Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

July 26, 2024

1. Israeli Army Seizes Key Area of Sebastia Archaeological Site
2. Family in Old City Faces Dispossession
3. First Demolition in Al-Walajah Area C Could be Sign of More to Come
4. Peace Now: In 2023, Israeli Government Funded 101 Illegal Outposts
5. Israeli Human Rights Groups Publish Joint “State of the Occupation” Report
6. Bonus Reads

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Israeli Army Seizes Key Area of Sebastia Archaeological Site

Seizure Of Sebastia Summit Emek Shaveh reports that on July 10th the Israeli army issued an order seizing land at the summit of the Sebastia archeological site in the northern West Bank. The dot of land (1.3 dunams / .3 acres) is surrounded by the Palestinian village of Sebastia in Area C of the West Bank. Emek Shaveh reports that the IDF is likely to set up a military post on the small area, and erect an Israeli flag at the highest point.

This seizure comes over one year after the Israeli government passed a $9 million (NIS 32 million)  plan designed to impose Israeli control over the site both logistically and in the narrative about the site’s history.  Emek Shaveh explains:

 “the government wants to turn the site into an ‘anchor site’ for tourists which would emphasise Jewish history and Jewish rights to the site. The plan, designed to complete the separation of the acropolis from the village and divert tourism away from the village itself, also threatens the Outstanding Universal Values attributed to the site by the State of Palestine and international experts in the field of heritage. “

Settlers have been openly agitating for Israel to assert control over the archaeological site in Sebastia for years, and the settler Samaria Regional Council organizes regular tours to the site. To secure the settlers’ visits, the IDF shuts down the town of Sebastia, closing Palestinian streets and businesses. 

As in other cases across the West Bank, settlers allege that Palestinians are damaging the Sebastia site and that the Israeli government needs to intervene. In 2021 amidst  intensifying settler efforts related to the site, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on UNESCO to “protect all Palestinian archaeological and religious sites from Israeli violations, attacks and falsifications.” The archaeological site of Sebastia is on the tentative list of World Heritage sites in Palestine.

Family in Old City Faces Dispossession

Ir Amim reports that the Palestinian Quastiro family who has been running a coffee shop (al-Musrara Cafe) located near the Old City of Jerusalem is facing imminent dispossession of their business at the behest of of the Israeli Custodian General, the government body which can “reclaim” buildings that were owned by Jews prior to 1948.  

The coffee shop is located on the popular al-Musrara Street, which leads from the Damascus Gate to the Old City towards West Jerusalem Jerusalem. Ir Amim explains “the strategic location has made properties there a target of settler takeover, and a few settler families are already living in some of the residential units in the area….The pretext under which the General Custodian is attempting to evict the family could suggest intent on renting or handing over the property to an Israeli settler organization.” 

First Demolition in Al-Walajah Area C Could be Sign of More to Come

Ir Amim reports that on July 22nd Israeli forces demolished the home of the Palestinian Rabah family (12 individuals) in the village of Al-Walaja, located on the southern border of Jerusalem (partially within Israeli’s expanded municipality borders). 

Ir Amim explains the significance of this demolition:

“this is the first time a home demolition in Area C of al-Walaja has taken place in years and could indicate a policy change which would place many more homes in the village at risk of demolition. In 2016, the Israeli authorities dramatically toughened their demolition policy in the part of al-Walaja annexed to East Jerusalem. This has resulted in the destruction of dozens of homes in the past eight years by the National Enforcement Unit, an organ of the Ministry of Finance operating in East Jerusalem along with areas inside the Green Line…While the reason behind the Civil Administration’s decision to carry out the demolition is unknown, it could indicate a major change in policy which would place dozens of homes in Area C of al-Walaja under threat of demolition. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who received authority over civil issues in Area C has prioritized increased demolitions of Palestinian homes (along with Israeli takeovers of large areas and authorization of unauthorized outposts). “

The home was built by the Rabah brothers in 2012 adjacent to their parents home on the family’s land. Despite owning the land, the brothers were denied Israeli building permits because the Separation Barrier was being constructed some 35 meters away – – meaning that the land was now located in an area where the ISraeli military prohibits new construction for “security” reasons.

Since 1967, Al-Walajah has suffered due to its location and its complicated status under Israeli law. Much of the village’s lands, including areas with homes, were annexed by Israel in 1967, but Israel never gave the villagers Jerusalem legal residency by Israel – meaning that under Israeli law, their mere presence in their homes is illegal). Today it is acutely suffering from a multi-prong effort by the Israeli government and settlers to grab more land for settlement expansion in pursuit of the “Greater Jerusalem” agenda. This land grab campaign includes home demolitions (four homes in Al-Walajah were demolished by Israel on November 2, 2022, for example), the construction of the separation barrier and bypass roads in a way that seals off the village on three sides, and the systematic denial of planning permits. 

Peace Now: In 2023, Israeli Government Funded 101 Illegal Outposts

Peace Now released a new report showing that in 2023 the Israeli government financed 68 settler farming outposts and 33 other (non-farming outposts) to the tune of $7.6 million (NIS 28 million). Peace Now reports that over $20.5 million (NIS 75 million) has been earmarked for outposts in 2024, and that settler regional councils will soon be asked to submit applications for outpost funding in 2024.

The government seeks to obscure its funding of illegal outposts by transferring the money to the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division, which then makes the transfers to the outposts. While it is not entirely certain, Peace Now is confident in surmising that government funds were provided by the WZO to five illegal farming outposts that have been targeted by international sanctions.

Peace Now’s findings include:

•  In 2023, the Israeli government financed 68 settler farms in the West Bank with an amount of NIS 15 million. Additional NIS 39 million is allocated for farms in 2024.
•  In addition the government funded 33 illegal outposts (that are not farms) with NIS 13 million in 2023. Additional NIS million is allocation for outposts in 2024.
• The funds were used for financing vehicles, drones, cameras, electric generators, electric gates, lamp posts, fences, solar panels and more.
• The IDF and the Central Command were involved in planning and approving the funds, including deciding which farms and outposts would receive funding and which components would be financed in each farm and outpost.

The farming outposts have been a particular focus for many settlement watchdog groups because they have significantly proliferated over the past few years, and they are exceptionally effective in gaining control over vast areas in the West Bank with only a few settlers, a few tents, herds of livestock, and – usually – violence.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Not only does the Israeli government allow settlers to take over lands, establish outposts and farms in violation of the law, and attack and displace Palestinians without any response, it also funds and assists them. Settler violence is not a bug; it is a feature. It is part of an ongoing effort by the Israeli government to systematically expel Palestinians from their homes and lands in Area C in the West Bank.”

Israeli Human Rights Groups Publish Joint “State of the Occupation” Report

In its second annual report, The Platform: Israeli NGOs for Human Rights, published a new report and commentary on Israel’s rule over the West Bank. Twenty-one Israeli human rights groups contributed to the report coordinated by the New Israel Fund. The report affirms that “Israel’s actions in the West Bank today meet the criteria of apartheid.” 

The report details four “trends” that defined the work of the contributing organizations in 2023:

1. The humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip and the suspected war crimes committed by Israel; 
2. The deepening of the annexation and the acceleration of dispossession in the West Bank; 
3. The increased Israelisation efforts and displacement of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem; and,
4. The accelerated erosion of democratic space in Israel. 

You can read the report and its details here.

Bonus Reads

1. “‘Fighting the same battle’: After Oct. 7, settlers court Republican evangelicals” (The Times of Israel)
2. “The ICJ Is Right: The Israeli Settlements Are an Illegal Affront” (The New Republic)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

July 12, 2024

1. A Stunning, Expansive Time for Israel’s West Bank Annexation
2. Civil Admin Seizes Patchwork of Plots as “State Land” in Order to Legalize the Evyatar Outpost
3. Government Establishes Jurisdiction for New Settlement on World Heritage Site Near Bethlehem
4. Settlers Takeover New Building in Hebron
5. Historic Year for Land Grabs: Israel Seizes Over 3,000 Acres in the Jordan Valley as “State Land”
6. Civil Admin Advances Plans to Legalize Three Outposts & Build 5k New Units Across West Bank
7. Israeli Cabinet Gives Civil Admin Authority Over Antiquity Sites in Area B
8. Israeli Cabinet Supports Knesset Considers Bill to Transfer West Bank Antiquities Control from Civil Admin to Domestic Body
9. U.S. Issues New Round of Sanctions Against Settlers & Settler Organizations
10. Israeli Court Orders 11 Families Out of Homes in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan
11. Israeli Court Rules to Demolish Wadi Hilweh Info Center in Silwan
12. Israeli Court Tells Settlers To Leave Khalidi Library in Old City of Jerusalem
13. Israel to Advance 6,000+ Settlement Units in East Jerusalem in Coming Weeks
14. Amidst Wave of Violence, Settlers Lead Progrom On Massafer Yatta Region
15. Ariel Settlers Close Access Road to Palestinians
16. IDF Demolishes Outposts, Clashes With Settlers
17. Bonus Reads

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A Stunning, Expansive Time for Israel’s West Bank Annexation

Over the past two weeks, Israel has unleashed a flurry of settlement activity that makes its annexation of the West Bank complete. Even a small sampling of those acts, detailed below along with other news, are stunning when taken together. Indeed, Israeli National Missions Minister Orti Strock called this “a miraculous time,” referring to the control her and her allies have over key government bodies and how easy it is for them to fund settlement construction. Strock is a member of the Religious Zionism party, along with Bezalel Smotrich.

Renowned Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard encapsulates this time powerfully in an article entitled, “Smotrich Has Completed Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank”:

“The only thing the annexationist criminals must be saying to themselves now is: why did we wait for 57 years? It’s so easy.”

Civil Admin Seizes Patchwork of Plots as “State Land” in Order to Legalize the Evyatar Outpost

On July 8th, the Israeli government declared 16 acres (66 dunams) of land south of Nablus as Israeli “state land” in order to pave the way for the legalization of the Evyatar outpost. Palestinians who have private ownership claims to the land have 45 days in which to submit an appeal. The declaration is the result of three years of “work” by Smotrich’s Settlements Administration to examine the status of the land in order to find a way for the state to take control of the land in order to legalize the outpost. The declaration comes one week after the Israeli Security of Cabinet decided in favor of legalizing the Evyatar outpost along with four other outposts.

The Evyatar outpost was illegally built by settlers on a strategic hilltop named Mount Sabih, located just south of Nablus on land historically belonging to nearby Palestinian villages Beita, Yatma, and Qablan. It was evacuated by the Israeli government in 2021 in the context of an agreement with settlers that left all construction at the site in place, maintained an IDF presence at the site, and made clear the government’s intent to legalize settlement at the site in the future – a goal which was made more than official when it was agreed to in writing as part of the coalition agreements that formed the current Israeli government.

To underscore the absurdity which has characterized the State’s blatant intent to legalize Evyatar even though Israeli law makes that an impossibility because parts of the land are recognized by the State as privately owned by Palestinians (which is the only reason Evyatar has yet to be legalized), the State’s new declaration of “state land” is a complete patchwork. The order does not include the land on which the central square of the outpost is built, nor does it include 11 buildings, or, very importantly, the access road leading from the main road to the outpost. The implications of this patchwork is that even though the privately owned land was not seized, Palestinians will remain unable to access the land and will, in practice, lose that land as well as land abutting the settlement as it grows, expands, and establishes control over the area with the assistance of the IDF.

Peace Now reports that this is the fifth “state land” declaration so far in 2024 bringing the total land in the West Bank taken into Israeli control this year to 5,879 acres (23,572 dunams), breaking all previous annual records combined. Israel invented the concept of “state land” in order to find means by which to confiscate land in the occupied West Bank, and to do so Israel cites Ottoman law which provided that land which has not been cultivated in consecutives years becomes the property of the sovereign. Peace Now explains:

“The declaration process is essentially a legal maneuver developed by Israel to circumvent the prohibition in international law against expropriating private property of the occupied population for the benefit of the occupying power. To “convert” private land into public land (termed “state land”) without expropriating it, Israel claims that it is not changing the land’s status but merely “declaring” it officially.

According to Israel’s interpretation of Ottoman land law, which underpins the land laws in the occupied territories, if a landowner does not cultivate their land for several years, the land is no longer theirs and becomes public property. To this end, the mapping personnel of the Civil Administration, now operating under the Settlements Administration with legal counsel under Minister Smotrich, examine aerial photographs to identify uncultivated lands and mark them as “state land.”

The declaration map for the Evyatar outpost shows that there were indeed several cultivated lands, even by Israel’s stringent interpretation. For example, the declaration creates an enclave of about 3.5 dunams in the middle of the area designated for the settlement, considered private land. In principle, Israel would argue that it is not expropriating this area and that the Palestinian landowners are still recognized as the owners. However, as in hundreds of similar cases, it is clear that they will not have access to their land and no possibility of using it when it is located in the middle of an Israeli settlement.

To enable an access road connecting the outpost to the main road without crossing private land, the map’s designers managed to “find” an 11-meter-long and 1.5-meter-wide corridor of land that they claim was uncultivated and thus considered state land. This interpretation of Ottoman law brings it to absurdity.

According to this, if a person has a plot and cultivates it intensively, but there is a small uncultivated strip on the edges, say a rock that cannot be plowed, that small part of the plot is not owned by the landowner. This interpretation is far removed from the purpose of the Ottoman law, which was to encourage the empire’s subjects to cultivate the lands to increase its tax revenues.

Regarding the access road – in any case, for modern vehicles, a road 1.5 meters wide is insufficient, and it is clear that to allow access to the settlement, the state will encroach on private Palestinian lands (requiring another legal maneuver). Thus, it can be said that this entire declaration of state land is essentially an unlawful expropriation under international law.”

Government Establishes Jurisdiction for New Settlement on World Heritage Site Near Bethlehem

On July 9th, the IDF Commander signed an order establishing the jurisdiction for a new settlement on the lands just west of Bethlehem, lands that are recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Notably, the jurisdiction for the new settlement, called “Nahal Heletz”, does not include the land on which two illegal outposts already exist on Battir’s land. The new settlement is being planned for land that is between Bethlehem and several villages to its west (Walaja, Battir, and Husan) –  meaning that construction on this land will sever the territorial continuity of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem region, and, in the words of Peace Now: “turn them [the villages] into an enclave within Israeli territory.”

There are several extraordinary facts about this land and Israel’s legal acrobatics to establish a new settlement at this location:

1. 1. The status of the land within the new jurisdiction is unclear, and quite possibly includes privately owned Palestinian land. The Israeli Blue Line Team (a government effort to precisely map the boundaries of state land in the West Bank) has prepared updated maps to show the boundaries of state land in the area, but has yet to release it – meaning that the status of the land is unclear. The jurisdiction appears to stretch beyond the previously understood boundaries of land that Israel seized as “state land” in the 1980s, onto land that is privately owned by Palestinians. The updated boundaries might change that fact in the eyes of the Israeli government. But,once the new Blue Line in the area is made public, Palestinians will/should be able to contest it.
   2. There is no access road to the area, and it is surrounded by privately owned Palestinian land. Israel will have to unilaterally expropriate privately owned Palestinian land in order to pave a road to the new settlement – – an extraordinary act which Israel has done in the past (having invented a legal basis on which to do it, a concept which considers Israeli settlers as part of the “local population” of the West Bank).
   3. The jurisdictional area established by this new order is too small for real development  – just under 30 acres (120 dunams). Peace Now explains that “small settlements severely impact open spaces, require substantial resources for infrastructure and transportation, and contradict fundamental planning principles. The sole reason for establishing such a settlement is political: the desire to prevent a Palestinian territorial continuity in the Bethlehem area and the possibility of a viable Palestinian state.”
   4. The jurisdiction is a stones throw away from Palestinian houses and Area B.

Settlers Takeover New Building in Hebron

Peace Now reports that in early June 2024 settlers have taken over a building (“Beit HaTkuma”) in Hebron and established a new settlement enclave there. The house, which settlers illegally entered once before but were removed under the Bennet-Lapid government, on the main road leading from the Kiryat Arba settlement to the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Al-Ibrahimi Mosque.

Settlers claim to have purchased the house, which is a three-story building, from its Palestinians owners, and report that the Civil Administration has recently issued them a permit to begin the registration process. The timing of this permit coincides with the first days of Hillel Roth’s assumption of his role in the Defense Ministry as the civilian in charge of all land matters in the West Bank. Upon receiving the permit (allegedly), the settlers decided to enter and occupy the building although the permit does not provide for that. [map]

Historic Year for Land Grabs: Israel Seizes Over 3,000 Acres in the Jordan Valley as “State Land”

On June 25th, the head of the IDF signed an order declaring 3,138 acres (12,700 dunams) of land in the Jordan Valley as  “state land” – the largest state land seizure since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. This is the first declaration enacted under the authority of Hillel Roth, the new civilian deputy in the Civil Administration responsible for land policy in Area C of the West Bank. Peace Now reports that the legal opinion supporting this massive declaration of state land was crafted by lawyers in the Department of Defense and not legal advisors with the IDF.

Peace Now further reports:

“A significant part of the area that was declared as state land was previously defined as a nature reserve, and also as a “fire area”, for military use, for decades. Today’s announcement completes the Israeli takeover of this area that has been done so far through the declaration of the area as a military area and as a nature reserve – something that imposed many restrictions on the Palestinians’ ability to use their lands. The declaration creates a territorial continuity between the settlements in the Jordan Valley (Yifit and Masu’a) and the settlements at the eastern end of the mountainside (Gitit and Ma’ale Efraim).”

