equipment onto the lands.

IDF Clears Several Outposts

Overnight on June 18th, the IDF cleared settlers and their illegal structures from several outposts, including:

Tel Talpiot near the Shiloh settlement in the northern West Bank;
Kochav Yehuda, a farming outpost near the Efrat settlement;
Shaagat Yehuda, a farming outpost established months ago by violent settlers on the lands of Tayasir in the northern West Bank. This is Area A under the Oslo Accords. A CNN news crew was attacked by IDF soldiers when they were attempting to document the violent settler attacks on Palestinians in Tayasir.
An encampment near the Esh Kodesh settlement.

BONUS READS

“Government to provide 50-shekel daily stipends for hundreds of hilltop youth – report” (The Times of Israel, 6/15/26)
“Israel Is Conducting a Systematic Campaign of Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in the West Bank” (Ehud Olmert in Haaretz, 6/18/26)
“Israel Must Choose Life, Not the West Bank Settlements” (Haaretz Editorial, 6/17/26)
“The Jewish Ku Klux Klan Has a Calculated Plan for the Palestinians” (Haaretz, 6/15/26)
“The Israeli State Armed Settlers With Thousands of Guns. Now It Can’t Control Them” (Haaretz, 6/16/26)
“Israel took control of more land from its neighbors since Oct. 7 than it has in decades” (The Times of Israel, 6/18/26)
“Netanyahu gov’t doubled number of Gush Etzion Jewish communities” (JNS, 6/18/26)

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

June 12, 2026

WEST BANK: Israel Expediting NIS 1 Billion to 61 Outposts; Israel Allocates Land to Outpost in Beit Sahour; Israel Building Permanent Military Base in Jenin; News on New Outposts; Amnesty Report Alleges Ethnic Cleansing
STATE BACKED SETTLER VIOLENCE: European Countries Announce New; United Nations Says State is Complicit in Settler Terror
BONUS READS

WEST BANK

Bibi Slows Push to Expedite Funds for 61 Outposts

Early this week the Israeli press widely reported that the Israeli Cabinet was scheduled to meet on June 11th to approve a $1billion NIS ($337 million) package to fund extensive development projects for 61 outposts, which remain illegal under Israeli law (though the government has already announced its intent to “legalize” these outposts, that process has not been completed). Following significant international attention, Netanyahu moved consideration of the funding to a closed-door Security Cabinet meeting on June 14th.

According to reports, the package would fund the construction of temporary residences at the outpost locations, to include 15 residential caravans and two caravans designated for public-use buildings. It would also fund significant investments into permanent infrastructure for the outposts even before they are legalized, including roads, sewage systems land clearing, and water infrastructure. The package also funds new government positions called “community coordinators” which will work to bring settlers to these locations, assisting them with moving and settling there.

While the specific outposts are not clear, it is reported to be outposts that do not have any significant population size, possibly empty sites. And the package will fund development of these outposts located in Areas A and B of the West Bank, and in strategic areas that carve up the West Bank and establish Israeli contiguity between settlements and through to the Jordan Valley.

Peace Now explains the background and comments:

“Since taking office in December 2022, the government has approved the establishment of 103 new settlements. Some of these already existed as “neighborhoods” of existing settlements, while others were established as unauthorized outposts; the decision is expected to facilitate their formal legalization. The remainder consists of dozens of settlements that have not yet been established or currently contain only agricultural outposts with limited infrastructure. The planned NIS 1 billion investment is intended to support their development. According to one report, the funding relates to 61 new settlements…

It should be noted that under the laws applicable in the West Bank, the construction of buildings—including temporary structures and caravans—requires approved planning schemes and building permits issued by the competent authorities. In the case of the new settlements approved by the government, most currently lack approved planning schemes, and some do not even have available “state land” that could be allocated for planning purposes. Consequently, it appears that the government intends to bypass planning and construction regulations, potentially through the use of military orders that allow permits to be granted for sites deemed to be of “national importance,” or through other legal mechanisms.

Peace Now: The government is on a reckless pre-election sprint to raid the public purse in order to create facts on the ground that will leave a scorched-earth reality for the next government. It is no coincidence that the Chief of Staff warned that the establishment of so many settlements would harm security and could bring the IDF to the point of collapse. October 7 proved that the right-wing approach has failed: the conflict cannot be “managed,” and the Palestinians cannot be “defeated.” Israel must reach a political solution and diplomatic agreement, but instead the government is only sinking us deeper into the mire and condemning us to many more years of bloody conflict.”

