Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, this week we are issuing an covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.
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February 28, 2025
De Jure Annexation Proceeds, Govt Set to OK Jerusalem-Area Annexation Bill
- “’Major Step to Full Sovereignty’: Bill to Annex West Bank Settlements Near Jerusalem Set to Pass” (Haaretz, 2/28/25). Key excerpt: “Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation is expected to approve on Sunday a bill that will enable the annexation of West Bank settlements around Jerusalem. The bill, introduced by Likud MK Dan Illouz, proposes establishing “metropolitan Jerusalem,” which will include settlements around the capital such as Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Efrat, and Ma’ale Mikhmas… But Illouz added that the bill has a larger underlying principle: enacting Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank. “Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty [of the West Bank]. The bill also prescribes that the government will work with the authority to increase land reserves for construction in the metropolitan area to encourage the residence of young people, investment in public transportation, education, cultural institutions and so forth.”
- “Israel set to approve bill enabling annexation of West Bank settlements near Jerusalem” (Wafa, 2/28/25)
- “Could Israel’s West Bank operation lead to annexation long sought by right?” (Al Monitor)
- “Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria ‘only way’ to peace, says Knesset speaker” (Israel Today, 2/24/25)
Reestablishing Gaza Settlements
- “‘Occupy, expel, settle’: Minister, MKs at far-right rally call ‘to empty Gaza of Gazans’” (The Times of Israel, 2/28/25)
The Ongoing “Gazafication” of the West Bank
- “Governor of Tulkarm describes Israeli military aggression as crushing calamity” (Wafa, 2/28/25)
- “Israeli occupation forces continue wide-scale military assault on Tulkarm for 33rd day” (Wafa, 2/28/25)
- “The Lessons from Gaza Manifest in the West Bank: Israel’s Escalating Threats to Palestinian Life” (Yara Asi for Arab Center DC, 2/26/25)
- “Israel Is Already Doing in the West Bank What It Threatens to Do in Gaza” (Haaretz, 2/24/25)
- “West Bank Palestinians fear Gaza-style clearance as Israel squeezes Jenin camp” (Reuters, 2/24/25)
- “By imposing a maze of checkpoints, Israel is replicating West Bank conditions in Gaza” (2/26/25)
More Settlement News & Analysis
- “Masafer Yatta community in occupied West Bank under imminent threat of forcible transfer” (Amnesty International, 2/27/25)
- “Humanitarian Situation Update #268 | West Bank” (OCHA, 2/27/25)
- “West Bank Monthly Snapshot – Casualties, Property Damage and Displacement | January 2025” (OCHA, January 2025)
- “Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land” (The Guardian, 2/27/25)
The Trump-Netanyahu Mind Meld & U.S. Politics
- “In from cold, Smotrich to meet US Treasury chief in Washington next week” (The Times of Israel, 2/27/28)
- “U.S. Jews Clash Over Trump Pick Huckabee as Israel Ambassador, Setting Stage for Contentious Confirmation” (Haaretz, 2/24/25)
- “Exclusive: GOP staffers told to call occupied West Bank Judea and Samaria” (Axios, 2/26/2025)
- “What is the new ‘Judea and Samaria Caucus’ in Congress all about?” (The Forward, 2/27/25)
- “Trump repeals Biden directive linking U.S. arms to human rights” (Washington Post, 2/24/25)
- “Amb. Herzog: Blinken attempted to impose sanctions on Israeli intelligence unit” (Arutz Sheva, 2/28/25)
Eliminating Civil Society Space in Israel
- “Israel’s Government Wants to Silence All Criticism, and Will Target Human Rights to Do It” (Haaretz)