So far in 2024, Israel has declared 5,852 acres as “state land” a figure eclipsing any other year since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. The highest previous total was in 2014, and it was for 1,181 acres.

Civil Admin Advances Plans to Legalize Three Outposts & Build 5k New Units Across West Bank

On July 4th, the Israeli Civil Administration approved the advancement of plans for 5,295 settlement units, including plans which would in effect legalize three outposts under the guise of being “neighborhoods” of existing settlements. This is the first time the Civil Administration’s High Planning Council has met since it came under the authority of a civilian official, Hillel Roth, who was appointed by Bezalel Smotrich. The HPC last met in March 2024. The Associated Press has called Israel’s advancement of plans a “turbo charged settlement drive [that] threatens to further stoke tensions on the West Bank.”

The three outposts that are now on their way to legalization, once given final approval, are:

• Mahane Gadi – to be legalized as a neighborhood of the Masu’a settlement in the northern Jordan Valley. This outpost was built in 2018 on an abandoned Isareli military camp. The outpost currently functions as an educational campus and pre-military academy. Plans advanced this week are for the construction of 260 settlement units. Masu’a settlement, and its outpost satellites, were recently benefitted by the Israeli government’s massive declaration of state land that borders Masu’a.  
• Givat Hanan (Susya East) – to be legalized as a neighborhood of the Susya settlement located in the South Hebron Hills.
• Kedem Arava – it appears that the Kedem Arava outpost was legalized along with Beit Hogla in February 2023 (previously unclear), located south east of Jericho. Plans advanced this week are for 316 settlement units in the Kedem Arava outpost area, but filed as if they are plans for the Beit Hogla settlement. 

The settlement plans that were approved for validation (a near final step in the West Bank planning process) are:

• Beitar Illit – 298 settlement units. An additional 453 units were approved for deposit (751 settlement units total).
• Givat Zeev – 452 settlement units
• Mitzpe Yericho – 365 settlement units
• Nokdim – 290 settlement units
• Immanuel – 266 settlement units 
• Elon Moreh – 186 settlement units
• Kiryat Arba – 165 settlement units 
• Negohot – 158 settlement units
• Tzofim – 74 settlement units
• Ganei Modiin – 46 settlement units
• Etz Efraim – 12 settlement units. An additional 24 units were approved for deposit (36 units total)
• Eli – 24 settlement units
• Mitzad (Asfar) – 6 settlement units

The settlement plans that were approved for deposit (an earlier step in the West Bank planning process) are:

• Neria – 436 settlement units
• Modin Illit – 300 settlement units
• Gva’ot – 250 settlement units. There were over 1,000 plans for the Gva’ot settlement on the High Planning Council’s agenda, but only one plan was advanced, the rest continue to be worked on.
• Yakir – 168 settlement units. Haaretz reports that these units are slated to be built on land that is discontiguous from the built up area of the Yakir settlement,  on the far side of the settlement’s access road, effectively building a new settlement. The construction of these units requires the evacuation of a military base. 
• Kiryat Netafim – 136 settlement units
• Hagai – 135 settlement units
• Maale Shomron (Elamatan) – 120 settlement units
• Almon (Anatot) – 91 settlement units
• Shilo – 90 settlement units
• Pduel – 37 settlement units
• Revava – 16 settlement units
• Elkana – 8 settlement units
• Shaarei Tikva – 6 settlement units

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Netanyahu and Smotrich’s agenda became evident through the decisions of the Planning Council: approval for thousands of housing units, the establishment of three new settlements, and strategic appointments of Smotrich’s allies in key roles instead of military personnel underscore the annexation occurring in the West Bank. Our government continues to change the rules of the game in the occupied West Bank, leading to irreversible harm. While the north is neglected and citizens across the country are abandoned, with 120 hostages still in Gaza, the process of annexation and land theft continues to expand, contrary to Israeli interests. This annexationist government severely undermines the security and future of both Israelis and Palestinians, and the cost of this recklessness will be paid for generations to come. We must bring down the government before it’s too late.”

Israeli Cabinet Gives Civil Admin Authority Over Antiquity Sites in Area B

In late June, the Israeli Cabinet approved several punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority, measures which included usurping the Palestinian Authority’s singular responsibility for antiquity sites in Area B. Under the decision passed last week, the Civil Administration was granted enforcement powers over antiquity sites in Area B that are alleged to be damaged. 

Emek Shaveh explains why this is incredibly significant:

“Approximately 6,000 archaeological sites have been identified in the West Bank. Almost every village or settlement contains archaeological and historical remains that require archaeological supervision to prevent damage to sites, structures, or findings. Thousands of sites are located in Areas A and B…expanding the powers of the [Civil Administration] into these areas represents another Israeli departure from the Oslo Accords. The implications of the decision for Palestinian residents are far reaching. The Staff Officer for Archaeology [in the Civil Administration], which derives its authority from the antiquities law effective in the West Bank (the Jordanian Antiquities Law of 1966), will now be empowered to perform various enforcement actions in Area B including:

• Declaration of archaeological sites, determining their boundaries.
• Issuing work stoppage orders for any development within the boundaries of a declared site or a site suspected of containing archaeological remains.
• Imposing fines for damage to an antiquity site, whether the site is declared or not.
• Demolishing structures located within a declared archaeological site or one that will be declared in the future.
• Collecting information, investigating, and requesting the arrest of suspects in antiquities theft or illegal antiquities trade.

This decision taken together with other decisions for Area B aimed at promoting annexation will dramatically reduce Palestinian space. It should be noted that the SOA consistently avoids enforcing the law when it comes to heritage site destruction by settlers (this is true in Hebron, Battir, and in other places)….

The expansion of archaeological activity into the oPt, especially as reflected in this cabinet decision, indicates the government’s intention to promote annexation by any means. It also fundamentally challenges the possibility of conducting impartial archaeological-scientific activity as long as it operates as part of an oppressive mechanism under military auspices. Israeli archaeological activity in the West Bank necessarily becomes an act of land appropriation and a deepening of Israel’s hold on the West Bank. This action violates international law and ethics, disregards the existence of the Palestinian community, and serves as a weapon for oppression.

The destruction of sites cannot and should not serve as a pretext for political action, and political action should not be disguised as archaeological activity. Blurring the distinction between heritage preservation and settlement and annexation activities turns the practice of archaeology into a weapon of oppression while undermining its professional legitimacy.”

Notably, Israel Hayom credits this Cabinet action to a settler group called “Keepers of the Eternal,” (or, “Guardians of Eternity” – an offshoot of Regavim) the leader of which called the new powers granted to the Civil Administration “dramatic.” FMEP has reported on this group repeatedly as it has increased its pressure on and work with the government to take control of West Bank antiquity sites. Dating back to June 2020, the “Guardians of Eternity” began surveying areas in the West Bank that Israel has designated as archaeological sites, looking for Palestinian construction (barred by Israel in such areas) that they could then use as a pretext to demand that Israeli authorities demolish it. The group systematically began communicating its findings to the Archaeology Unit of the Israeli Civil Administration.

Then in January 2021, the Israeli government committed funding to a settler initiative to surveil archeological sites under Palestinian control. While the objective of protecting antiquities might appear uncontroversial and apolitical, the true (and transparently self-evident) objectives behind this effort are: to support yet another pretext to surveil and police Palestinians; to establish and exploit yet another means to dispossess Palestinians of their properties; to expand/deepen Israeli control across the West Bank; and to further entrench Israeli technical, bureaucratic and legal paradigms that treat the West Bank as sovereign Israeli territory. It is the result of a campaign that has taken place over the past year in which settlers have escalated their calls for the Israeli government to seize antiquities and “heritage sites” located in Palestinian communities across the West Bank, especially in Area C, which Israel today treats as functionally (and legally) indistinguishable from sovereign Israeli territory. 

Israeli Cabinet Supports Knesset Considers Bill to Transfer West Bank Antiquities Control from Civil Admin to Domestic Body

Emek Shaveh reports that the Israeli cabinet gave its support to a bill in the Knesset that would transfer authority over West Bank antiquity sites from the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration to the domestic Israeli Antiquities Authority, bringing the cultural, heritage, and archaeological sites in the West Bank under the direct control of the Israeli government in which West Bank Palestinians have no rights. 

The bill, as proposed by Likud’s Amit Halevi, explains that the move is justifiable because the West Bank antiquity sites (unbelievably) “have no historical or other connection to the Palestinian Authority.” The bill passed a preliminary vote in the Knesset on July 10th.

U.S. Issues New Round of Sanctions Against Settlers & Settler Organizations

On July 11th, the United States announced another round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers and settler organizations it asserts are perpetrating violent crimes against Palestinians and Israeli solidarity activists in the West Bank. These sanctions expand the web or already sanctioned individuals and entities.

The individuals and entities sanctioned by the U.S. this week are:

• 1 settler organization: 
  • Lehava – a settler group led by Benzi Gopstein, who is already under U.S. sanctions.
• 3 individuals:
  • Issachar Manne – who established the Manne’s Farm outpost.
  • Reut Ben Haim – the co-head of the Tzav 9 settler group, which is already under U.S. sanctions;
  • Shlomo Sari – the co-head of the Tzav 9 settler group, which is already under U.S. sanctions;
• Four illegal outposts:
  • Meitarim Farm (established by Yinon Levi, who is already under U.S. sanctions);
  • HaMahoch Farm (established by Neria Ben Pazi, who is already under U.S. sanctions);
  • Neria’s Farm (established by Neria Ben Pazi, who is already under U.S. sanctions); and,
  • Manne’s Farm, established by Issachar Manne, who came under sanctions this week, and located in the South Herbon Hills.

Notably, The Times of Israel has previously reported that in 2021 a corporation owned by the Har Hebron Regional Council signed a legally binding contract with Yinon Levi (a previously sanctioned individual) to establish Meitarim Farm. This legal connection exposes the settlement municipality to US sanctions as well.

Aaron David Miler, a former state department Middle East negotiator now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tells The Guardian that the expanding targets of U.S. sanctions are creeping closer towards the Israeli government, saying:

“It appears that [the U.S. State Department] not just targeted extremist settlers but … introduced a linkage to territoriality by citing illegal outposts…It doesn’t take much imagination to conclude that the next target would be [Israeli] government financing for illegal outposts. And that would be a new departure to be sure.”

Sara Yager, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said:

“In this case we’re pleased that the Biden administration is going farther than before with the alert…Now it’s time for sanctions against the Israeli authorities that are approving and inciting. We want to see the US, UK, Canada and others focus on power behind all this in the West Bank.”

Israeli Court Orders 11 Families Out of Homes in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan

This week the Jerusalem District Court ruled on two significant cases affecting 11 Palestinian families in Silwan facing forcible eviction from their homes at the hands of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization. Both cases were found in favor of the settlers, leaving 11 families at risk of imminent mass displacement from East Jerusalem. The Palestinians plan to appeal the ruling to the Israeli Supreme Court – though it was only a month ago that the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the Shehadeh family whose case is similar to those decided this week.

On July 9th, the Israeli court rejected the final appeal of the Gheith and Abu Nab families (4 family units totalling 22 individuals) and ordered their immediate eviction. The families were also ordered to pay the legal fees incurred by Ateret Cohanim.

On July 10th, the Israeli court rejected the final appeal of the Rajabi family (7 family units, 65 individuals), ruling that the 66-member family must vacate their longtime home by January 2025.

In both cases, Ateret Cohanim claims ownership of the buildings becuase it gained control of the historic Benvenisti Trust, which oversaw the assets of Yemenite Jews who lived in Silwan in the 19th century. In 2001 the Israeli Charitable Trust Registrar granted Ateret Cohanim permission to revive the trust and become its trustees following 63 years of dormancy. In 2002, the Israeli Custodian General transferred ownership of the land in Batan al-Hawa to the Trust (i.e., to Ateret Cohanim). Since then, Ateret Cohanim has accelerated its multi-pronged campaign to remove Palestinians from their homes, claiming that the Palestinians are illegal squatters. Silwan is just one site of Ateret Cohanim’s work to establish Jewish enclaves inside densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, for the explicit purpose of “reclaiming” Palestinian parts of Jerusalem for Jews.

Ir Amim explains:

“These families are among some 85 Palestinian families, consisting of over 700 individuals, who face largescale displacement and settler takeovers of their homes in Batan al-Hawa. This is a result of eviction claims filed by a Jewish trust established in the 19th century, which is now controlled by the Ateret Cohanim settler group who is exploiting it to take over Palestinian homes. 

While carried out under a veneer of legitimacy, the proceedings are underpinned by discriminatory laws, political motivations, and a system that is rigged against Palestinians from the outset which deprives them of equal access to justice. Moreover, theses measures are a violation of international law and could amount to a form of forcible transfer. 

Rather than adjudicating these cases from a broader perspective, which includes moral, geopolitical, and humanitarian considerations, as well as international law, the Israeli judiciary is instead complicit with these moves.

These cases are part and parcel of a coordinated and systematic political campaign aimed at uprooting Palestinians and expanding Jewish settlement in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods. While the eviction claims themselves are initiated by settlers, they are aided and abetted on all levels of the state, which carry far-reaching implications on the future of Jerusalem and the conflict as a whole.”

Israeli Court Rules to Demolish Wadi Hilweh Info Center in Silwan

On July 3rd, the Jerusalem Court of Local Affairs ruled that the Wadi Hilweh Information Center will be demolished within a year, and fined the Center over $5,000 (NIS 20,000). The Wadi Hilweh Information Center is run by prominent activist Jawad Siyam, who along with the center is a fixture in Silwan and an important interlocutor with diplomats and alternative tourism who are seeking to learn about Palestinian history in the area and current struggles to remain there while enduring state + settler harassment and displacement.

The Center was opened in 2009, at which time the Jerusalem Municipality issued a warning notice demanding the demolition of part of the building that was recently “renovated” (the roof was repaired) because the Center did not obtain an Israeli-issued building permit to do the work. The Center says that the building itself predates Israel’s control of the area in 1967. It currently stands in the shadow of the massive “City of David Visitors Center” complex that the Elad settler organization has built over the years.

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Instead of taking care of all the residents of Jerusalem, Jews and Arabs, the Jerusalem Municipality works to harm the Palestinian residents and make their lives difficult. The tourist settlement in the Palestinian neighborhoods around the Old City, which is massively supported by the government, is aiming at erasing the Palestinian presence from the public space in East Jerusalem. The pressures exerted by the municipality against the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan and the intention to demolish it, are for the political purpose of not allowing the residents to organize and make their voices heard in the public domain.”

Israeli Court Tells Settlers To Leave Khalidi Library in Old City of Jerusalem

On June 30th, the Jerusalem District Court made a group of settlers vacate ta building in the Khalidi Library complex located in the Old City of Jerusalem after they broke into the building and occupied it three days prior. The library is within eyesight of the Western/Wailing Wall plaza (Kotel Plaza), on Chain Gate Road, which leads to the Haram al-Sharif. There is an IDF checkpoint right outside of the door, reflecting what an intensely sensitive area it is in.

The settlers had forged documents claiming to have purchased the building, but upon review of the Khalidi families’ own documents which show the family has owned the building for at least 160 years, the Court ordered the settlers to leave. There is another hearing set in the coming weeks which will allow the settlers, if they choose, to make their case.

Listen to Rashid Khalidi explain the history of the Khalidi Library, the current situation and its importance, and the ongoing fears of settler takeover in a conversation with FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart on a recent episode of FMEP’s “Occupied Thoughts” podcast. 

In a statement, the Khalidi family said:

“Despite this temporary success, there is an ongoing fear of settler violence and the chilling effect of the occupation. Two of the settlers involved have been identified as Eli Attal ad Erez Zaka, the former linked to previous takeovers of Palestinian properties in the old city. After today’s ruling, scores of settlers remain lingering  outside the house and on the rooftops filming and occasionally bagining on the doors and windows, posing a threat of breaking and entry and further illegal actions.”

Israel to Advance 6,000+ Settlement Units in East Jerusalem in Coming Weeks

Ir Amim reports that within the next two weeks Israel is planning to advance plans for 6,700 new settlement units in East Jerusalem. Plans to be advanced include:

• • Givat Hamatos  – plans for 3,500 new units, 1,300 new hotel rooms, five synagogues, and two mikvahs (ritual baths). This plan wouldl double the number of units in the settlement and expand its size by nearly 40%;
  • Gilo – two plans for a total of 1,288 new settlement units, expanding hte settlement to the south east, further choking the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa and severing neighborhoods in southern Jerusalem from the Bethlehem area;
  • Ramot – plans for 800 new settlement units.

Details of the plans slated for advancement are reported here by Ir Amim, and will be reported by FMEP in more detail when they are advanced.

Amidst Wave of Violence, Settlers Lead Progrom On Massafer Yatta Region

Palestinian residents in Masafer Yatta, an area of small villages in the South Hebron Hills, have been live streaming the frequent and intensifying terror that Israeli settlers have been inflicting on them for years. The terror peaked to unimaginable levels over the last weeks when, on multiple occasions, armed settlers descended on villages in the area inflicting terror, violence, and intimidation.