Israel Allocates Land for New Settlement in Beit Sahour

The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) reports that 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 the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem. 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

ARIJ estimates about 13 settler families currently live there.

Israel Building a Permanent Military Base on Palestinian Land

Haaretz reports that Israel is building a new permanent miltary base near the Palestinian city of Jenin, marking the first time since the signing of the Oslo Accords that the Israeli has built a permanent military installment in Area A of the West Bank.

Breaking the Silence explains the how this is part and parcel of the settlement movement and Israel’s annexation of the West Bank:

“For more than a year, the IDF has been conducting an operation in the West Bank dubbed “Iron Wall.” As part of the operation, the IDF has repeatedly raided the Palestinian refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams. In many ways, it resembled practices we’ve seen in Gaza.

45,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced and, for the most part, are still not allowed to return. The IDF demolished entire residential blocks and loosened rules of engagement, permitting opening fire at anyone who was deemed to be “messing with the ground”…

The operation’s declared goal, as usual, is “strengthening security.” Yet against this backdrop, the Israeli government approved the establishment of new settlements in the Jenin area, some of them planned just a few kilometres from the refugee camp.

Settling civilians near what the IDF considers a terror stronghold while conducting a military operation there is hardly a recipe for their safety. No surprises here. The operational logic in the West Bank mostly works the other way around.

First, a settlement is deliberately established near a Palestinian village or city to fragment the West Bank, disrupt Palestinian life, and grab land. Then, because this settlement must be protected, it draws a heavy military presence into the area.

The planned base in Jenin is another step toward the creeping annexation of the West Bank. The goal is to concentrate Palestinians in shrinking, disconnected enclaves. Working hand in hand with settlers, the IDF advances this apartheid project under the banner of “security.””

Reports on New Outposts

There were several reports regarding new outposts over the past week, including:

Settlers moved in more caravans to a new outpost recently established on the lands of Taybeh village.
Settlers moved several mobile homes onto land belonging to the village of Jourat ash‑Sham’ah, south of Bethlehem. This is the second outpost built on lands belonging to this village in the past month.
Settlers were documented clearing land near an ancient church in the Palestinian village of Aboud.
A new settler outpost was spotted on the lands of the Deir Abu Meshal northwest of Ramallah.
Construction work is being done to build a new road to an outpost on the land of Abu Njeim, southeast of Bethlehem.

In addition, the IDF attempted to clear out an outpost near the Ma’ale Amos settlement located south of Bethlehem, but were met with violent settlers attempting to stop the enforcement. Three soldiers were reportedly wounded.

Amnesty International: Israel is Ethnically Cleansing Bedouin & Herding Communities from the West Bank

Amnesty International released a new report entitled, “Erasing Anything Palestinian: Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of West Bank Bedouin And Herding Communities” documenting Israel’s systematic erasure – by settlers and by the state – of Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities from Area C of the occupied West Bank. The report accuses Israel of committing the crime against humanity of forcible transfer by uprooting, dispossessing and driving Palestinian communities from their land.

Amnesty writes:

“This report lays bare the scale and severity of the ethnic cleansing campaign targeting these communities, carried out in a context of apartheid and unlawful occupation and against the backdrop of an ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The report also demonstrates—contrary to what too many in the international community suggest—that the campaign is not the product of “rogue” settlers, settlers’ organizations, or “extremist” government ministers.

In other words, settler violence is not an aberration but an integral part of an organized state policy.

The report demonstrates that the ethnic cleansing campaign in Area C is state-sanctioned, state-driven and state-implemented; it seeks to accelerate the Israeli government’s annexation agenda and settlement expansion through war crimes and crimes against humanity.

As such, the report’s conclusions demand that the international community fully confront and name the Israeli state-driven project and act decisively to prevent the destruction of Palestinian communities and the annexation of the West Bank.”

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR

United Nations Accuses IDF of Enabling Settler Terrorism

A new report by the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory asserts that the Israeli government is complicit in enabling settler terrorism via its financial and military support for settlers. The report specifically documents that Israeli security forces routinely accompany settlers during their attacks and act as a shield for their violence against Palestinians and their property.

