Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.
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July 26, 2024
- Israeli Army Seizes Key Area of Sebastia Archaeological Site
- Family in Old City Faces Dispossession
- First Demolition in Al-Walajah Area C Could be Sign of More to Come
- Peace Now: In 2023, Israeli Government Funded 101 Illegal Outposts
- Israeli Human Rights Groups Publish Joint “State of the Occupation” Report
- Bonus Reads
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:
- The humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip and the suspected war crimes committed by Israel;
- The deepening of the annexation and the acceleration of dispossession in the West Bank;
- The increased Israelisation efforts and displacement of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem; and,
- The accelerated erosion of democratic space in Israel.
You can read the report and its details here.
Bonus Reads
- “‘Fighting the same battle’: After Oct. 7, settlers court Republican evangelicals” (The Times of Israel)
- “The ICJ Is Right: The Israeli Settlements Are an Illegal Affront” (The New Republic)