Eid Suleman, a prominent activist in Umm al-Khair, told the Associated Press:

“We know what this is. They’re trying to expel us out of here. The military did the dirty job last week and now the settlers are following up.”

Some of the events that have transpired include:

On June 26th, the IDF arrived in Umm al-Khair early in the morning and proceeded to demolish a third of Umm al-Khair’s structures (11 homes), leaving 38 people (30 children) homeless).

On July 1st, armed settlers descended on Umm al-Khair, some dressed as IDF officers, and fired live ammunition toward Palestinians, deployed tear gas, and attacked people with wooden sticks.  Israel soldiers and police were nearby but did not intervene.

On July 2nd, settlers were accompanied by Isreali soldiers as the entered the village of Umm al-Khair and built a tent in the center square, where 40 settlers gathered in a sort of celebration. When they eventually left, the settlers cut the water pipes supplying the village and warned of their plans to return the next day.

On July 3rd, settlers descended on the nearby village of Khalled al-Daba’a and set agricultural crops and trees on fire. The settlers then proceeded to march on the homes in the village carrying cans of gasoline and guns.

On July 4th, Palestinian residents reported that 100 settlers attacked the village of Khaled al-Daba, setting fire to fruit trees and shooting live ammunition directly towards Palestinians. Settlers proceeded to beat villages with sticks. Israeli forces arrested one Palestinian.

Settlers then moved to Mufagarah, a nearby village, where they destroyed vehicles and prevented emergency medical workers from reaching Palestinians and internationals in need. Palestinians report several Palestinians and two internationals were injured by the settlers.

On July 7th, the IDF arrested members of the Hureini family – who are all prominent activists in the area – who had called the police to report that settlers had shepherded flocks of sheep onto the Hureini’s land.

The Center for Jewish Nonviolence (which maintains a protective presence in Masafer Yatta and closely allied with the local population there) reports that “the attacks on Umm al-Khair after the demolition on Wednesday are being led by a settler named Shimon Atiya (or Atia), a leader of the nearby illegal outpost, Havat Shorashim (or “Roots Farm” in English). For months, he has been one of countless settlers acting with impunity while wreaking havoc on Palestinian communities across Area C.”

The events in Massafer Yatta bring into stark relief the intensity and persistence of settler terrorism in the West Bank, especially since October 7, 2023. AIDA (Association of International Development Agencies) has recorded 1,000 incidents of settler violence since October 7th.

The outgoing head of the Israeli Army’s Central Command, Yehuda Fuchs, used his farewell speech to criticize Israel policy makers for their failure to deter settler terrorism in the West Bank.

Ariel Settlers Close Access Road to Palestinians

The Mayor of the Ariel settlement has blockaded on the main access road leading to the nearby Palestinian village ofSalfit, boasting about his actions in an Instagram post. In addition to building a blockade of boulders and a welded gate, workers also destroyed parts of the road. The Civil Administration has attempted to remove the blockades and restore use of the road, but each time the settlers have re-constructed the blockade.

The Ariel settlement Mayor, Yair Chetboun, said in the video:

“Security is foremost upon us, upon the city. We trust the IDF, love the IDF, but if the senior levels don’t understand the importance of blockading this route – which led to attacks and enables car theft. We won’t permit such a reality. We are also operating on the political front but also on the ground.”

IDF Demolishes Outposts, Clashes With Settlers

On July 3rd, settlers clashed with Israeli authorities as they attempted to demolish the illegal outpost “Oz Zion B.” Haaretz reports that five settlers were arrested for violence against Israeli Border Police, and four were quickly released without questioning or restrictions. One settler who pepper sprayed an officer was brought to court for a hearing but later released and forbidden from going near the outpost.

The demolition of the outpost was reportedly ok’d by Prime Minister Netanyahu – going over the head of Bezalel Smotrich and the Settlement Administration, which has seized control of building enforcement in the West Bank. The outpost, according to the Shin Bet, was the source of violent terror.

Bonus Reads

1. “Road to Redemption: How Israel’s War Against Hamas Turned Into a Springboard for Jewish Settlement in Gaza” (Haaretz)
2. “A look at how settlements have grown in the West Bank over the years” (AP)
3. ​​“West Bank Annexation and Destabilization in the Shadow of the Israel-Hamas War” (J Street) 
4. “The Status of De Jure West Bank Annexation” (Israel Policy Forum)
5. “Mounting International Sanctions Against Powerful Israeli Settler Group Could Be Earth-shattering” (Haaretz)
6. “A warm relationship is being built between Judea, Samaria and America” (JNS)
7. “Why there is no uprising in the West Bank – yet” (Mondoweiss)
8. “In His Retirement Speech, Israel’s Top Officer in the West Bank Revealed the Hidden Truth” (Haaretz)
9. “The Companies Making it Easy to Buy in the West Bank” (The Intercept)

 

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

June 7, 2024

1. Jerusalem Flag Parade Terrorizes Jerusalem, Ben Gvir Tests Temple Mount Status Quo
2. IDF Demolishes Outpost, Ben Gvir Calls (Again) for Gallant to Be Dismissed
3. Settlers & Knesset Call for Israel to Create “Special Regime” With Open Fire Directives to Fortify Settlement Safety
4. Israeli Govt is Working with “Friends in the U.S.” To Cancel/Reduce Sanctions on Settlers
5. Bonus Reads

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Jerusalem Flag Parade Terrorizes Jerusalem, Ben Gvir Tests Temple Mount Status Quo

On June 5th, tens of thousands of Israelis – including ministers and Knesset members – took part in the annual Jerusalem Flag parade [of terror] through the Old City of Jerusalem, going from the Damascus Gate, through the Muslim Quarter, and culminating with a rally at the Western Wall Plaza. Demonstrating how inflammatory the march and many of its participants are each year, and how particularly frenzied and emboldened the participants were expected to be this year, 3,000 police officers were deployed along the parade route and throughout the city. In addition to the chants common for years (including “May your village burn,” “Death to Arabs” “Muhammad is dead,” and “May their name be erased”) marchers physically assaulted Palestinians, activists, and Israeli and Palestinian journalists – flaunting their incendiary, criminal behavior while police and military officers largely stood by (thirteen people were arrested, and five detained, including a Palestinian journalist who was attacked). 

In addition, Haaretz reports that hundreds of Israelis were permitted entry to the Temple Mount on June 5th as part of the parade day, which posed a serious test of Netanyahu’s control over his National Security Minister Ben Gvir as well as Netanyahu’s commitment to upholding the delicate and ever-eroding Status Quo on the Temple Mount, which has been succinctly articulated by Bibi Netanyahu himself as: “Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount”. 

Ben Gvir, in his role as the Israeli National Security Minister, is ostensibly in charge of ensuring the security of Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. True to his ideology and political commitments, Ben Gvir caused a serious panic as the parade began by saying that he had revoked the status quo and that Jews can freely pray on the Temple Mount (an incendiary demand by the Temple Mount Movement to which Ben Gvir subscribes). Netanyahu’s office countered by quickly issuing a statement that the Status Quo has not and will not change. 

While the political drama swirled, Haaretz reported that some of the Jewish Israeli parade-goers who were permitted to go to the Temple Mount started to sing and pray, and then were stopped and removed by Israeli police. An activists who went to the Temple Mount told Arutz Sheva that dozens were removed.

After being overruled by Netanyahu, Ben Gvir did not back down, telling Army Radio after the march that “My policy is very clear on this matter: Jews can be anywhere in Jerusalem, pray anywhere.” 

The Temple Mount issue is not the only headline Ben Gvir made that day. While arriving at the Damascus Gate to join the festivities (along with Smotrich), Ben Gvir he told reporters:

“I came here for one thing, to send a message to Hamas and every house in Gaza and also in the north. Jerusalem is ours. The Damascus Gate, Temple Mount is ours. Today, according to my policy, Jews entered the Old City freely. And also the Temple Mount where they prayed freely. We say in the simplest way, it’s ours. This is the message to Hamas. I pray for the wounded, pray for the release of the hostages. But I say Hamas and Hezbollah must be defeated in war, only in war! And this is ours, our Temple Mount, our Damascus Gate. Let the whole world know it.”

One of the journalists who was assaulted that day, Nir Hasson of Haaretz, later wrote:

“The Flag March on Jerusalem Day is an accurate thermometer of the condition of Israeli society. It measures the levels of hatred, racism and violence in the religious Zionist society and the tolerance of the police and the rest of society to these traits. This year’s diagnosis is terminal. Wednesday’s march was one of the most violent and ugliest I have seen – and I have witnessed every single one over the past 16 years.”

Ir Amim said in a statement calling for the parade to be re-routed away from the Muslim Quarter:

“Against the backdrop of the ongoing devastating war in Gaza and growing international criticism over Israel’s conduct, the Israeli authorities are preparing to mark Jerusalem Day on June 5, which commemorates the “liberation” of East Jerusalem and “re-unification” of the city. This year, the date on which Jerusalem Day is celebrated according to the Hebrew calendar falls on the exact date of the start of the 1967 War and marks 57 years of Israeli occupation and illegal annexation of East Jerusalem. Over the past nearly six decades, consecutive Israeli governments have continued to create irreversible facts on the ground to entrench Israeli control over Jerusalem in its entirety and foil any prospect of an agreed political resolution with two capitals in the city. As a result, it continues to cement a one-state reality of permanent occupation and systematic oppression of Palestinians.”

IDF Demolishes Outpost, Ben Gvir Calls (Again) for Gallant to Be Dismissed

On June 4th the IDF demolished an illegal outpost in the northern West Bank, which was built by settlers without permission on privately owned Palestinian land southwest of Nablus near the settlement called Yair’s Farm. The Israeli Civil Administration reports that a total of six structures were demolished.

The Civil Administration’s action against the outpost elicited the latest repudiation of Gallant by his fellow Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant over the outpost demolition. As a reminder, as a result of a power struggle between Gallant and Smotrich in forming the current government (circa February 2023), Defense Minister Gallant ceded most all authority over civilian matters in the West Bank to Smotrich – – except for the authority over building enforcement laws. However, the compromise was the Gallant had to notify Smotrich of any plans to demolish settlement/outpost construction.  In March 2024, news leaked that Smotrich is actively trying to wrest demolition powers from Gallant, though the demolition this week makes clear that Gallant remains in control (because Smotrich is opposed to enforcing Israeli law if it means holding settlers accountable).

Settlers and their leaders are also furious over the demolition of the outpost, which they say was built in memory of Moti Shamir, who was killed during the Hamas attack on Israeli towns on October 7, 2023. Settlers also say that the land is not privately owned by Palestinians, instead they feel justified in building there because they expect the government to declare the land as “state land” soon. 

Settlers & Knesset Call for Israel to Create “Special Regime” With Open Fire Directives to Fortify Settlement Safety

This week saw several media hits and a Knesset hearing pushing a call along similar lines for the Israeli government to drastically step up its military operations in the West Bank to protect settlements and outposts.

At a Knesset subcommittee hearing on June 2nd, settlers called for the military to undertake more proactive military operations against Palestinian population centers. 

In an op-ed published in Israel Hayom on June 2nd, former national security advisor Meir Ben Shabbat urged the government to establish a “special regime” with “unique open-fire instructions for the Seam Zone”

Yigal Dilmoni had an op-ed published in The Jewish Press on May 28th,  in which he warned that the IDF needs to increase its operations in the West Bank and for settlements to expand in order to prevent another October 7th.

Israeli Govt is Working with “Friends in the U.S.” To Cancel/Reduce Sanctions on Settlers

The Associated Press reports that Bezalel Smotrich said the Israeli government is working with “our friends in the U.S.” to cancel or reduce the Bedien Administrations sanctions on settlers and settler entities believed to be perpetrating violent attacks on Palestinians and activists in the West Bank. The AP’s reporting also demonstrates just how ineffectual those sanctions are, with one of the sanctioned individuals saying that it has only further emboldened him to continue his activities in the West Bank, and that he only experienced financial punishment for two months before the Israeli government and banking sector reopened his accounts, and crowd-funding campaigns raised tens of thousands on his behalf.

Bonus Reads

1. “Worshipers who arrived at Mount Ebal detained by the IDF” (Arutz Sheva)
2. “UN rights office criticises Israel over deaths of 500 Palestinians in West Bank” (Reuters)
3. “In the West Bank, Guns and a Locked Gate Signal a Town’s New Residents” (The New York Times)
4. “Rising violence strikes fear into West Bank school” (Al-Monitor)
5. “Trump Is Desperate for Miriam Adelson’s Cash. Her Condition: West Bank Annexation” (Haaretz)
6. “US sanctions Palestinian group under decree used to target Israeli settlers” (Al Jazeera)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

February 9, 2024

1. State Begins Land Registration in the Armenian Quarter, Where Settlers Look to Win
2. Tender Issued for Efrat Settlement
3. Terrestrial Jerusalem Updates Settlement Tracking Tool
4. Peace Now: Final Report on 2023 Settlement Activity
5. U.S. Now Requires Countries to Certify Compliance with International Law as Condition for Military Aid
6. Israeli Banks Respond to U.S. Sanctions on Four Settlers
7. Bonus Reads

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State Begins Land Registration in the Armenian Quarter, Where Settlers Look to Win

Ir Amim reports that the government of Israel has recently initiated land registration in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, where the state appears to be backing efforts by settlers to take control over a significant portion of land. Elsewhere in Jerusalem, it has become painfully obvious that the State has weaponized the land registration (also called settlement of land title) process to transfer ownership of strategic land wanted for settlement construction into the hands of settlers, thereby fueling the dispossession of Palestinians who have not had access to land registration 

The specific tract of land undergoing land title registration proceedings is located in the heart of the Armenian Quarter, and is involved in a disputed land transaction between the Armenian Patriarchate and an Israeli real estate developer believed to be aligned with the Ateret Cohanim settler organization. For a detailed history of events, see Ir Amim’s reporting here.

Terrestrial Jerusalem has previously warned that these events are not a mere land dispute, and:

“are of such consequences as to jeopardize the viability of the Armenian community and the very character of Jerusalem…This purported sale of rights [by the Armenian Patriarchate to the Israeli real estate company] was done without legal authorization, and with the community intentionally uninformed as to what was happening.”

Ir Amim warns:

“Such a move threatens to solidify the company’s attempted seizure of the land and challenge the community’s right of standing to contest the deal. This should be seen within the larger context of state and settler efforts to Israelize the Old City and erode its historically multicultural and multireligious character, including the Christian presence in Jerusalem. Recent threats against the Christian population have been marked by attempted settler takeovers of properties, plans to expand a National Park onto church lands on the Mt. of Olives, and acts of desecration of Christian sites and cemeteries among other incidents of harassment.”

In a June 2023 report, entitled “The Grand Theft,” Ir Amim and Bimkom explain the history of land registration in East Jerusalem, unpacking how the entire legal land ownership situation Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem find themselves in today is an Israeli-imposed “Catch-22”, resulting directly from Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967. The report explains:

“Although the lack of settlement of land title procedures has had detrimental consequences for Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem, its renewal carries far worse repercussions. After five years of monitoring the implementation of SOLT [settlement of land title]  in East Jerusalem, its alarming nature has become clear. SOLT is being exploited as a new and potent tool of land theft, under the guise of a legitimate legal process to establish Palestinian property rights. It appears to have become the State of Israel’s main method to appropriate more land in East Jerusalem and advance the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians from areas of strategic interest to the State. SOLT is almost exclusively being initiated to finalize ownership rights in existing or planned Israeli settlements, settler enclaves in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods, areas with state-deemed ‘Absentee Property,’ or property allegedly owned by Jews pre-1948.”

In September 2022, FMEP hosted a podcast with Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen on land registration, which you can listen to (or watch) here.

Tender Issued for Efrat Settlement

Peace Now reports that on February 4th, the Israeli Ministry of Houseing published a tender for the construction of 62 settlement units in the Efrat settlement. The Efrat settlement is located south of Bethlehem, inside a settlement block that cuts deep into the West Bank. Efrat’s location and the route of the barrier wall around it, have literally severed the route of Highway 60 south of Bethlehem, cutting off Bethlehem and Jerusalem from the southern West Bank. The economic, political, and social impacts of the closure of Highway 60 at the Efrat settlement (there is literally a wall built across the highway) have been severe for the Palestinian population.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Advancing construction deep in Palestinian territory, adjacent to Palestinian population, undermines the chances for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel and deepens the conflict. The current tender is a clear statement by the Israeli government that settlement construction continues unabated, and any political resolution is far from the goals of this government.”

Terrestrial Jerusalem Updates Settlement Tracking Tool

On February 6th, Terrestrial Jerusalem published an updated version of its detailed table tracking settlement plans in East Jerusalem. In the introduction to the table, Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

“In recent months, the pace with which settlement schemes have been advancing through the statutory processes that advance them towards final approval and implementation has been frenetic. That pace has been so intense that even those who follow these developments have found it difficult to keep abreast of them. On occasion, significant development goes unnoticed. This in turn makes it more difficult to detect the underlying trends, to prioritize the plans that are most consequential and to identify means of engaging on them. 