France Bans Smotrich; New EU Sanctions Target Entities

Six European countries led by the United Kingdom announced a new round of sanctions targeting six settler entities and one settler alleged to be involved in illegal outpost activity and violence against Palestinians. In addition, France has banned Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich along with four leaders of settler groups and 21 individual settlers from entering the country. Settlers have said the sanctions are a badge of honor.

The sanctioned entities and individuals are:

The Farms Union: which provides financial and organizational support to illegal farming outposts and residential outposts linked to violence and the forcible displacement of Palestinians.
Ahavat Gilad (“Love of Gilead”): serves as a financial conduit for the Farms Union, channelling donations to settler outposts including those associated with violence against Palestinians.
Ari Yshag: a fundraising organization that supports illegal settler outposts known to be violent, including Hilltop Youth outposts.
Artzenu (“Our Land”): a group that raises funds for tactical military equipment for armed settler squads. It also deploys volunteers to farm outposts and settlement outposts in the West Bank.
Shivat Zion Lerigvey Admata (“Return of Zion to its Land,”): the registered legal vehicle through which Artzenu’s financial activities are conducted, channelling donations to outposts linked to serious human rights abuses
Eyal Hari Yehuda Company: a construction and demolition company that allows settlers to use its equipment to destroy Palestinian land and property, and perpetrate violence against Palestinians. The company is owned by brothers Yinon and Itamar Yehuda Levy. Yinon has previously been sanctioned, and is responsible for the murder of Awdah Hathaleen in Umm al-Khair last year.
Itamar Yehuda Levi: owner of EYAL HARI YEHUDA COMPANY LTD (also designated).

Bonus Reads

“Palestinians Attacked in West Bank Say IDF Troops Stood Idly by as Settlers Rampaged” (Haaretz, 6/7/26)
“Before the Settler Abused the Dog, He Beat the Palestinian Family Who Owns It” (Haaretz, 6/6/26)
“Importing Occupation: Europe’s Complicity in Palestinian Dispossession through Settlement Agricultural Trade” (Global Echo, June 2026)
“Welcome to the 60th Year of Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank” (Michael Sfard in Haaretz, 6/10/26)
“Left-wing U.K. Leaders Slam Israeli Real Estate Event, Alleging West Bank Home Sales” (Haaretz, 6/11/26)

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

June 5, 2026

WEST BANK: E-1 Update; High Council Advances Plans for 2,162 New Units; Archaeology Annexation Bill is Stopped for Now; Tax Break for Settlers; WZO Eases Land Purchase Rules
Further Reading

WEST BANK

E-1 Update

As previously reported, tenders for the construction of the E-1 settlement were scheduled to be published/opened on June 1st – – but as of reporting the tenders have not been published. Terrestrial Jerusalem founder and Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann cautions that delays are normal and alarm should remain high:

“In the past, this [delay] would be very much in line with Netanyahu’s modus operandi: bluster, but at the last moment make E-1 go away without leaving fingerprints. However, with Smotrich breathing down his neck and elections approaching, Netanyahu will be called out if he silently freezes E-1. He is not likely to do that.”

On June 3rd, 85 members of the U.S. Congress penned a letter to Secretary of State Rubio urging action to stop the construction of E-1. On the same day, a group of EU representatives visited Khan al-Ahmar, the bedouin community that stands to be forcibly transferred from their land by Israel in order to enable the construction of the E-1 settlement. At the United Nations, the Arab Group (an official regional and political coalition composed of 22 member states representing the Arab nations), issued a statement touching on many Israeli annexationist moves including E-1, urging strong opposition and increased pressure on the Israeli government to back off.

2,162 New Settlement Units Advanced

On June 3rd, the Israeli High Planning Council advanced the construction of 2,162 new settlement units, including plans for two new settlements. The plans advanced this week were:

Hamivesher (a new settlement): The Council approved for deposit a plan for the construction of 234 new settlement units in the outpost of Hamivesher, which would authorize its as a legal (under Israeli law only) settlement. Until now, the Hamivesher outpost has been laundered through the planning process as a “neighborhood” of the Kiryat Arba settlement but is more properly understood as its own settlement. The Hamivesher settlement is detached from Kiryat Arba, located some ~800 meters north.

