Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report, this week we are issuing an covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.
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- Israel Initiates New Plan for 1,500 Settlement Units in Sheikh Jarrah – Further Squeezing and Isolating Palestinian Residents
- West Bank Settlement & Annexation News
- International News
Israel Initiates New Plan for 1,500 Settlement Units in Sheikh Jarrah – Further Squeezing and Isolating Palestinian Residents
Ir Amim reports that Israeli authorities are moving forward with a new plan to build 1,500 settlement units on the northern perimeter of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The plan appears to be moving very quickly through the planning process with two meetings scheduled in the coming week (June 4 and 9). The land is currently home to Israeli government buildings.
Ir Amim says:
“Advancement of this plan in parallel to other settlement initiatives in Sheikh Jarrah reflects an accelerating trend across East Jerusalem of promoting large settlements inside Palestinian neighborhoods. While in the past, settlement projects largely targeted open lands outside Palestinian built-up areas, more recently, there has been a dramatic rise in the promotion of major settlement construction in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods. Rather than designating the respective plots of land to meet the dire needs of the local population, the land is used for Israeli settlements, which depletes critical land reserves essential for Palestinian urban development. This in turn contributes to deepening the housing deprivation and constricting existing Palestinian neighborhoods, which blocks their necessary expansion to accommodate for population growth. Moreover, such projects often generate friction and disrupt daily life in Palestinian neighborhoods as settlements are accompanied by heavy security presence and restrictions on freedom of movement.”
If constructed, the new settlement units will seal Sheikh Jarrah off from the north and nearly connect to Israel’s “Silicon Wadi” plan for the southeastern perimeter of the neighborhood. The southern entrance to Sheikh Jarrah is also in the process of coming under total Israeli control with the planned construction of the Glassman yeshiva – – a large religious school and dormitory complex planned to flank the main road into the neighborhood. In addition to settlement construction plans, the state has backed efforts by settlers to wage a large-scale eviction campaign against longtime Palestinian residents in Sheikh Jarrah.
West Bank Settlement & Annexation News
- “Humanitarian Situation Update #295 | West Bank” (OCHA)
- Annexation:
- “Smotrich: Prepare ‘operational plans’ for sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” (JNS, 6/6/25)
- “Israeli Settler Violence Risks ‘Forced Transfer’ of Tens of Thousands of West Bank Palestinians, Western Countries Warn” (Haaretz, 6/4/25)
- “With the World’s Eyes on Gaza, Netanyahu Hits Fast-forward on West Bank Annexation” (Haaretz, 6/1/25)
- Mass Expulsion:
- “Israel’s Expulsion of Palestinian Communities in West Bank Hits Record High With U.S. Support” (Haaretz, 6/6/25)
- “Israeli Settler Violence Risks ‘Forced Transfer’ of Tens of Thousands of West Bank Palestinians, Western Countries Warn” (Haaretz, 6/4/25)
- “Meet the Palestinian Bedouin community that no longer exists” (Mondoweiss, 6/2/25)
- “Israeli settlers establish illegal outpost near Palestinian Authority’s administrative city of Ramallah” (Arab News, 6/4/25)
- “Jewish Settlers Attempt to Take Over West Bank Land After IDF Demolishes Palestinian Homes” (Haaretz, 6/3/25)
International News
- “Israel Bars Arab Foreign Ministers From High-Level West Bank Visit” (New York Times, 5/31/25)
- “IDF bars reporters from visiting W. Bank villages on tour based on ‘No Other Land’ film” (The Times of Israel, 6/2/25)