This report – a table of all of the significant settlement schemes in East Jerusalem that are being currently expedited – aspires to address these challenges. For those who monitor settlement activity with high granularity, it will draw attention to the relevant developments as they occur, accessing the relevant documentation and maps through links in the document. For those who track the settlement issues in East Jerusalem from a wider perspective, the table will serve as a reference, when needed, and allow for an overview of the more general trends that have emerged. 

This is not a comprehensive list. We have selected only those town plans that we deem to be consequential in the context of the conflict that grips East Jerusalem. For example, numerous plans for adding stories to buildings in existing settlement neighborhoods are no less illegal than new settlements, but citing these in the current context would merely be a distraction. On the other hand, we do include statutory plans that are settlement-related, but not plans for new settlement units: plans for expanding roads, plans entailing large-scale demolitions of Palestinian homes and national parks are also included, provided that they directly serve the settlement enterprise .”

Peace Now: Final Report on 2023 Settlement Activity

Peace Now has issued a report reviewing the major settlement advancements of 2023, calling it the best year for the settlement enterprise since the Oslo Accords. The report’s key finding are:

1. Establishment of new outposts and displacement of Palestinian communities – A record number of 26 new outposts were established during 2023, while 21 Palestinian communities were forcibly displaced from their homes. 
2.  Advancement of construction plans – A record number of 12,349 housing units were promoted in settlements in the West Bank (East Jerusalem excluded). 
3. The legalization of 15 illegal outposts was advanced. 
4. Structural and administrative changes towards annexation of the Occupied Territories. 
5. Development and promotion of roads – Allocation of approximately 3 billion Shekels for roads in settlements, constituting around 20% of the total Israeli road investment.

U.S. Now Requires Countries to Certify Compliance with International Law as Condition for Military Aid

On February 8th, U.S. President Biden issued a new national security memorandum that requires all recipients (with no exception) of U.S. military assistance to submit a written certifications that they are complying with humanitarian and international law, and will cooperate with U.S. humanitarian aid efforts. Specifically for countries which are presently engaged in hostilities, the memo gives a 45-day deadline for those countries to provide these assurances to the U.S., or face the possibility of a suspension in aid. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military assistance. 

The memo further requires that the White House provide periodic briefings and reports to Congress including “an assessment of any credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, have been used in a manner not consistent with international law.” It also requires Congress to receive a formal notification when the measure is waived.

Israeli Banks Respond to U.S. Sanctions on Four Settlers

One week after the U.S. announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers accused of participating in violence in the West Bank, two Israeli banks have followed suit by closing the accounts for each of the designated individuals (reminder, these individuals are sanctioned by the U.S. but are not in Israeli jail or under criminal proceedings in Israel, the U.S. sanctions were announced in large part because the U.S. did not believe Israel was doing enough to prosecute criminal settlers and discourage violence in the West Bank). 

In response to outcry against the Israeli banks which close the accounts, the Bank of Israel defended the banks, explaining:

“Banking corporations by virtue of their international activity must establish policies and procedures for the use of international sanctions lists and foreign countries’ national sanctions lists, and for engaging or carrying out actions with entities declared on such lists. Overriding such sanctions regimes can expose banking corporations to significant risks, including compliance risks, money laundering risks and terrorism financing, legal risks and reputation risks. Maintaining the proper management and regular activity of Israel’s banking corporations is necessary for maintaining the regular activity of the economy as a whole, maintaining a proper relationship with the global economy, and finally for the proper functioning of the Israeli economy.”

The U.S. investigative research and advocacy group DAWN issued a call for the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate and possibly sanction several other monetary bodies, including Israeli Bank Leumi, which DAWN discovered to be continuing to service U.S. sanctioned individuals.  Notably, the Israeli bank Hapoalim continues to process payments for a crowd-funding campaign explicitly in support of a sanctioned individual and his family. Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN said in a statement: 

“If the administration is serious about sanctioning violent Israeli settlers, it should ensure that it creates consequences for the Israeli banks and charities openly defying the sanctions rules. Sanctions against individuals without enforcement against the institutions helping them evade those sanctions only formalizes Israeli impunity.”

Finally, +972 Magazine published an in-depth look at each of the four sanctioned individuals – — David Chai Chasdai, Shalom Zicherman, Einan Tanjil, and Yinon Levi — revealing the failure of Israeli law enforcement against settlers and the far-reaching ramifications of the violence in which these individuals participate.

Bonus Reads

1. “Silwan faces escalating home demolitions in fight against messianic settlers” (Mondoweiss)
2. “Biden Executive Order on West Bank violence more likely to be used against Palestinians than Israeli settlers” (Mondoweiss)
3. “First Settlers, Now Cyber: U.S. Threatens to Cancel Entry Visas for Spyware Makers”  (Haaretz)
4. “Biden’s Wake-up Call: Reminding Israelis That the West Bank Stands Apart From Israel” (Carolina Landsmann for Haaretz)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

December 8, 2023

1. Israel Approves First New East Jerusalem Settlement Since 2012 – the “Lower Aqueduct plan”
2. “Kahanist” March Calls for Israeli Control Over Western Wall, Clash With Israeli Police
3. In Armenian Quarter, Settler Group Believed to Be Behind  Disputed Land Deal
4. U.S. & Belgium Imposes Visa Ban on Dozens of Settlers, Criticizes Israel’s Lack of Action
5. Miftah Reports on “State Sponsored Settler Terrorism”
6. A Roundup of Settler Violence
7. Bonus Reads

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Israel Approves First New East Jerusalem Settlement Since 2012 – the “Lower Aqueduct plan”

On December 4, 2023 the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved a plan to build a new settlement – called the “Lower Aqueduct” plan – on a sliver of land located between the controversial settlements of Givat Hamatos and Har Homa in East Jerusalem. The settlement will be adjacent to the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Tuba and fall on both sides of the 1967 Green Line. Its location is intended to connect the two and in so doing, it will establish a huge, uninterrupted continuum of Israeli settlements on the southern rim of Jerusalem, and will destroy Palestinian contiguity between the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  [map]

The final approved plan provides for the construction of 1,792 settlement units. According to Ir Amim, this is the first major new East Jerusalem settlement established by Israel since 2012.

Ir Amim says:

“This plan carries serious ramifications on the political future of Jerusalem. If constructed, it will extend the Israeli settlement wedge along East Jerusalem’s southern border, further creating a sealing-off effect of East Jerusalem from the southern West Bank, while fracturing the Palestinian space and depleting more vacant land for Palestinian development….Beyond its geopolitical ramifications, the advancement of this plan underscores the systematic discrimination implicit in Israeli planning and building policy in Jerusalem. Since the beginning of 2023, over 18,500 housing units have been advanced for new or existing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, while residential development for Palestinians has been all but neglected. This is despite the fact that Palestinians constitute nearly 40% of Jerusalem’s population. 2023 is slated to join 2022 as being the two years with the highest number of settlement units advanced in the last decade in East Jerusalem. Such inequitable urban planning policy has long served as a driver of Palestinian displacement in service of solidifying a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem and further cementing Israeli territorial control to foil prospects for a just political resolution.” 

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The Israeli government continues to undermine any viable two-state solution. While the IDF is engaged in the Gaza Strip, and hundreds of Israelis living in border areas in the north and south are uncertain about when they can return to their homes, the government is advancing construction beyond the Green Line, further jeopardizing the security of all Israeli residents seeking a hopeful future with secure borders.”

“Kahanist” March Calls for Israeli Control Over Western Wall, Clash With Israeli Police

On the first night of Hanukkah, approximately 150 far right wing Israelis gathered for a planned march through the Old City of Jerusalem calling for Israeli control over the Temple Mount. Israeli police – which had previously approved the march (likely with the knowledge and approval of Netanyahu) and its route – ultimately stopped the march from leaving its convening point, resulting in clashes and at least one arrest.

The point of the march was to call on Israel to “restore full Jewish control over the Temple Mount and Jerusalem,” an inflammatory message that threatens to further undermine the very delicate status quo. Indeed, the march’s organizers dubbed the march the “Maccabi March,” referencing an important Jewish revolt that ended in the rededication of the Temple. An the night of the march, attendees were shouting racist slogans and raising racist signs.

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said in a tweet that the march is:

“A blatant Kahanist attempt to set other [war] fronts on fire and to bring about more destruction and death.”

Daniel Seidemann, founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem, said:

“If there is any provocation more dangerous, more incendiary and more likely to trigger an eruption of violence in East Jerusalem and/or the West Bank and/or the Lebanese border, I can’t think of one.” 

In Armenian Quarter, Settler Group Believed to Be Behind  Disputed Land Deal

Ir Amim reports that senior executives of the Ateret Cohanim settler groups have recently been seen meeting with representatives of the real estate company behind the controversial purchase of a significant amount of land in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The reports appear to confirm suspicion that Xana Gardens is actively collaborating with settlers in, according to Ir Amim, “attempts to Israelize the Old City and erode its historically multicultural and multireligious character.”

For a background on this case, please see reporting by Ir Amim and Terrestrial Jerusalem.

U.S. & Belgium Imposes Visa Ban on Dozens of Settlers, Criticizes Israel’s Lack of Action

On December 5th, the U.S. Department of State announced that it has placed visa restrictions on dozens of settlers believed to be complicit in violent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. The U.S. also imposed visa bans on several dozen Palestinians believed to have perpetrated violence against Israelis. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in announcing the new policy: 

“Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities. Today, the State Department is implementing a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities. Immediate family members of such persons also may be subject to these restrictions.”

The list of individuals affected by this effort is not expected to be made public, but individuals will be notified if their visas are being revoked. Settlers who are U.S. citizens will not be affected. Axios reports that the last time the U.S. imposed such restrictions was under the Clinton administration.

It is unclear what process the U.S. government is undertaking to identify acts of violence and the individuals involved in them. On December 6th, OCHA reported that since October 7th settlers have launched 318 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in: 

• 8 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers;
• 84 Palestinians have been injured by settlers;
• 241 incidents resulting in damage to Palestinian-owned property;
• 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from 15 herding/Bedouin communities.  

Israel, for its part, is currently holding four settlers and two Israeli (non-settlers) in administrative detention who are believed to have perpetrated violence against Palestinians since October 7th. In announcing the visa bans, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. continues to push the Israeli government to “do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.”

Soon after the U.S.’s announcement, Belgium announced a similar policy banning settlers suspected of engaging in violence from entering the country. Belgium Prime Minister said in a tweet that he will work with the U.S. in implementing this policy.

Last week, the spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry publicly stated that the European Union should also consider sanctions on violent settlers. The comments were in support of U.S. President Biden’s op-ed in which he had threatened to impose visa bans, a week before the policy was implemented.

Miftah Reports on “State Sponsored Settler Terrorism”

The Palestinian NGO Miftah has published a short new report on settler violence, saying “settler violence and terror is a systematic state policy pursued by every Israeli government past and present, and the whole government apparatus is complicit and responsible for such terrorism.” 

The report calls on the international community to “muster the courage and political will to hold Israel accountable with effective measures.”  Specifically, it calls on the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in Palestine, label settlement products, impose a complete ban on trade with settlements, blacklist settler groups on terrorists lists, freeze assets of individuals and companies involved in the settlement enterprise, and more.

You can read the full report here.

A Roundup of Settler Violence

The following are a few examples of settler violence that have been picked up by major media outlets over the past two weeks:

• “Left-wing Israeli Activists Attacked While Protecting Settler-targeted West Bank Village” (Haaretz – Dec. 4th)
• “Homes and EU-funded school in West Bank village wrecked after threats by settlers” (The Times of Israel – Dec. 4th)
• “Israeli Soldiers Documented Shooting Disabled Palestinian in West Bank” (Haaretz – Dec. 7th)
• “Two Palestinians Killed in Separate Incidents in West Bank” (Haaretz – Dec. 3rd)

Bonus Reads

1. “Return to Gush Katif: A determined movement emerges to resettle Israelis in Gaza” (The Times of Israel)
2. “With All Eyes on Gaza, West Bank Palestinians Are Facing Unprecedented Violence” (Haaretz)
3. Israeli Army Mulls Shutting Down Unit of Settler ‘Hilltop Youth’ Amid Violent Incidents Against Palestinians““ (Haaretz)
4. “A Bitter Season in the West Bank” (The New York Review)
5. “Northern Israeli Kibbutz Residents Prevent Palestinians From Harvesting Their Olives” (Haaretz)
6. “West Bank settlers unwavering in support for Israeli government” (Al-Monitor)
7. “Amid a Settler Onslaught, Protective Presence Activism Falters” (Jewish Currents)

 

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 17, 2023

1. 1. West Bank Stats via OCHA (as of November 16th)
   2. Settlers Take Over Large Amount of Property in the Armenian Quarter
   3. Plan for New National Park in East Jerusalem Resurfaces (Mount Scopus Slopes National Park)
   4. “Lower Aqueduct” Settlement Plan on the Agenda Again
   5. Israel Opens Huwwara Road for Settlers, While Keeping Palestinians Under Lock Down
   6. Sheikh Jarrah Eviction Case Postponed
   7. Accountability as Settlers Terrorize South Hebron Hills
   8. B’Tselem: H-2 Area of Hebron Suffering Under Collective Punishment
   9. Bonus Reads

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West Bank Stats via OCHA (as of November 16th)

OCHA reports that in the West Bank since October 7th:

• 248 settler attacks against Palestinians have been recorded, resulting in Palestinian casualties (30 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (182 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (36 incidents). This reflects a daily average of six incidents, compared with three since the beginning of the year. Over one-third of these incidents included threats with firearms, including shootings. In nearly half of all incidents, Israeli forces were either accompanying or actively supporting the attackers. 
• At least 143 Palestinian households comprising 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from 15 herding/Bedouin communities.
• 186 Palestinians, including 51 children, have been killed by Israeli forces; and an additional eight, including one child, have been killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Four Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.  
• Israeli forces have injured 2,661 Palestinians, including at least 282 children, over half of them in the context of demonstrations. An additional 74 Palestinians have been injured by settlers. Some 33 per cent of those injuries have been caused by live ammunition. 
• A total of 48 Palestinians, including 24 children, have been displaced since 7 October following punitive demolitions.  
• An additional 135 Palestinians, including 66 children, have been following demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem, due to lack of permits.  

Settlers Take Over Large Amount of Property in the Armenian Quarter

Terrestrial Jerusalem reports that on November 16th a group of settlers guarded by Israeli police entered and took control over several tracts of strategically located  land in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem owned by the Armenian Patriarchate. The settlers assert that the lands were leased to them by the Armenian Patriarchate, a lease the Patriarchate contests the legality of and then formally canceled on October 26, 2023.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued the following statement on Nov. 16th:

“The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest existential threat of its 16-century history. This existential-territorial threat fully extends to all the Christian communities of Jerusalem. 

The Armenian Patriarchate has recently canceled a contract tainted with false representation, undue influence, and unlawful benefits.

Instead of providing a lawful response to the cancellation, the developers attempting to build on the Cow’s Garden have completely disregarded the legal posture of the PAtriarchate toward this issue, and instead have elected for provocation, aggression, and other harassing , incendiary tactics including destruction of property, the hiring of heavily armed provocateurs, and other instigation.

In recent days, the cast destruction and removal of asphalt on the grounds of the Armenian Quarter have been done without the presentation of permits from the municipality by neither the developer nor the police. Despite this fact, the police have chosen in the last few days to demand that all the members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.

We plead with the entirety of the Christian communities of Jerusalem to stand with the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times as this is another clear step taken toward the endangerment of the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land”

Rumors of this sale first surfaced in 2021, but it wasn’t until June 2023 the details of the sale were publicly reported. At the time, the Associated Press reported that the Armenian Orthodox Church signed a 99-year lease giving several church properties in the Old City of Jerusalem to an Australian-Israeli businessman, Danny Rothman (sometimes referred to as Danny Rubenstein). The lease reportedly includes the Hadiqat Al-Baqar (The Cows’ Garden) and its surrounding properties, including the Qishla building in Bab al-Khalil (Jaffa Gate), located in the Armenian Quarter. In total, 

In June 2023, settlers placed a sign on one of the tracts saying the land is the property of Xana Capital, the company which Danny Rothman owns. According to a bishop involved in the sale, Rothman and his business Xana Capital plans to develop the land into a luxury resort managed by a Dubai-based company.

The Armenian Archbishop, Nourhan Manougian, alleged that the Church’s real estate official and priest – Baret Yeretsian – sold the land in a “fraudulent and deceitful” deal that he was unaware of. Yeretsian, in turn, said he carried out the deal at the direction of Manougian. Both Manougian and Yeretsian have been forced into hiding due to communal outrage.”

Terrestrial Jeruslame’s Danny Seidemann stresses the active role of the Israeli government in collaborating with settlers to take control of these properties, as in the case of other settler takeovers  across the Old City. He writes.:

“We have seen this pattern all too often. In the past, both distant and recent, settlers succeeded to take over strategically located Church sites of great historical, religious and cultural value. These include enormously important Greek Orthodox properties only meters away: the Imperial and Petra Hotel at Jaffa Gate, the St. John’s Hospice in Muristan, adjacent too the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, etc…

The most important aspect is the least visible: the location suggests that this property has been singled out, and is likely an integral part of an ambitious and highly consequential Government plan. For many years, and under the radar, the Government of Israel has been implementing projects to encircle the Old City w/ Biblically motivated settlements and settlement-related projects: a planned Israeli National Park over the Christian holy sites on the Mount if Olives, a cable car from West Jerusalem to the settler headquarters n Silwan, the opening of an Israeli Night spot at the entrance to the Christian Quarter at New Gate, etc. are just a few, of the prominent examples. There are dozens more. More than a billion sheqels have been invested in this Government project. Its goals are to encircle the religious, historical and cultural core of Jerusalem with settlement enclaves, and projects that will etch the Biblically motivated settler narrative into the landscape and urban fabric. 