Gvaot: The Council gave final approval for the construction of 1,006 new units in the Gvaot settlement, located west of Bethlehem. There are only a few dozen families currently living in the Gvaot settlement, so this plan represents a massive expansion and its transformation into a more established and urban settlement. Gvaot was built illegally by settlers and initially laundered as a “neighborhood” of the Alon Shvut settlement despite being detached from it. The government authorized Gvaot as an independent settlement in March 2025.
Har Bracha: The Council approved a plan for 922 new units in the Har Bracha settlement, located south of Nablus. If given final approval, this plan will triple the size of Har Bracha, which is known to be particularly violent towards surrounding Palestinian communities.

Celebrating the approvals, Bezalel Smotrich said:

“This is not just a planning step, but a national development that solidifies our hold on the territory, strengthens Israel’s security, and establishes clear facts that prevent the establishment of an Arab terrorist state in the heart of the country.”

Bibi Stops (for now) Annexation-Via-Archaeology Bill

It’s widely reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu has intervened to stop the advancement of a bill that would annex heritage and archaeological sites across the West Bank and Gaza. Emek Shaveh warns the bill is not dead yet:

“it is important to emphasize that the bill has yet to be withdrawn (a procedure that we will demand). And as long as it remains within the legislative process, it can be revived relatively quickly. Since it has already passed its first reading, a future government or coalition could apply legislative continuity and resume the process from the point at which it was halted. In practical terms, the bill remains very close to being ready for second and third readings.”

Israel Seizes Herodium Archaeological Site & Surrounding Land

The Israeli Civil Administration issued an expropriation order for the Herodium archaeological site – which Israel had already seized and declared an Israeli national park – and surrounding areas, totalling 320 dunams (80 acres). The Herodium site is located on a hilltop south east of Bethlehem, in Area C, surrounded by settlements. This is at least the third archaeological annexation of the year, following the expropriation at the Nabi Samwil site last week and at the Sebastia site in February 2026.

Peace Now said in a statement:

”The government is trying to exploit every moment before the elections to create additional facts on the ground that will advance the full annexation of the West Bank. Tourist and archaeological sites constitute another form of settlement. Their purpose is not only to seize extensive areas of land but also to shape public consciousness, marginalize the Palestinian connection to the land, and transform this country into a land exclusively for Jews, both physically and in terms of heritage. This policy condemns us to many more years of a painful and bloody conflict that can only be resolved through a compromise over this land, which is precious to both Israelis and Palestinians.”

Tax Break for Settlers aka Looting Public Funds for Settlers

This week by a vote of 32-23 the Knesset passed a bill that grants a 7% tax break (capped at NIS 10,000 per year) to residents of 58 specified settlements – most of which are settlements which support, based on voting data, Bezalel Smotrich’s political party (an earlier version of the bill sought to benefit all settlements, but was shrunk to 58 settlements when the cost was estimated at 450million NIS annually). Ostensibly, the 58 settlements were selected based on distance from Israel’s Separation Barrier and the use for armored school buses for children.

Peace Now – which said the move is “a brazen move of looting public funds” – said in a statement:

“The proposal to grant tax benefits to settlements is brazen greed on the part of settlement leaders. No sector in the country receives more benefits and public investment than the settlers, and there is no justification whatsoever for adding tax breaks that would simply plunder the public treasury for the benefit of a small minority within the government’s political base.”

WZO Eases Rules on Land Purchases

The World Zionist Organization recently announced that it will begin allowing settlers to buy a second residential plot of land. Until now, the WZO closely controlled land management and most settlers do not own the land on which their houses are situated, instead they have long term leases on the land via the WZO.

Bonus Reads

“Israeli Settlers Wound Three Palestinians in Attack Near West Bank’s Hebron, Medics Say” (Haaretz, 6/5/26)
“Seven Palestinians Wounded in West Bank Settler Raid, Some by IDF Fire” (Haaretz, 5/30/26)
“Digitally annexing the West Bank: Israel moves its theft of Palestinian land online” (Mondoweiss, 6/3/26)
“Who Will Stop Smotrich, if Not The Hague?” (Haaretz, 6/3/26)

West Bank

Israel Expropriates Nabi Samwil Antiquity Site Currently Managed by the Muslim Waqf

The Israeli Civil Administration issued an expropriation order to seize the Nabi Samwil antiquity site, located just north of Jerusalem’s municipal boundary in the Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil. The seizure order affects a mosque that is currently managed by the Palestinian Authority’s Muslim Waqf, marking the first time Israel has unilaterally taken control of a holy site owned by the Waqf. In addition to the mosque, Israel has expropriated the archaeological site around the mosque, a spring, agricultural lands, and access roads leading to the area – a total of 109.79 dunams (27 acres).