This is no mere “bad thing”. The Government plan will radically undermine the character of Jerusalem, fragmenting Palestinian Jerusalem and marginalizing the already challenged Christian presence in the city. This is so impactful, that one prominent Christian cleric cautioned that the tome is not far off when Jerusalem will no longer be hospitable to Christians.”

Plan for New National Park in East Jerusalem Resurfaces (Mount Scopus Slopes National Park) 

Ir Amim and Bimkom jointly report that the Israeli government appears to have renewed its efforts to designate the open area between the Palestinian neighborhoods of al-Isawiyyah and a-Tur in East Jeruasalem as a new national park, called the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park.

Ir Amim and Bimkom explain:

“The plan aims to turn the large vacant space between the aforementioned neighborhoods into a national park, which would extend eastward from Hebrew University towards the edge of the city and the E1 corridor. This will severely limit proper development of both neighborhoods, including the ability to adequately expand, which is essential. In addition, a large national park in this location would contribute to Israeli territorial contiguity between Jerusalem and the E1/Maaleh Adumim area. It will likewise serve as a form of touristic settlement, which increases Israeli control over more land and fractures the Palestinian space in the city.

The designation of areas as national parks and/or green spaces is a common practice in East Jerusalem used to alter the character of the space, fragment the Palestinian environs, and suppress urban planning, while enabling the seizure of their lands for Israeli interests.”

“Lower Aqueduct” Settlement Plan on the Agenda Again

Ir Amim reports that the JErusalem District Planning Committee is scheduled to meet on November 21st to discuss objections submitted against the “Lower Aqueduct” settlement plan, located in East Jerusalem. This plan would see a new settlement of 1,465 units built on a sliver of land located between the controversial settlements of Givat Hamatos and Har Homa – and is intended to connect the two. In so doing, it will establish a huge, uninterrupted continuum of Israeli settlements on the southern rim of Jerusalem, and will destroy Palestinian contiguity between the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  For more background on the Lower Aqueduct plan, see resources by: Terrestrial Jerusalem and Ir Amim.

Adding insult to injury, two years ago the Jerusalem Municipality and the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs initiated a plan to build a new Palestinian business center in the precise area targeted by the “lower aqueduct” plan, as part of an Israeli government initiative to reduce poverty in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Municipality subsequently abandoned the plan for the Palestinian business center under pressure from settlers, specifically from the Har Homa settlement which borders the area. Ir Amim comments:

“Not only is this yet another example of severe planning discrimination, but construction of this new neighborhood will serve to further create Israeli territorial contiguity along East Jerusalem’s southern perimeter while depleting more land reserves for Palestinian development.”

Peace Now notes that the majority of the land on which the new settlement will be built (half of which is in East Jerusalem and half in West Jerusalem) is privately owned, or managed by the Israeli Custodian General. Although recent reporting suggests the Custodian General is moving to advance settlement construction on lands it manages across East Jerusalem, its legal ability to do so is questionable (and doing so has historically not been its practice).

Israel Opens Huwwara Road for Settlers, While Keeping Palestinians Under Lock Down

Peace Now reports  that the first section of the Huwara Bypass Road – near Nablus – opened for vehicular traffic on Sunday, November 12, 2023. Settlers – along with Bezalel Smotrich, who is effectively the governor of the West Bank – have pressed for this road to open for settlers since before the October 7th attacks. With the opening of the Huwara Bypass road, settlers now have exclusive use of two highways in the area, while Palestinans do not have access to either one.

The Huwwara Bypass Road is designed for residents of Nablus-area settlements to bypass the Palestinian village of Huwwara (which is an area with heavy traffic congestion from daily commuters), in order to more easily/directly access Jerusalem. This bypass road has long been a top priority for the settlers, who have complained about the long commute to Jerusalem and the limits this puts on the potential for growth of Nablus-area settlements. Building the road also gained urgency for the settlers after the release of the Trump Plan’s conceptual map, which left the area where the road is slated to be built within the borders a future Palestinian “state.” On October 6th (the day before Hamas’ heinous massacre of civilians in the south of Israel), Smotrich and settlers pressed for the road to be completed and opened after a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israeli persons and cars in the area.

Peace Now reports:

“Despite the ongoing war, the government is investing considerable efforts to open the road quickly, and construction continued even during the Gaza war, despite interruptions in other building and infrastructure projects during this period. The road’s trajectory required the confiscation of private Palestinian lands from the villages of Burin, Huwara, Beita, Awarta, Yasuf, Yatma, and A-Sawiya. The old Huwara Road, which until recently served both settlers and Palestinians, has been a central artery for Palestinian traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and southern West Bank. The road has been closed to Palestinian traffic since the beginning of the war. The Central Command Chief decided to reopen the road to Palestinians in parallel with the opening of the bypass road. However, settlers opposed its reopening, arguing that the old Huwara Road should also serve as a secure passage only for settlers. Eventually, the old Huwara Road was reopened to limited Palestinian traffic only on the evening of Sunday, November 12, 2023.”

Sheikh Jarrah Eviction Case Postponed

FMEP has been informed that the Israeli Enforcement and Collection Authority (ECA)  has postponed its discussion of the eviction of the Salem family from their home of 60+ years in the Umm Haroud section of Sheikh Jarrah, which was scheduled for November 14th. The Salem family is one of approximately 40 Palestinian families under threat of forcible displacement by settlers from the Um Haroun section of Sheikh Jarrah.  

The Salem family has been fighting efforts by settlers to evict them from their home since 1988.  The individuals behind the years-long effort to evict the Salem family are Yonaten Yousef, a Jerusalem city councilmember, and former deputy mayor of Jerusalem Aryeh King. Yousef and King claim to have bought the house from the Jewish family that owned it before 1948 — based on an Israeli law known as the Legal and Administrative Matters Law of 1970. This law provides Jewish Israelis the right to “reclaim” properties lost in the 1948 War. In contrast, under Israeli law the Salem family lacks any legal basis to claim both its home in Sheikh Jarrah – where the family has lived since being displaced from their home inside the Green Line during the 1948 War – or to their original home inside Israel, which they lost in the 1948 War (Israel law recognizes no such property claims by Palestinians who fled or were otherwise absent from the areas that became Israel in the course of that war)/.

In February 2022  the Jerusalem Magistrate Court froze an impending eviction of the Salem family based on the family paying the court a $7,700 “guarantee”. Around that same time the Israeli government seized a piece of the Salem property, located adjacent to the home that is now under demolition threat. Itamar Ben Gvir (who is now serving as the National Security Minister, with authority over demolitions in East Jerusalem) subsequently set up a tent on that seized property and called it his parliamentary office – a deliberate provocation.

For further background on the Salem family’s case (including on the Israeli laws that were expressly designed to enable the eviction of Palestinians in favor of settlers), see reporting by Ir Amim and Peace Now.

Accountability as Settlers Terrorize South Hebron Hills

The intensification of settler terrorism and displacement efforts in the South Hebron Hills has continued to escalate. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel wrote an urgent appeal to the head of the IDF, calling for the IDF to intervene on behalf of Palestinians. Citing many specific incidents, ACRI writes:

“settlers living in outposts in the South Hebron Hills, have presented themselves in Palestinian communities dressed in military uniforms, sometimes masked, and intimidated residents, violently attacked them, damaged property and even ordered them to leave their homes.”

B’Tselem: H-2 Area of Hebron Suffering Under Collective Punishment

B’Tselem has called the IDF-imposed curfew on Palestinians living in the H-2 area of Hebron “collective punishment.” It also collected testimonies of families living in H-2 under highly restrictive and frightening conditions. B’Tselem writes:

“Since the war broke out on 7 October 2023, the military has been imposing a curfew on 11 neighborhoods in Area H2 in Hebron. Stores and businesses have been shut down and thousands of people, amounting to about 750 families, are imprisoned at home. Only after two weeks of full curfew, on 21 October 2023, did the military permit residents to leave home on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. 

Venturing out of the house requires crossing checkpoints and engaging with soldiers. This invariably involves humiliating treatment and meticulous body searches, and takes up most of the brief window of time allotted to the residents. As a result, many cannot get back in time to the checkpoint and have to stay out an entire day or night until it reopens. This prevents residents from getting what they need, and some are running low on food, water, medication and cooking gas.

The curfew has completely disrupted life in H2. Residents cannot get to work and school or visit family, and all the businesses are closed. They are living in complete uncertainty, without knowing when they will return to normal. Meanwhile, settlers in Hebron are enjoying full freedom of movement, which they use to harrass residents and damage their property. 

There is no justification for keeping hundreds of people under a blanket movement ban, locked up at home for weeks on end. Israel is taking advantage of the fact that local and international attention is currently diverted from the West Bank to impose far-reaching measures that constitute collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law. This conduct is integral to Israel’s apartheid regime, which is at its most flagrant in Hebron.” 

Bonus Reads

1. “West Bank olive harvest ‘more dangerous than ever’ under shadow of war” (+972 Magazine)
2. ”​Coalition of 11 right-wing organizations unveils Gaza strip resettlement initiative” (Jerusalem Post)
3. “From Montana to Samaria – The cowboys who came to help” (Arutz Sheva)
4. “‘They Don’t Want People to Know We Exist’ Palestinians across the West Bank describe what life has been like since October 7.” (New York Magazine)
5. “While It Bombs Gaza, Israel Is Now Shooting to Kill Palestinians in the West Bank” (Haaretz)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

September 15, 2023

1. 1. New from FMEP
   2. Israel Advances Plan for New, Heavily Fortified Settlement Enclave in East Jerusalem – “Kidmat Tzion”
   3. Israel Advances Plan to Massively Expand of Givat Hamatos Settlement (New Talpiyot Hill/Hebron Strip Plan)
   4. Settlers Forcibly Seize East Jerusalem Home, Later Removed
   5. Oslo & The Settlements
   6. Bonus Reads

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New from FMEP

• This week FMEP launched a new microsite dedicated to tracking Palestine-related lawfare. Lawfare refers to efforts that seek to exploit U.S. laws and courts in order to quash criticism and activism challenging Israeli policies, to delegitimize Palestinian organizations and the Palestinian cause, and to undermine and even criminalize support for and/or solidarity with the Palestinian people. This includes legislation and policies targeting Americans’ rights to boycott Israel and/or settlements. Notably: these efforts almost universally mandate, explicitly or implicitly, that Israeli settlements in the OPT be treated as part of Israel. You can visit the new site here: lawfare.fmep.org
• This week FMEP hosted a webinar entitled, “Forcible Transfer is a War Crime: West Bank Pogroms are Working” featuring B’Tselem’s Sarit Michaeli and Kareem Jubran in conversation with FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin. The discussion highlights the role settler terrorism is playing in forcibly displacing entire Palestinian communities from Area C. You can watch or listen to the discussion here.

Israel Approves New, Heavily Fortified Settlement Enclave in East Jerusalem – “Kidmat Tzion”

On September 11th, the Jerusalem Local Planning & Building Committee met, and subsequently approved for deposit, plans to build a massive new settlement enclave inside of the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The new enclave – called “Kidmat Tzion” – was approved for the construction of 384  settlement units, to be located on a tiny strip of land between the Ras al-Amud neighborhood and the Israeli separation barrier, with the Abu Dis neighborhood on the other side of the wall.

The settlement enclave will be accessible only by driving through densely populated areas of Ras Al-Amud. To deal with the reality of its location, the architects of the plan have designed the enclave to be a heavily guarded and gated community. It will be surrounded by an electric fence, a patrol road, a concrete guard station at its entrance, and the roofs of the houses will have cameras and spotlights installed. The security plan for the enclave had to be prepared and filed by the IDF’s Central Command, which specified that four armed security guards will patrol the neighborhood at all times, as well as a security chief and an armored vehicle.

Haaretz notes that – despite its sensitivity – the plan has been flying through the planning process at a much faster speed than is typical, and was brazenly approved this week while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf – a senior U.S. official – was in Israel. Sari Kronish of the Israeli NGO Bimkom told Haaretz: 

“The lightning speed with which the District Committee is promoting a plan to build a Jews-only, gated village in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood in [East] Jerusalem raises the suspicion that this is a political ploy.”

Amy Cohen, Ir Amim’s Director of International Advocacy told Haaretz:

“Israel promotes tens of thousands of housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem every year, while systematically denying Palestinians the same housing rights, all with the aim of pushing them out of East Jerusalem and influencing the city’s demographic balance in a crude and artificial way,” said “This proposal severs the single access road leading to Palestinian homes and is being advanced with a speed we have never seen before. The move is doubly problematic since the City Engineer himself notes that necessary basic tests were not conducted.”

Originally introduced in April 2023, the plan is the product of the Ateret Cohanim settler group – rather, its affiliate the Bahorim Company – which filed documents with the planning committee that show it (Bahorim) only owns 10% of the land where Kidmat Tzion is planned for. The land is unregistered, but Bahorim submitted a table of ownership purporting to show that dozens of plots were owned by Jews prior to 1948, still other plots are owned by settler affiliated groups including one run by U.S. millionaire and settlement financier Irving Moskowitz, and 1 or 2 plots are owned by Palestinians. Part of the land is owned by the Israeli Custodian General.

Construction of this settlement could well achieve the considerable geopolitical consequences the settlers hope for — most notably by complicating if not outright blocking any future division of Jerusalem (or sharing agreement) under any possible Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. It is worth recalling that Abu Dis has been repeatedly suggested by Israel and its allies (including in the Trump Plan) as the capital of a future Palestinian state (as a substitute for Jerusalem), and an unfinished building in Abu Dis was designed to be the future home of a Palestinian parliament. This settlement plan would scuttle all such ideas. Indeed, in the planning documents Ateret Cohanim explained:

“Palestinian institutions in Abu Dis were built with the vision of turning the town into the capital city of Palestine and building a corridor and passage to the center of Jerusalem, and thus promoting the takeover of the entire city…The significance of establishing and developing the neighborhood is to create a shield for Jerusalem against Palestinian ambitions. The neighborhood will disturb the contiguity [of the area] and protect us from dividing the city.”

The new settlement enclave will also further solidify the infrastructure connecting settlements south of Jerusalem to the city. Kidmat Zion will be located adjacent to the so-called “American Road,” which will tunnel underneath parts of Abu Dis. The “American Road” is a section of north-south highway that is meant to seamlessly connect settlements located in the north and south of Jerusalem to one another, and to serve as a bypass for settler traffic to cut through East Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighborhoods. While the road will be accessible to Palestinians (a fact touted by Israel as proof of Israeli good intentions), the obvious primary purpose is to entrench Israel settlements, expand Israeli control over all of East Jerusalem, and close off Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods from the rest of the West Bank, thereby (further) torpedoing Palestinian hopes of one day establishing a capital in East Jerusalem. 

Israel Approves Expansion of Givat Hamatos Settlement (New Talpiyot Hill/Hebron Strip Plan)

On September 11th, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee also approved for deposit a plan that will expand the Givat Hamatos settlement. The plan – referred to as “New Talpiot Hill” and/or Hebron Strip – stands to double the number of housing units in the Givat Hamatos settlement and increase its land mass by 40%, introducing not only 3,500 new settlement units but 1,300 hotel rooms in highrise buildings, posing a direct competition to the Palestinian tourism industry in nearby Bethlehem.

Further, the new settlement will be built on a strategic strip of land that will expand the area of Givat Hamatos eastward, connecting it with another new settlement plan – the “Lower Aqueduct Plan.” These plans ultimately create a string of settlements — spanning from Gilo to Givat Hamatos to Har Homa — that, together with the planned “Givat HaShaked” settlement to its north, completely encircle the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa with Israeli settlement construction. 

Peace Now reports that the project is a joint initiative of the Greek Orthodox Church and a private company. The Church has said that part of the development is intended for use by the city’s Christian community, though previous reports indicate that the plan calls for five synagogues and two mikvehs, clearly showing that the construction is designed to serve Israeli Jews.

Ir Amim writes:

“Together, Givat Hamatos A and New Talpiyot Hill along with concurrent settlement advancements in the area are cumulatively sealing off East Jerusalem’s southern perimeter from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank. These measures likewise further fracture the Palestinian space and deplete all remaining land reserves in the area for Palestinian development. Such conditions severely undermine the prospects of an agreed political future of Jerusalem, while depriving Palestinians of their fundamental right to housing and shelter.”

Settlers Forcibly Seize East Jerusalem Home, Later Removed

On September 12th, a group of settlers forcibly seized a Palestinian home belonging to the Idris family in the Old City of Jerusalem. At the time, the matriarch of the family was in the hospital. The family arrived back home to find their house taken over by settlers. They were told to file a complaint in order to prove their ownership of the house.

The settlers were guarded by the Israeli security forces while they removed the families furniture, changed the doors and locks on the home and installed metal bars on the windows and roof. PCHR also reports the settlers built a “steel staircase and a mobile room to be later attached to the house.”

The settlers were later removed from the house by the Israeli police.

Oslo & The Settlements

Peace Now has published a host of information looking at how the settlement enterprise has thrived since the signing of the Oslo Accords thirty years ago. Key facts are:

1993	2023
110,000 settlers living in the West Bank	465,000 settlers living in the West Bank
128 settlements in the West Bank	300 settlements and outposts in the West Bank
140,000 settlers living in East Jerusalem settlements	230,000 settlers living in East Jerusalem settlements
800 settlers living in enclaves inside of Palestinians East Jerusalem neighborhoods	3,000 settlers living in enclaves inside of Palestinians East Jerusalem neighborhoods

Peace Now concludes:

“The thirty years following the Oslo Accords were characterized by a significant expansion of the settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, growing from approximately 250,000 in 1993 to nearly 700,000 by 2023. This population growth is a result of Israel’s ongoing expansion of settlements, the establishment of new settlements in the form of outposts, and the construction of hundreds of kilometers of bypass roads, making it easier for settlements to connect to Israel. Additionally, a significant reinforcement of the settler population comes from the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), who have no ideological connection to the settlements and had not settled in the West Bank before the Oslo Accords, except for a few neighborhoods in East Jerusalem (Neve Yaakov, Ramat Shlomo, and Ramot).

The conclusions drawn from the data are clear. The settlement enterprise did not suffer from the Oslo Accords but rather thrived. Israel continued to expand, develop, and authorize settlements in the West Bank unabated. Even in years when few new settlements were established (1993–1997), infrastructure work continued. When factoring in agricultural land and pastures seized by settlers, it can be concluded that the settlement enterprise has never been in a better position, while the situation for Palestinians in the West Bank remains difficult and fraught with challenges.”

Bonus Reads

1. “The Palestinian Boy Whose Village Was Destroyed Turned Into a True Freedom Fighter” (Haaretz)
2. “Settlers Assault Palestinian and Left-wing Israeli Activists in Separate West Bank Attacks” (Haaretz)
3. “Israel to close West Bank, Gaza Strip crossings over Rosh Hashanah” (i24 News)
4. “Israel’s finance minister now governs the West Bank. Critics see steps toward permanent control” (AP)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

July 14, 2023

1. Settlers Move In After Israel Forcibly Evicts Ghaith-Sub Laban Family
2. Israel Starts Planning New East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave Via Weaponization of the Land Registration Process
3. Settlers Takeover Another Palestinian Home on Shuhada Street in Hebron, Potentially with IDF Help
4. Settlers Lead State-Backed Archaeological “Excavation” in Area B
5. Government Admits it Deliberately Permitted Illegal Construction at Homesh Outpost
6. Bonus Reads

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Settlers Move In After Israel Forcibly Evicts Ghaith-Sub Laban Family

On the early morning of July 11th, a large contingent of Israeli police arrived at the home of Nora Ghaith and Mustafa Sub Laban to forcibly remove the elderly couple from their apartment in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The apartment was handed over to settlers, who moved in as soon as the Ghaith-Sub Labans were removed.

Twelve human rights activists were arrested by Israeli police during protests held in solidarity with the Gaith-Sub Laban family. The eviction was widely panned by the international community.

The Ghaith-Sub Laban family has spent more than 45 years in a legal battle against settlers (and the State) over their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.  This family’s story is not unique, and the broader, systemic processes behind the forcible dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem is also discussed. In March 2023, FMEP hosted Rafat Sub Laban and Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen on a podcast – “‘We Are Determined to Stay”: One Palestinian Family’s Story of Dispossession in Jerusalem” – to discuss the Sub Laban case and how it relates to broader State-back settler efforts to dispossess Palestinians across Jerusalem.

Ir Amim explains the Israeli legal system which aids settlers in taking possession of Palestinian properties across East Jerusalem, including the Sub Laban home:

“… lawsuits were filed by settler groups on the basis of the 1970 Legal and Administrative Matters law. This discriminatory law exclusively affords Jews with land restitution rights for assets allegedly owned by Jews in East Jerusalem prior to 1948 despite many of these properties now inhabited by Palestinian refugees. No parallel legal mechanism exists for Palestinians to recover pre-1948 assets on the Israeli side of the Green Line now inhabited by Jews. To the contrary, the 1950 Absentee Property Law enshrines that Palestinians who were forced to abandon their homes in what became Israel due to the war of 1948 cannot retrieve them.

Settler organizations aided by state bodies act to secure ownership rights of these assets through various means despite having no relation to the previous Jewish owners or occupants. Acquisition of these rights provides settler groups with the legal platform to then “retrieve” the property from the General Custodian and initiate eviction lawsuits against Palestinian families through application of the 1970 law.

A department within the Ministry of Justice, the General Custodian is the Israeli body responsible for managing pre-1948 Jewish assets in East Jerusalem until “reclaimed.” It should be noted that the General Custodian has become one of the leading state institutions who works in cooperation with settler groups to facilitate evictions of Palestinians and seizure of their homes in East Jerusalem. Many of the families facing eviction are Palestinian refugees who lost homes on the Israeli side of the Green Line in 1948 and now stand to be displaced for a second or even third time.”

For a comprehensive overview of the Sub Laban family’s legal battle, as well as other East Jerusalem eviction cases, please see Ir Amim’s report.

Israel Starts Planning New East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave Via Weaponization of the Land Registration Process

Ir Amim and Bimkom report that Israel has initiated the planning process on a new settlement enclave in the Umm Lysoon neighborhood in East Jerusalem, and in order to facilitate the new enclave the State is simultaneously carrying out land registration for the land where the enclave will be built. The plans for the settlement enclave call for the construction of 450 settlement units, on an open piece of land between Umm Lysoon and the adjacent neighborhood of Jabal Mukkhaber, one of the only open land reserves in the area where Palestinians face a severe housing Crisis. Unsurprisingly, some of the same settlers who are pushing the Umm Lysoon plan not only live in Jabal Al-Mukaver, but have already succeeded in massively expanding the Nof Zion/Nof Zahaf settler enclave in that neighborhood.

The plan for the new Umm Lysoon enclave hinges on the settlers’ work with the State to transfer ownership of the land into the hands of settlers using the land registration process – – which Ir Amim and Bimkom have shown to be a politically-driven tool used by the State to fuel the expansion of settlements across the city. 

The land where the new enclave is being planned for  has been managed by the Israeli Custodian General, the State body which acts as a caretaker for property abandoned by Israeli Jews as a result of the 1948 war, with the idea that the property will be returned to its original owners. Settlers have worked with the state to secure ownership rights to East Jerusalem land despite having no relation to the previous Jewish owners. Such is the case with the Umm Lysoon land, where the Israeli Custodian General is submitting the plans (even though it does not own the land, just manages it) for the new enclave alongside Topodia LTD, a settler-linked construction company. Topodia managed to acquire ownership of a very small percentage of the land within the enclaves planned borders, but the planning requires the willing participation of the Israeli Custodian General.

The plan for Umm Lysoon is the third settlement plan in the last 1.5 years that has been promoted not only on lands managed by the General Custodian, but also with its direct involvement – the others being the  Givat HaShaked and Kidmat Zion settlement plans.

Ir Amim and Bimkom write:

“If constructed, it would constitute a major settlement within the heart of Umm Lysoon, which until now has remained untouched from the threat of setter presence or encroachment. As with other East Jerusalem neighborhoods, Umm Lysoon continues to suffer from a severe shortage in housing, public buildings, infrastructure, and basic services. Instead of promoting residential development and urban planning to meet the needs of local residents, the plan is rather being advanced to establish a new Jewish settlement inside a Palestinian neighborhood on land marked in policy documents for the community’s development.”

Settlers Takeover Another Palestinian Home on Shuhada Street in Hebron, Potentially with IDF Help

Peace Now reports that settlers have illegally moved into a Palestinian-owned property in the heart of Hebron on Shuhada Street, just south of the Cave of the Patriarchs, in an area of downtown Hebron where no other Israeli settlers live. The settlers appear to have accessed the home, which until recently was blockaded by concrete barriers, with the assistance of the IDF and further claim to have purchased the home. This location – and the alleged purchase of the home – is hugely significant both on the ground and in the Israeli government’s brazen support facilitation of settlement expansion, as explained by Peace Now:

“Hebron is perhaps the most scattered city in the West Bank. Any change in ownership of a store, courtyard, and especially a structure means establishing a new settlement in the city. Many houses and properties in the part of the city controlled by Israel have remained vacant and abandoned over the past decades and serve as a target for settlers’ takeover. Until recently, approvals for the settlement of new houses by the settlers required the approval of the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister. As part of the transfer of civilian authority to Bezalel Smotrich, it was decided that in Hebron, the approval of settlement would be in the hands of Smotrich in coordination with Minister Yoav Gallant. The settlers’ entry into the house openly indicates that both ministers agreed to establish the new settlement. The new settlement is located on Shuhada Street (the settlers changed its name to King David Street), between the Pool of Siloam and the neighborhood of Avraham Avinu. This is an area populated by Palestinians and far from the existing settlements in the city. The new settlement is, in fact, an entry into a new area in the city.”

Years ago, the IDF installed concrete barriers preventing anyone from accessing the house, and evicted settlers from the home last year when they used a ladder to climb over the barriers. Those concrete barriers were recently removed (which can only be done with heavy equipment), suggesting that the IDF is planed to allow the settlers to enter (and likely remain) in the house.

The home is owned by the Palestinian Jariwi family, which petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice to evict the settlers. The state initially responded to the petition saying that the settlers had already been evicted (clearly not true), and the State is now facing a July 30th deadline with the Court to submit an updated response given that the settlers are still squatting in the house illegally.

Photo of the new enclave found at: https://peacenow.org.il/en/a-new-settlement-was-established-in-hebron-with-the-return-of-settlers-to-a-house-that-the-idf-evicted-a-year-ago

Settlers Lead State-Backed Archaeological “Excavation” in Area B

Emek Shaveh reports that a triad composed of settlers, an American Christian evangelical organization, and the Israeli army collaborated on a recent unlicensed excavation on Mount Ebal – located north of Nablus near the Palestinian town of a-Sira al-Shaliya in Area B of the West Bank (where Israel does not have civilian authorities, according to the Oslo Accords). The excavation was approved by the Israeli Civil Administration under pressure from settlers, but given the location of the site in Area B and the lack of any license to carry out the excavation – Emek Shaveh states that this could be considered antiquity theft.

The groups transferred some 80 cubic meters of soil from Mount Ebal to the Shavei Shomron settlement, where settlers then promoted an opportunity for members of the public to join the archaeologists in sifting through the materials (thereby promoting tourism to the settlements). Haaretz called the excavation “is mainly used as a tourist attraction to the West Bank and is of little scientific significance.”

Emek Shaveh’s explained the significance of what is happening on Mount Ebal: 

“The archaeological site at Mount Ebal is becoming a watershed in Israeli archaeology. The activity on the site has turned from a pirate operation led by a group of Messianic Jews and Christians into a state sponsored operation under the auspices of the Civil Administration led by Minister Bezalel Smotrich.This is yet another violation of the Oslo Accords and suspected violation of domestic and international law that is whitewashed by Israeli authorities and intended to serve as a method for advancing the annexation of the West Bank to Israel.In addition to the alleged violation of the law, the excavation constitutes an ethical failure by the entire archaeological community in Israel whose silence continues to grant legitimacy to such projects. A comprehensive and immediate investigation is required by all the relevant parties as well as independently by the Israeli Archaeological Association.”

Government Admits it Deliberately Permitted Illegal Construction at Homesh Outpost

In response to a petition submitted by Yesh Din, the Israel state formally confirmed reports Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the Israeli army to stand down when it arrived in May 2023 to stop settlers’ attempt to relocated the Homesh outpost onto a small sliver of “state land” in the area of the former Homesh settlement in the northern West Bank. Gallant’s intervention only served to confirm the unapologetic determination of the Israeli government to reestablish the Homesh settlement on the “state land,” despite the fact that the land is surrounded by privately owned Palestinian property belonging to the nearby village of Burqa. (spoiler: In 2018, Israel established basis in its legal books for violating the private property rights of Palestinians in order to build an access road to the Haresha outpost). 

In the weeks since settlers were permitted to illegally move into the area, the outpost has been connected to the state water grid.

On July 7th, a group of ~400 Israeli, Palestinian, and international activists attended a Peace Now protest march intended to start in Burqa and end at the Homesh outpost, in an effort to call on the government of Israel to stop the establishment of a settlement there. Though the marchers had requested and received a permit to hold the march, the IDF used force to stop the march from approaching Burqa. One marcher was detained and later released.

As a reminder – the legalization of Homesh was explicitly agreed to in the coalition deals which formed the current Israeli government. And despite the message to the U.S. behind closed doors, Israeli lawmakers and settler leaders hailed the Israeli government’s moves on Homesh as concrete steps toward the realization of this commitment. Otzma Yehudit MK and settlement activist Limor Son Har Melech hailed the news and said that the real goal is to reestablish all four settlements located near the Homesh outpost which were dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005 (the order issued by the IDF Commander on May 18th that allows Israelis to enter to the Homesh area did not extend to the areas of the other three settlements – Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim).

Bonus Reads

1. “Four Palestinians said wounded in settler attack in West Bank” (The Times of Israel)
2. “Smotrich wants one million West Bank settlers. That’s not so far-fetched” (+972 Magazine)
3. “Senate Foreign Relations Committee set for debate over Biden guidance on Israeli cooperative funding” (Jewish Insider)
4. “Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – Weekly Update: 06-12 July 2023” (PCHR)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

June 23, 2023

1. Smotrich Receives Near Unilateral Power Over Shortened Settlement Planning Process
2. Israel To Advance Plans for 4,799 New Settlement Units, Including Retroactive Authorization of an Outpost
3. Netanyahu Announces 1,000 New Units for the Eli Settlement in “Response” Palestinian Attack
4. Settlers Reoccupy Evyatar Outpost As Netanyahu Reportedly Decides to “Legalize” It & Ben Gvir Encourages More Illegal Settlement Activity
5. With Assistance from IDF, Settlers Establish a New Outpost Near Eli
6. Settler Violently Rampage Across West Bank with Little to No Repercussion
7. Eviction of Palestinian Ghaith-Sub Laban Family Scheduled
8. Bonus Reads

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Smotrich Receives Near Unilateral Power Over Shortened Settlement Planning Process

On Sunday, June 18th the Israeli Cabinet approved a measure that immediately expands Bezalel Smotrich’s authority over construction in existing settlements by significantly shortening the planning process and removing almost any role for Israeli politicians in that process, a lever which – for decades – has been utilized by successive Israeli governments to intervene in settlement planning usually in consideration of pressure from the international diplomatic community. Under the new procedures, political approval is only needed once at the very beginning stage of the planning process, whereas for the past three decades political approval was needed at each and every phase.

In Haaretz, Israel lawyers Ronit Levine-Schnur and Michael Saliternik explain:

“The requirement of the defense minister’s approval at each stage reflected the understanding that settlement construction, which is illegal under international law, has major legal, diplomatic and security implications. This requirement enabled government officials to halt or postpone construction in the settlements based on the changing political and security situation, and sharpened the distinction between construction within the state’s sovereign borders and construction on occupied land under Israel’s temporary military control….This week’s decision…is designed to prevent or significantly reduce not only the government’s but also the public’s and international community’s oversight of settlement construction.”

Removing the role of political figures surrenders the power of settlement planning and construction to an avowed annexationist whose agenda, at least in part, is to double the number of settlers while further entrenching Israeli domestic rule over settlers and leaving Palestinians under Israeli military rule. The Israeli Cabinet decision advances both of these goals: it differentiates settlement planning from planning for Palestinians (which remains a more complicated political-bureaucratic process in which Smotrich and Defense Minister Gallant both have power); and, as Smotrich and his allies are framing it, this procedural change “normalizes” the laws governing settlers by aligning them with Israeli domestic rule. In the words of Peace Now, “From a planning perspective, there is no difference between the Tel Aviv district and the ‘Judea and Samaria’ district, except for the initial decision by Minister Smotrich.”

The change is celebrated by settler leadership. Yisrael Gantz, head of the Benjamin Regional Council, said:

“This government resolution brings the residents of Judea and Samaria to the regular situation of the entire State of Israel,” said Gantz, using the biblical name for the West Bank region. “This step will turn construction in the settlements into something that is not newsworthy but rather, routine.”

Yossi Dagan, head Head of the Samaria Regional Council, said:

“We must stop treating residents of Judea and Samaria as second-class citizens. It’s unthinkable that only residents of Judea and Samaria need approval from the political echelon in order to build a home or a kindergarten.”

It’s worth re-sharing the latest legal analysis and commentary arguing that Israel has, even without a formal declaration, annexed the West Bank via bureaucratic transformations such as this: “A Theory of Annexation” (Berda, Meggido, & Levin-Schner, January 2023 – SSSN); “Israel is Officially Annexing the West Bank” (Sfard, June 2023 – Foreign Policy); and, “Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank Has Already Begun” (Scheindlin & Berda, June 2023 – Foreign Affairs); “This Decision by Israel Is as Dramatic as Attempts at Constitutional Change” (Levine-Schnur & Saliternik, June 2023 – Haaretz)

Peace Now further comments:

“The implication of this decision is that once Minister Smotrich decides and approves the advancement of construction plans in West Bank settlements, the plans will go directly to the planning committees in the West Bank (the Higher Planning Council), and the political and military echelon will have no authority to delay or influence the planning stages or the submitted plans. This process will allow unrestricted construction in the West Bank, disregarding security and diplomatic considerations, and perpetuating de facto annexation in the West Bank.”