The Civil Administration explained it was seizing the site “for the public benefit, for the purposes of undertaking a development project to preserve the archaeological site of the Prophet Samuel’s tomb,” claiming that there are safety issues in the compound. Israel is advancing development plans for several other significant antiquity sites that have been under Palestinian control across the West Bank, most notably Sebastia.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Once again, we find ourselves confronting decisions by the Civil Administration, operating under Minister Smotrich, that are intended to expand and deepen annexation. From plans to expand settlements and unprecedented declarations of ‘state land,’ the Civil Administration has moved on to taking control of heritage sites and is now appropriating religious sites, creating tension in some of the most peaceful and sensitive places in the West Bank. The messianic agenda of the Israeli government should have been stopped long ago. Instead, each passing day appears to further endanger us and create the conditions for transforming a political conflict into a religious war.”

The Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil is located on a strategic and highly prized hilltop (inside of an area Israel post-facto declared a national park) just outside of the municipal borders of Jerusalem but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier — placing residents (who have West Bank ID cards) in a Kafka-esque situation wherein they are cut off from both Jerusalem and the West Bank (legally they are forbidden from taking the one road out of the village into Jerusalem, since they are West Bankers, and the West Bank is accessible only via a circuitous route that passes through an Israeli checkpoint – for background see: The Palestinian village where Israel forbids everything). The suffocation of Nabi Samwil is in line with Israel’s long-time ambitions to completely de-populate the village and take control of the land.

Israel Takes Another Step Towards Forcible Transfer of Khan Al-Ahmar

Ir Amim reports the Civil Administration issued a seizure order for a strip of land running through the Khan al-Ahmar bedouin community’s land to enable the construction of a new water line between two nearby settlements, Mishor Adumim and Kfar Adumim. The seizure order was issued the same day, May 19th, that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed to move forward with the long-stalled forcible transfer of Khan al-Ahmar.

Ir Amim further details:

“Moreover, the water line is clearly not intended to serve Khan al-Ahmar or other Palestinian communities in the area. It is rather designed to upgrade infrastructure for the settler population in the E1/Maaleh Adumim area. Since Kfar Adumim is already connected to water infrastructure, the new line likely indicates preparations for the expansion of Kfar Adumim and/or other nearby settlements.”

Bibi Requests Review of Annexation via Antiquities Bill

The Times of Israel reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed his Cabinet Secretary to prepare a comprehensive review of a bill to annex antiquity sites in the West Bank and Gaza. Bibi’s request might be intended to delay or scuttle the bill, which has faced heavy international criticism in addition to opposition by Israeli legal advisors and defense experts. Just this week the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee Legal Adviser Tami Sela wrote a position paper criticizing the bill saying that it “contradicts” international law, specifically with regard to the bill’s application to Areas A & B in the West Bank and to Gaza. The Israeli army has also expressed opposition.

In addition to fast-tracking a bill to create an Israeli civilian authority to control antiquity sites in all areas of the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli government is simultaneously proceeding with the appointment of a new head of the Israel Antiquities Authority that is both unqualified and clearly political. A group of 60 archaeologists petitioned the Knesset this week to block the appointment.

Israel Launches Online West Bank Land Registration System

On May 27th the Israeli government 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.

The Palestinian Authority urged Palestinians to withhold information from Israeli entities working on the registration system, which Birzeit University’s Institute of Law argues consolidates Israeli dominance, marginalizes the Palestinian Authority, legitimizes settlement expansion, and creates irreversible facts on the ground.

Following the Security Cabinet’s February 2026 decisions, the full Israeli Cabinet quickly approved the decisions and allocated a four-year, $78 million (NIS 244.1 million) budget to establish a mechanism (with up to 35 employees) for updating the records in Area C of the West Bank. The Israeli Justice Ministry is tasked with carrying out the land registration process, effectively transferring sovereignty over Area C from the Israeli military to Israeli civilian governance, clear annexation. According to Peace Now, the process of land registration in Area C carried out will lead to the wide scale dispossession of Palestinians from the area. The Cabinet set a target goal of completing the land registration process for 15% of Area C within the next five years.