The Haaretz Editorial Board writes:

“The settlers’ patience has paid off. After 27 years, they have managed to bring about a change in the way the system operates. The government decided to give a messianic settler, one who favors Israeli sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel and supports Jewish supremacy, the power to speed up construction in the settlements…Smotrich and the settlers understood very well that Netanyahu’s utter dependence on the extreme right opened a historic window of opportunity for them, and they are exploiting every moment of it to take over more and more Palestinian land to build, alter the area irreversibly and entrench one large apartheid state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The crisis that Israel is mired in is a golden opportunity for the settlers and their destructive project.”

Israel To Advance Plans for 4,799 New Settlement Units, Including Retroactive Authorization of an Outpost

On the same day Smotrich was awarded new power to oversee settlement construction, the Israeli High Planning Council published an agenda for its June 26th meeting outlining plans for 4,799 settlement units which will be advanced, to include plans which would have the effect of retroactively legalizing the Palgei Maim outpost as a neighborhood of the Eli settlement. The June 26th meeting will be the second time the High Planning Council convenes this year, and could bring the total number of settlement units advanced in 2023 to 12,149 – – nearly three times more than in the entire 2022 year (4,427 units). Smotrich – who now has near unilateral authority over construction planning for settlements – gloated in a statement saying that 2023 has set “a record for the rate of settlement construction [planning] in the last decade” and:

“The construction boom in Judea and Samaria and in all parts of our country continues. As we promised, today we are advancing the construction of thousands more new units in Judea and Samaria… We will continue to develop the settlements and strengthen Israel’s hold on the territory.”

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“The Israeli government is advancing us at an unprecedented pace towards the annexation of the West Bank. The promotion of nearly 5,000 housing units, including the authorization of a settlement in the heart of the West Bank, joins a series of destructive decisions that the government has advanced, including yesterday’s decision granting exclusive power to Minister Smotrich for promoting settlements in the occupied territories. As the world remains silent and public attention is focused on preventing the judicial coup, the government is rushing towards an annexation coup turning Israel into an apartheid state.”

Of the total number of units on the agenda, 1,434 units are set for final approval, including:

• Carmel – 42 units, expanding construction in the settlement towards the southeast.  This settlement is located in the South Hebron Hills, where Palestinians are facing ongoing displacement and forcible relocation.
• Elkana – 351 housing units. Elkana is located in the northern West Bank in an area where the Israeli separation barrier cuts deeply into the land in order to keep settlements on the Israeli side of the barrier. 
• Givat Ze’ev – three plans totalling 642 units. Givat Ze’ev is located north of Jerusalem.
• Revava – 399 housing units. Revava is located west of the Ariel settlement in the heart of the northern West Bank.

Of the total, 3,306 units will be approved for deposit (an earlier stages of the planning process):

• Adora – 310 housing units. If approved, this will triple the size of the Adora settlement. Adora is located west of Hebron.
• Beitar Illit – a total of 312 units in three plans. Beitar Illit is located west of Bethlehem.
• Eli – 142 units.
• Etz Efraim – 264 units in two plans. Etz Efraim is located near the Elkana settlement in the northern West Bank in an area where the Israeli separation barrier cuts deeply into the land in order to keep settlements on the Israeli side of the barrier. 
• Givat Ze’ev  – 228 units. Givat Ze’ev is located north of Jerusalem.
• Halamish (also called Neve Tzuf) – 330 units, which will significantly expand the Elisha “neighborhood” of the settlement, which began as an outpost that was retroactively legalized in 2015 as a neighborhood of Halamish. If approved, this will more than double the size of the Halamish settlement. Located between Ramallah and the Ariel settlement in the northern West Bank.
• Hashmonaim – 150 units. Hashmonaim is located just over the 1967 Green Line, west of the Modin Illit settlement in the northern West Bank. 
• Karnei Shomron – 104 units in two plans. Karnei Shomron is 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. 
• Ma’ale Adumim – 340 units. Located east of Jerusalem.
• Ma’ale Amos – 152 units. If approved, this will more than double the size of the Ma’ale Amos settlement, which is located between Bethlehem and Hebron.
• Metzad (Asfar) – 78 units.
• Kiryat Arba – 120 units. Located just outside of Hebron.
• Migdalim – 184 units. Located in the extreme south of the West Bank.
• Palgei Maim outpost – 347 units located within the Palgei Maim outpost. This plan will have the effect of retroactively legalizing the outpost as a neighborhood of the Eli settlement

Netanyahu Announces 1,000 New Units for the Eli Settlement in “Response” Palestinian Attack, Bringing Outpost Legalization Total to 3 This Week

In response to the murder of four Israelis by Palestinian gunmen near the settlement of Eli on June 21st, the Israeli government announced that it is advancing plans for 1,000 new settlement units in Eli, which come in addition to the 499 units expected to be advanced by the High Planning Council at its meeting next week (see the above section). The decision was made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, and Finance Minister Smotrich. The trio said in a statement:

“Our response to terror is to hit it hard and build in our land.”

According to Peace Now, the plans for 1,000 units announced by Netanyahu include three discrete schemes, inlcuding two plans to grant retroactive legalization and add hundreds of units in two outposts associated with Eli – HaYovel and Nof Harim. The third plan is for a new neighborhood in the Eli settlement consisting of 650 units. Recall that that part of what the High Planning Council is expected to advance next week is a plan to retroactively legalize and expand yet another outpost of the Eli settlement, called Palgei Maim outpost, meaning that the Eli settlement could see three of its outposts legalized soon. Peace Now comments on the totality of plans to expand the Eli settlement: 

“The implication of the government’s decisions in the past week is the doubling of the number of settlers residing at Eli while legalizing and expanding three outposts located at the edge of the settlement, in close proximity to the Palestinian villages of As-Sawiya (Palegi Mayim) and Karyut (Jubal).”

National Missions Orit Strock (Religious Zionism party) celebrated the announcement, saying: 

“1,000 more Jewish families in the place where Jewish lives were cut short. Every terrorist must know that this was the Zionist price tag for murdering Jews. In the place from where they try to uproot us – there we will deepen our roots. Not instead of eliminating the terrorists, not instead of the checkpoints, and not instead of drying up the terror swamp. But absolutely, as a necessary and clear Zionist step.’’

Settlers Reoccupy Evyatar Outpost As Netanyahu Reportedly Decides to “Legalize” It & Ben Gvir Encourages More Illegal Settlement Activity

Hundreds of settlers moved into the illegal Evyatar outpost on June 21st in an effort to permanently reoccupy the outpost. The massive action only escalates the demand that the government expedite the implementation of its decision (as agreed to in its coalition deals) to grant retroactive authorization to the outpost, and is now framing that demand as part of the government’s response to the murder of four Israelis by Palestinian gunmen near the Eli settlement. According to Peace Now, Israeli press reports suggest that on June 21st Prime Minister Netanyahu made a final decision to grant retroactive authorization to the outpost. 

The area of the Evyatar outpost – located east of the Ariel settlement, closer to the Jordan Valley than to sovereign Israeli territory – remains a closed military zone, where Israelis and Palestinians are barred from entering. Nonetheless, the IDF appears to have deliberately decided to allow the settlers to enter the outpost area, and are now providing security for the settlers entering and leaving the area. All of this suggests that the settlers will not be removed from the site.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir traveled to the Evyatar outpost on June 23rd, congratulating the settlers and encouraging them to continue to establish new outposts and urging more violent action against Palestinians. Ben Gvir said:

“Run to the hilltops. Here, there should be a full settlement, not only here, but in all the hills around us. We should settle the Land of Israel, and at the same time, launch a military operation, take down buildings and eliminate terrorists. Not just one or two, but dozens and hundreds and if needed, thousands.”

MK Zvi Sukkot participated in the demonstration on June 21st, saying:

“We’ve returned home to Evyatar…Terrorists should know that any attack will only deepen the Jewish hold on the territory. Two years after being evacuated, the time has come for us to return forever.”

As a reminder, Evyatar is an illegal outpost (established by settlers in violation of Israeli law, in addition to international law) built on a hilltop that Palestinians have long known as Mt. Sabih, land which has historically belonged to the nearby Palestinian villages of Beita, Yatma, and Qablan. The outpost was evacuated by the Israeli government in 2021 in the context of an agreement with settlers that left all construction at the site in place, maintained an IDF presence at the site, and made clear the government’s intent to legalize settlement at the site in the future. Since then, re-establishment/legalization of Evyatar has been a regular demand of settlers and their political backers, and was agreed to in writing as part of the coalition agreements that formed the current Israeli government. 

In April 2023, settlers staged another march to demand Evyatar be reestablished, with march organizers hosting a carnival-like rally at the Evyatar site. Importantly and perhaps tellingly, Haaretz reports that the April march was the first time settlers have received approval to enter the Evyatar outpost since the aforementioned 2021 agreement. 

For full background on the Evyatar outpost saga, see previous FMEP reporting here.

With Assistance from IDF, Settlers Establish a New Outpost Near Eli

On evening of June 21st, a group of settlers moved five mobile homes to land near the Eli settlement but belonging to the Palestinian villages of Sinjil and Lubban ash-Sharqiya (a village settlers violently attacked the night before) in order to establish a new outpost, which they are calling “HaMor”. The Wafa news outlet reports that the IDF assisted the settlers efforts by leveling the ground with a tractor prior to their arrival with the mobile homes.

Peace Now has published pictures of this new outpost and reported:

“It appears that the outpost was established deliberately in a predetermined location, receiving support and funding from institutional sources, enabling the transportation of relatively spacious caravans, heavy equipment, and the commencement of infrastructure work.”

Peace Now further comments:

“Netanyahu’s government’s complicity in allowing and supporting settler outposts fuels an already volatile situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, intensifying violence against innocent Palestinians by extremist settlers. This flagrant disregard for justice and human rights undermines the prospects for a political resolution. The international community must vehemently condemn these actions and hold Israel accountable for its role. Moreover, the alarming rise in settler violence further exacerbates the situation. Urgent measures are imperative to prevent and punish such acts, fostering a culture of accountability and ensuring the safety and well-being of Palestinians. While the world remains silent and Israeli public attention is focused on preventing a judicial coup, the government is hastily moving towards an annexation coup, which will ultimately transform Israel into an apartheid state.”

Settler Violently Rampage Across West Bank with Little to No Repercussion

On June 20th hundreds of settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya in the northern West Bank where they attacked Palestinians and their property – injuring 11 and setting fires across the town that damaged 30 houses and 60 vehicles. When the IDF came to help the settlers leave the village after residents confronted them,  IDF  soldiers shot indiscriminately at Palestinians resulting in one death and several serious injuries.

Another group of settlers attacked Huwara, the village where settlers committed a pogrom earlier this year. Still another group of settlers attacked the village of Al Luban Al Sharqiya located near the Eli settlement. There, settlers attacked a 12-year old boy riding his bike, leaving him seriously injured.

The Times of Israel reports that four Israelis have been arrested in connection to these attacks. B’Tselem spokesperson Roy Yellin commented that, “We didn’t expect much…The rule is impunity from justice.” Yesh Din Executive Director Ziv Stahl called the arrests a “drop in the bucket” and told AP:

“(The army) had four months after (the attack in) Hawara to study how to deal with this and stop it,” she said. “But everything happened in broad daylight. They didn’t detain anyone on the scene. They allowed the settlers to do whatever they felt like doing.”

B’Tselem said in a statement: 

“Responsibility for deadly West Bank pogrom wave lies with Israel, which arms settler gangs and encourages them to attack Palestinians. Right after the deadly shooting near the settlement of Eli yesterday afternoon, settlers backed by the state began rioting across the West Bank, attacking Palestinians and their property.The rioting continues today, with one Palestinian reported killed and three others wounded by live fire in the village of Turmusaya. These events are not a single, isolated failure of the military or state, but a clear expression of Israel’s policy in the OpT. As part of this policy, Israel arms gangs of settlers and allows and even encourages them to attack Palestinians.”

Eviction of Palestinian Ghaith-Sub Laban Family Scheduled

Living under imminent risk of dispossession since June 11th, this week the Ghaith-Sub Laban family received an order from the Israeli Enforcement and Collection Authority stating that the couple will be evicted anytime between June 28th and July 13th. Ir Amim reports that Israeli authorities oftentimes state a window for carrying out forced evictions in order to “maintain an element of surprise to reduce anticipated resistance and ensure the eviction is carried out without disruption.” Ir Amim reports that the family – consisting of an elderly couple, Nora Ghaith and Mustafa Sub Laban – are presently living under extreme conditions, writing: 

“Over the course of the past few weeks, the Ghaith-Sub Laban family has been subject to ongoing harassment by the police, private security guards, and settlers in the area. On numerous occasions, Israeli security forces arrived to their home demanding information and IDs of those present in the apartment, including activists, journalists, and diplomats. Beyond the looming threat of displacement, the continued uncertainty has added to their severe psychological distress.”

The Ghaith-Sub Laban family has spent more than 45 years in a legal battle against settlers (and the State) over their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Nora recently told Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy when asked if she has ever considered giving up her struggle:

“I will answer with a question. If you had been born in this house, and all your brothers and sisters had been born here, grown up in it, married in it, if your mother and father had died in it, your brother had been exiled from it – would you surrender and forsake it? I want an answer. Every minute that I remain in this house is another minute of protecting my childhood memories. Every minute is to feel embraced by family members who are no longer with us. I am never alone in this house, even when I am by myself – all my family and all my memories are always with me in this house. If they come to evict us, I will not open the door. But if I feel danger to myself and to my husband, I will surrender and forsake it in order to safeguard my family. If I am evicted, I will give the house to God. This house will remain a prison until it is liberated. I will return. And if not me, then my children. One day the occupation will end, and we will return.”

This family’s story is not unique, and the broader, systemic processes behind the forcible dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem is also discussed. In March 2023, FMEP hosted Rafat Sub Laban and Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen on a podcast – “‘We Are Determined to Stay”: One Palestinian Family’s Story of Dispossession in Jerusalem” – to discuss the Sub Laban case and how it relates to broader State-back settler efforts to dispossess Palestinians across Jerusalem.

A large consortium of Palestinian civil society groups released a joint statement on the Sub Laban family dispossession, which reads:

“Alarmed by the imminent forcible transfer of the Ghaith-Sub Laban family from their house in the Old City of Jerusalem, which is slated to occur sometime between 28 June and 13 July 2023, the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) and the Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC) vociferously assert that such manifestation of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba is a result of the international community’s deliberate failure and unwillingness to take effective and meaningful measures to end Israel’s illegal occupation, and settler-colonial apartheid regime…….For over 45 years, the Ghaith-Sub Laban family has endured a lengthy, exhausting, and unaffordable legal struggle, actively resisting recurring lawsuits, harassment, and efforts by Israel and settler organisations to forcibly displace them and seize their home for the purpose of expanding settlements in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem…Indeed, the Ghaith-Sub Laban’s case is not an isolated incident but rather emblematic of a larger widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population. The Israeli occupying authorities – mobilising its discriminatory judicial system – have consistently employed similar methods and policies to forcibly transfer dozens of Palestinian families from the Old City, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah and other neighbourhoods of the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem.”

Bonus Reads

1. “As Israel seeks West Bank expansion, a controversial outpost is revived” (Washington Post)
2. “In the West Bank, UNESCO site Battir could face a water shortage from a planned Israeli settlement” (AP)
3. “We’ve Found Something Settlers and Palestinians Agree On: How Ugly This Construction Is” (Haaretz)
4. “Israel’s annexation drive is behind escalations in the West Bank” (The New Arab)
5. “Jerusalem Permits Building U.S. Embassy on Disputed Site as Washington Mulls Location” (Haaretz)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

June 16, 2023

1. E-1 Hearing Canceled, Israel Announces Plan for 4,570 of New Settlement Units
2. Ir Amim Warns Plans for 7,000+ East Jerusalem Settlement Are on the Agenda
3. Homesh Outpost Connected to State Water Grid
4. Settlers Press for Jordan Valley Annexation
5. Israel Begins Work on New Industrial Zone Near Ramallah
6. Ghaith Sub Laban Family Under Eviction Order
7. New Report Shows Nearly Half of West Bank Land Taken By Israel “For Public Purposes” Has Gone for Exclusive Use of Settlers
8. Adalah Spells Out What Annexation Looks Like, Calls for Urgent Intervention
9. Bonus Reads

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E-1 Hearing Canceled, Israel Announces Plan for 4,500 of New Settlement Units

Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu intervened to postpone a decisive hearing on plans to build the E-1 settlement that was set to take place on June 12th, with no new date set. The delay followed the typical international opposition to the E-1 settlement, which for decades has been viewed as a “dooms-day” settlement and treated a red line for countries pushing diplomatic efforts towards a two state solution. E-1 is also vehemently opposed by Palestinians and human rights activists because of the impact it will have on thousands of bedouin who live in the area slated for the settlements’ construction, just east of Jerusalem.