Yara Asi explains for the Arab Center DC:

“Israel’s February 2026 decisions mark a turning point in the governance of the West Bank. While presented as administrative measures, they collectively restructure land, authority, and law in ways that extend beyond the logic of temporary occupation. Through land registration, control is converted into ownership; through governance reforms, Israeli authority is extended across territorial lines; and through judicial changes, the limited constraints on these processes are further weakened. Together, these developments reflect a shift from managing occupied territory to integrating it into Israel.

This transformation carries significant legal and political implications. By embedding control within legal and institutional frameworks, these measures reduce the prospect of reversal and reshape the conditions for any future political settlement. In this sense, they illustrate a broader strategy of annexation through law—one that proceeds without formal declaration yet produces many of its defining effects.”

Itay Epshtain posted on X:

“The system, codenamed “Grenade”, was launched this morning and openly endorsed by Ministers Smotrich and Strook as “a central pillar in applying sovereignty in the territory and strengthening our hold and roots in Judea and Samaria.”

The candor is striking. What was once advanced incrementally, is now pursued through digitized cadastral engineering. A land registry presented as bureaucratic modernization is, in substance, an instrument for the consolidation of unlawful territorial acquisition.

International law is neither ambiguous nor silent. An occupying Power is prohibited from annexing occupied territory, permanently appropriating public or private property outside the strict limits of military necessity, or altering the legal status of the territory under occupation. Yet this is precisely what is now occurring, in broad daylight, through administrative and technological means designed to render unlawful presence increasingly irreversible.”

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

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

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

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

Israel Seizes Area A Land Inside Jenin for Army Base

972 Magazine reports the Israeli army seized land inside of the Palestinian village of Jenin, on a hilltop overlooking the Jenin refugee camp, in order to establish an army base. Dror Etkes (Kerem Navot) reports the seizure order coupled with newly paved military roads nearby suggest Israel has plans to establish a large military base there, marking the first time since the signing of the Olso Accords that Israeli seized land in Area A for a military base. Etkes ties the move to the broader Israeli government move to expand settlements around the Jenin area. Etkes says:

“There are more than 100 new settlements [including outposts] in the West Bank, and 15 in the Jenin area alone,” he said. “This is not just going back to the four settlements dismantled in 2005. It is something much larger. This is [Israel] reestablishing a military presence in the Jenin area, The only reasonable interpretation is that it is directly related to the biggest settlement boom in the West Bank…The aim is to strengthen the settlements that already exist along these routes, effectively surrounding Jenin and disconnecting it from its immediate rural surroundings. These are methods that we recognize from settlement expansion patterns elsewhere.”

Bonus Reads

“Humanitarian Situation Report | 25 May 2026” (OCHA)
“Pastoral Settlement: Dispossession, Forced Displacement and the Erosion of Livestock-Based Livelihoods in the Context of Eid al-Adha” (Balasan Initiative, 5/26/26)
“The Four Steps Israel Is Taking to Clear Palestinians From West Bank’s E1 Area” (Haaretz, 5/27/26)
“’They stole our sheep, killed my son’: Israeli settlers, soldiers attack and loot West Bank villages” (Middle East Eye, 5/27/26)
“In West Bank, Latest Victim of Israeli Settler Violence Shocks in a New Way” (New York Times, 5/22/26)
“Likud minister says resettlement of Gaza should be on party’s official election platform” (The Times of Israel, 5/26/26)
“Smotrich’s Bid for Political Survival Relies on Bribing Israeli Settlers” (Haaretz, 5/28/26)
“Israel Has Physically Divided Gaza With Over 25 Kilometers of Earthen Barriers” (Drop Site, 5/25/26)

Foundation for Middle East Peace

Settlement & Annexation Report: August 14, 2026

WEST BANK

STATE BACKED SETTLER TERROR

BONUS READ

EAST JERUSALEM

WEST BANK

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM

BONUS READS

WEST BANK

UNESCO Recognizes Sebastia as Endangered World Heritage Site

BONUS READS

WEST BANK

GAZA SETTLEMENTS

BONUS READS

EAST JERUSALEM / JERUSALEM

WEST BANK

FURTHER READING

WEST BANK

STATE-BAKED SETTLER TERRORISM

BONUS READS

EAST JERUSALEM

WEST BANK

BONUS READS

WEST BANK

STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR

Bonus Reads

WEST BANK

Bonus Reads

West Bank

Bonus Reads