Daniel Seidemann – founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem and an expert on all things Jerusalem – commented on the cancellation of the E-1 hearing:

“This not at all trivial. But there is an iron-clad rule. Any time that Netanyahu does anything that can be seen as conciliatory, he compensates by doing other outrages, especially in Jerusalem, sometimes the West Bank.”

True to the format, some three days later, on June 12th, news broke that the Israeli government plans to advance 4,570 new settlement units at an upcoming meeting of the Civil Administration’s High Planning Council, set to convene near the end of June. 

Preliminary reports on what will be on the agenda indicates that 1,000 units will be up for final approval, including:

• 500 units in Givat Ze’ev
• 300+ units in Elkana
• 300+ units in Revava

Settlements plan which might be advanced through earlier stages of the planning process include:

• Givat Ze’ev (in addition to the 500 units up for final approval)
• Ma’ale Adumim
• Kiryat Arba
• Beitar Illit
• And a dozen more.

This will be the second time the High Planning Council meets this year, and will come some four months after Israel signed the Aqaba Agreement – in which Israel agreed to a four month freeze. Of course, there has been no such freeze in settlement planning, construction, and other annexation activities across the West Bank (as this weekly report has chronicled – all accomplished without convening the High Planning Council. As a reminder, in its first meeting in February 2023, the High Planning Council advanced the largest slate of settlement plans – 7,287 units –  in the past decade, including granting retroactive legalization to ten outposts.

Ir Amim Warns Plans for 7,000+ East Jerusalem Settlement Are on the Agenda

Ir Amim warns that – in addition to the actions that the High Planning Council might take in the West Bank – various other domestic Israeli authorities are poised to advance plans for over 7,000 new settlement units across East Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem settlement plans that are on the agenda of planning authorities include:

• Givat Hamatos A (“Tzmerot” Plan) – scheduled for June 12th, but no updates are available at the time of publication. This plan aims to massively expand the current construction outline for the Givat Hamatos settlement in East Jerusalem by adding an additional 1,200 units to the existing plan, bringing the total number of settlement units to be built in Givat Hamatos to 3,810 (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 5, this means housing for an additional nearly 20,000 Israelis).
• Givat Hamatos / New Talpiyot Hill – scheduled to be discussed by the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee on June 28th. This plan will expand the area of the Givat Hamatos settlement in East Jerusalem by 40%, more than doubling the number of housing units slated to be built there. It involves the construction of 3500 units and 1300 hotel rooms, to be built on a strategic strip of land that will expand the area of Givat Hamatos eastward, connecting it with another new settlement plan – the “Lower Aqueduct Plan.”
• Kidmat Zion – scheduled to be discussed by the Jerusalem Local Planning Council on July 12th. Kidmat Zion will be located between the Ras al-Amud neighborhood and the Israeli separation barrier, with the Abu Dis neighborhood on the other side of the wall. The settlement enclave will be accessible only by driving through densely populated areas of Ras Al-Amud; and,
• Ramot A and B -scheduled for discussion and approval for deposit for objections on June 26. These two plans, outlining a total of 1,918 units, for deposit for public review. Both plans will expand the existing settlement of Ramot northeastward towards the Palestinian town of Bir Nabala.  See more details from Ir Amim here. 

There are several additional plans for East Jerusalem settlements that, though unscheduled at the moment, are also important to watch: Givat HaShaked, Lower Aqueduct Plan, Nof Zahav, and the Wadi Joz (“Silicon Wadi”) project.

Ir Amim writes:

“Although the E1 plans were again halted due reportedly to international pressure, a spate of other detrimental settlement plans are moving forward at full force in East Jerusalem which require immediate attention.   

Against the backdrop of the 56th year anniversary of the Israeli occupation and illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, it is clear that such developments only continue to cement a one-state reality of permanent occupation and systematic oppression whereby one group is afforded full human and civil rights and the other is deprived of those rights.

In Jerusalem, one of the most severe expressions of this reality is the Israeli urban planning policy which aims to engineer Jewish demographic dominance, while pushing significant parts of the Palestinian population out of the city. In contrast to the thousands of housing units advanced annually for Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, residential development in Palestinian areas is systematically suppressed and neglected, which undermines Palestinian rights to housing and serves as a lever of displacement.  

In the absence of equitable urban planning and housing solutions, Palestinians are either forced out of Jerusalem or compelled to construct homes without building permits, which subjects them to the threat of demolition. Between January 1-June 15, 2023, there have been 68 home demolitions across East Jerusalem under the pretext of lacking building permits. This marks a significant rise from 2022 for the same period.”

Homesh Outpost Connected to State Water Grid As Settlers Move In

Weeks after being moved some one hundred yards from its original location – – to a small island of land Israel believes to be “state land” amidst privately owned Palestinian land – – Homesh settlers have swiftly worked to build a more “permanent” yeshiva, which is already hosting 40-50 religious students. The illegal Homesh yeshiva is now connected to the Israel water system – becoming what Haaretz called an “irreversible reality.” Settlers are now agitating for the state to pave access roads, which will necessarily require the expropriation of private Palestinian land. 

Settlers have carried out their work to build a new Homesh yeshiva with the unofficial permission of the Israeli government (and an obedient IDF) even though their construction is illegal. Over the past few months, the Israeli government has taken several radical steps towards establishing a new settlement in the area of the former Homesh settlement – including the repeal of relevant clauses in the Disengagement Law and the issuance of a military order to allow an Israeli civilian presence in the area. Haaretz further revealed that a state-funded organization –  B’nai Horin-Neriya – has acted as a conduit to obscure the investment of state funds into the Homesh outpost. The organization has paid salaries of two Homesh yeshiva teachers since at least 2020.

Homesh was built on lands historically belonging to the Palestinian village of Burqa. The land was never returned to its Palestinian owners even after the settlement was dismantled in 2005.

In a new website promoting a campaign to stop the establishment of Homesh, Yesh Din – an Israeli NGO which has assisted Palestinians’ legal efforts to regain access to their land – writes: 

“For 45 years Israel has denied residents of the Palestinian village Burqa in the West Bank access to their privately-owned land where the Israeli settlement Homesh once stood. The private Palestinian lands were expropriated in 1978 through a military seizure order for ‘security’ needs and two years later the settlement of Homesh was erected there. For 25 years, several dozen Israeli families lived in the settlement until Israel evacuated Homesh in 2005 as part of the disengagement plan. Almost continuously since the evacuation, an illegal Israeli outpost has been present in this area. For over a decade, Yesh Din has been assisting the residents of Burqa in their persistent legal battle aimed at evacuating the outpost that was established on their lands and allowing them free and safe access to them.”

Settlers are celebrating their triumph at Homesh, and have continued to openly discuss their goals of reestablishing the three other settlements dismantled by the Israeli government as a result of the 2005 Disengagement Law.

Shmuel Wende, executive director of the Homesh Yeshivah for the past three-and-a-half year, told JNS: 

“We moved into our new permanent structure but had to do so in the middle of the night so as not to make a fuss. We are calling on the government to make this area 100% official, to pave roads, and go back to the way it was before the expulsion [disengagement].”

On the B’nai Horin-Neriya website – the state-funded organization which pays Homesh salaries and raises money to support constructions there –  boasts: 

“It’s not often in history that we get to see history taking shape in front of our eyes… this is one of the greatest events of the settlement enterprise to have taken place! The State of Israel is returning to northern Samaria!”

Settlers Press for the Annexation of the Jordan Valley

With a mounting number of victories, parts of the settler lobby are once again centering a longtime demand to annex the Jordan Valley. Justice Minister Levin and several other ministers offered supportive speeches and videos at a recent youth conference hosted by the “Sovereignty Movement”.

The Sovereignty Movement’s co-chair, Yehudit Katsover, said at the conference:

“We are beginning with the Jordan Valley. This is the eastern wall of the State of Israel and it must be strong. There is a broad consensus regarding the Jordan Valley. It is not an issue of Right and Left, It is clear to everyone that we must be here. Gantz also spoke about it at the time, the Prime Minister spoke about it, and opposition Knesset members proposed legislation on this issue. The Jordan Valley will be, with God’s help, under Israeli sovereignty, it’s only a matter of time. Of course, we are not relinquishing Judea and Samaria, but we are taking one step forward because the chance is greater in the Jordan Valley.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said in a video  sent to the conference: 

“The Land of Israel, did, does, and will always belong to the people of Israel, as its name indicates. I am convinced that the joint effort that we have been exerting over the years to promote and strengthen our hold in the country and responsibly facilitate the application of Israeli law throughout the Land of Israel will ultimately produce results.”

Settlement and National Missions Minister, Orit Struk (Religious Zionism) said: 

“The Jordan Valley is the most important place for the application of Sovereignty because it is, in fact, the place that secures our current eastern border. Therefore, your gathering here today and your continued activity are crucial. It is important that you know that our government established the issue of sovereignty as part of its agenda. It is found in the guidelines of the government and it is found in its political program as an objective when it will become politically possible. There is an excellent chance that we are on the way to achieving that objective.”

Annexation of the Jordan Valley has, in the past, garnered serious effort from the Israeli government. During his 2019 campaign, Netanyahu announced that he would immediately annex the Jordan Valley if reelected, and presented an error-ridden map explaining how he would annex the area without annexing a single Palestinian. His plan called for the annexation of an area which constitutes nearly a quarter of the area of the West Bank (22.3%) where (at the time) 30 settlements and 18 outposts had been established. Peace Now estimated 20% of the targeted land (62,000 acres) is privately owned by Palestinians – a fact that Netanyahu did not even mention, much less explain how he would address. After being elected, Netanyahu faced international opposition to the plan, and in order to quiet the criticism while saving face with his base – Netanyahu formed an inter-ministerial task force dubbed the “Sovereignty Committee” to design a plan for the annexation of the Jordan Valley.

Israel Begins Work on New Industrial Zone Near Ramallah

Kerem Navot shares photographs of bulldozers appearing to begin clearing land just west of Ramallah, a site where Israel intends to build a new industrial zone. The new industrial zone was fully approved in 2016, and will be constructed along the “Apartheid Road” route. In addition to a commercial area, the development will include public buildings, stores, roads, a parking lot and open space.

Ghaith Sub Laban Family Under Eviction Order

On Sunday June 11th an eviction order came into effect allowing for the removal, at any moment, of the Ghaith Sub Laban family from their longtime home in the Old City of Jerusalem. The forcible removal of the couple was not carried out as of publication, and it is reported that the settlers behind the eviction have requested a flexible timeline for carrying out the eviction – normally two weeks. Meaning the Ghait h Sub Laban family is living under constant insecurity.

Since then, their streets outside of their home have been a near constant scene of protest and solidarity, with activists organizing to stop any attempts to forcibly remove the couple from their home.

The Ghaith-Sub Laban family has spent the past 40-years in a legal battle against settlers (and the State) over their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. This family’s story is not unique, and the broader, systemic processes behind the forcible dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem is also discussed. In March 2023, FMEP hosted Rafat Sub Laban and Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen on a podcast – “‘We Are Determined to Stay”: One Palestinian Family’s Story of Dispossession in Jerusalem” – to discuss the Sub Laban case and how it relates to broader State-back settler efforts to dispossess Palestinians across Jerusalem.

Ir Amim explains:

“The family of veteran Ir Amim staff member, Ahmad Sub Laban, has been embroiled in a 45-year legal battle against persistent attempts by the state and settler groups to displace them and takeover their home for Jewish settlement. The family rented the house in 1953 from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and as such was afforded protected tenancy rights. After 45 years of recurring lawsuits and harassment by the Israeli authorities and settler organizations, the Supreme Court recently ruled to terminate the family’s protected tenancy status and evict them from their home.”

For a comprehensive overview of the Sub Laban family’s legal battle, as well as other East Jerusalem eviction cases, please see Ir Amim’s report.

New Report Shows Nearly Half of West Bank Land Taken By Israel “For Public Purposes” Has Gone for Exclusive Use of Settlers

In a first of its kind report published by the Israeli NGOs Kerem Navot and Haqel – entitled, “For the Common Good” – military orders from 1967-2022 are examined to show how the Israeli government has mis-used expropriation orders that are issued “for the public good” to give land to settlements and outposts.

After a thorough legal examination of Israel’s ability to expropriate West Bank land, the report closely examines all 313 expropriation orders, finding that out of a total of 74,000 dunams seized (over 18,000 acres):

• 50% of the land (37,000 dunams / 9,142 acres) now serves both Palestinians and Israelis. These orders were issued mainly to pave shared roads throughout the West Bank;
• 48% of the land (36,000 dunams / 8,895 acres) now serves Israeli settlers exclusively. Much of the land was eventually handed over for the construction of settlements and/or access roads to settlements;
• 2% (1,532 dunams / 378 acres) are now used by Palestinians only. 

The authors write:

“The conclusion of this study is evident: under the guise of its legal obligation to ensure the wellbeing of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, Israel has nevertheless expropriated extensive areas of land to promote the settlement project beginning in 1967. In some cases, it has done so while completely and blatantly ignoring its duty to ensure that the expropriated area is for the use of the Palestinian population, and in other, more sophisticated cases, it has done so by creating a dependency between the mutual interests of both Palestinian and settler populations.”

The issue of Israel’s use of expropriate orders to further the settlement movement is highly relevant to the events unfolding in the West Bank today, particularly in light of the government’s undisguised efforts to grant retroactive legalization to outposts that were built on land determined to be privately owned Palestinian land. On this score, the report offers this important history (p.22):

“Recently, the issue of expropriation for settlement purposes has been raised again when Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved the expropriation of private land in order to pave a road leading to the illegal outpost of Harasha. His legal opinion relied, among other things, on the verdict of Justice Salim Jubran in the HCJ Ziada case, which referred to settlers as part of the area’s ‘local population,’ rendering their welfare as the concern of the military commander. This position, as stated by the Attorney General, diverged from ‘the traditional legal position accepted for many years, according to which the expropriation of private land for public purposes that serve Israeli settlement may be allowed only when it also serves the Palestinian population”. In the summary of his opinion he stated that in light of the final verdict, there is no longer any legal principle that impedes the promotion of a regulated access road to the Harasha outpost by way of expropriation for public purposes, subject to criteria based on proportionality and reasonability. Note that afterwards, as part of a request for an additional hearing in the HCJ Ziada case given its precedents, including the allowance to take possession of private Palestinian land for the exclusive benefit of settlers, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut stated that “indeed, as noted by the plaintiffs, it appears that the verdict contradicts previous law in this context, and presents both renewal and difficulty”. 

After the hearing in the HCJ Ziada case, the court addressed this issue directly as part of the petitions against the Regulation Law. Supreme Court President Hayut ruled with the majority opinion: 

‘Indeed, as this court ruled, the military commander is entitled by the power of his authority according to Article 43 of the Hague Regulations to consider the benefit of the local population in its entirety as well, including the Israeli population in the area (the Abu Safia issue, in paragraph 20). However, as far as we are concerned with the question of “public purpose” according to the expropriation laws applicable in the area, I do not find that these allow the expropriation of private land owned by Palestinians or claimed to have proprietary relations, for the purpose of building and expanding Israeli settlements, and for that purpose alone.’

Thus, the court reverted to the traditional legal position whereby Palestinians’ private land must not be expropriated to serve the needs of the Israeli settler population exclusively.”

Adalah Spells Out What Annexation Looks Like, Calls for Urgent Intervention

The Palestinian NGO Adalah issued a blistering paper showing the ongoing ways in which the Israeli government is annexing Palestinians lands in the West Bank. The short and to the point document calls on the international community to intervene to stop Israel’s actions. 

Joining a chorus of other analysts asserting that annexation is happening via bureaucratic changes within the Israeli government, Adalah’s analysis offers a detailed accounting of how the current Israeli government has brought the West Bank under the control of its civilian government.

The report concludes:

“The Israeli government is working systematically to implement the policy goals declared in its coalition agreements. Its actions express an intention to continue to entrench a regime of Jewish supremacy that grants the Jewish people an exclusive right to self-determination, as enshrined in the 2018 Basic Law: Israel- the Nation-State of the Jewish People, and to extend it beyond the Green Line into occupied Palestinian territory. All of the government’s declarations and actions demonstrate that its stated intention is not merely de facto annexation camouflaged in the framework of a temporary occupation but annexation de jure, in flagrant violation of international law. 

The measures adopted by the government and the legislation approved by the Knesset thus far clearly reveal the trend of transferring parts of the military regime’s sphere of operation associated with the settlements to various Israeli government offices. The concept regarding the unification of laws between the localities in Israel and the settlements is expressed in a most alarming way in the aforementioned decisions. 

These measures and laws deepen and expand the subjugation and oppression of the Palestinian people and express the total denial of their right to self-determination in their homeland, while implementing laws and institutional measures which, in practice, bypass the applicability of IHL and replace it with domestic Israeli law. 

These decisions constitute annexation of parts of the West Bank, wherein a variety of government ministries will administer the settlements and, in practice, manage occupied territories as if they were an integral part of Israeli territory. Hence, these decisions will lead to the deepening of the de facto annexation of occupied territories and could be considered part of a de jure annexation process, in absolute violation of the laws of occupation.”

Bonus Reads

“Israel’s military called the settler attack on this Palestinian town a ‘pogrom.’ Videos show soldiers did little to stop it” (CNN)