Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.
June 5, 2026
- WEST BANK: E-1 Update; High Council Advances Plans for 2,162 New Units; Archaeology Annexation Bill is Stopped for Now; Tax Break for Settlers; WZO Eases Land Purchase Rules
- Further Reading
WEST BANK
E-1 Update
As previously reported, tenders for the construction of the E-1 settlement were scheduled to be published/opened on June 1st – – but as of reporting the tenders have not been published. Terrestrial Jerusalem founder and Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann cautions that delays are normal and alarm should remain high:
“In the past, this [delay] would be very much in line with Netanyahu’s modus operandi: bluster, but at the last moment make E-1 go away without leaving fingerprints. However, with Smotrich breathing down his neck and elections approaching, Netanyahu will be called out if he silently freezes E-1. He is not likely to do that.”
On June 3rd, 85 members of the U.S. Congress penned a letter to Secretary of State Rubio urging action to stop the construction of E-1. On the same day, a group of EU representatives visited Khan al-Ahmar, the bedouin community that stands to be forcibly transferred from their land by Israel in order to enable the construction of the E-1 settlement. At the United Nations, the Arab Group (an official regional and political coalition composed of 22 member states representing the Arab nations), issued a statement touching on many Israeli annexationist moves including E-1, urging strong opposition and increased pressure on the Israeli government to back off.
2,162 New Settlement Units Advanced
On June 3rd, the Israeli High Planning Council advanced the construction of 2,162 new settlement units, including plans for two new settlements. The plans advanced this week were:
- Hamivesher (a new settlement): The Council approved for deposit a plan for the construction of 234 new settlement units in the outpost of Hamivesher, which would authorize its as a legal (under Israeli law only) settlement. Until now, the Hamivesher outpost has been laundered through the planning process as a “neighborhood” of the Kiryat Arba settlement but is more properly understood as its own settlement. The Hamivesher settlement is detached from Kiryat Arba, located some ~800 meters north.
- Gvaot: The Council gave final approval for the construction of 1,006 new units in the Gvaot settlement, located west of Bethlehem. There are only a few dozen families currently living in the Gvaot settlement, so this plan represents a massive expansion and its transformation into a more established and urban settlement. Gvaot was built illegally by settlers and initially laundered as a “neighborhood” of the Alon Shvut settlement despite being detached from it. The government authorized Gvaot as an independent settlement in March 2025.
- Har Bracha: The Council approved a plan for 922 new units in the Har Bracha settlement, located south of Nablus. If given final approval, this plan will triple the size of Har Bracha, which is known to be particularly violent towards surrounding Palestinian communities.
Celebrating the approvals, Bezalel Smotrich said:
“This is not just a planning step, but a national development that solidifies our hold on the territory, strengthens Israel’s security, and establishes clear facts that prevent the establishment of an Arab terrorist state in the heart of the country.”
Bibi Stops (for now) Annexation-Via-Archaeology Bill
It’s widely reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu has intervened to stop the advancement of a bill that would annex heritage and archaeological sites across the West Bank and Gaza. Emek Shaveh warns the bill is not dead yet:
“it is important to emphasize that the bill has yet to be withdrawn (a procedure that we will demand). And as long as it remains within the legislative process, it can be revived relatively quickly. Since it has already passed its first reading, a future government or coalition could apply legislative continuity and resume the process from the point at which it was halted. In practical terms, the bill remains very close to being ready for second and third readings.”
Israel Seizes Herodium Archaeological Site & Surrounding Land
The Israeli Civil Administration issued an expropriation order for the Herodium archaeological site – which Israel had already seized and declared an Israeli national park – and surrounding areas, totalling 320 dunams (80 acres). The Herodium site is located on a hilltop south east of Bethlehem, in Area C, surrounded by settlements. This is at least the third archaeological annexation of the year, following the expropriation at the Nabi Samwil site last week and at the Sebastia site in February 2026.
Peace Now said in a statement:
”The government is trying to exploit every moment before the elections to create additional facts on the ground that will advance the full annexation of the West Bank. Tourist and archaeological sites constitute another form of settlement. Their purpose is not only to seize extensive areas of land but also to shape public consciousness, marginalize the Palestinian connection to the land, and transform this country into a land exclusively for Jews, both physically and in terms of heritage. This policy condemns us to many more years of a painful and bloody conflict that can only be resolved through a compromise over this land, which is precious to both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Tax Break for Settlers aka Looting Public Funds for Settlers
This week by a vote of 32-23 the Knesset passed a bill that grants a 7% tax break (capped at NIS 10,000 per year) to residents of 58 specified settlements – most of which are settlements which support, based on voting data, Bezalel Smotrich’s political party (an earlier version of the bill sought to benefit all settlements, but was shrunk to 58 settlements when the cost was estimated at 450million NIS annually). Ostensibly, the 58 settlements were selected based on distance from Israel’s Separation Barrier and the use for armored school buses for children.
Peace Now – which said the move is “a brazen move of looting public funds” – said in a statement:
“The proposal to grant tax benefits to settlements is brazen greed on the part of settlement leaders. No sector in the country receives more benefits and public investment than the settlers, and there is no justification whatsoever for adding tax breaks that would simply plunder the public treasury for the benefit of a small minority within the government’s political base.”
WZO Eases Rules on Land Purchases
The World Zionist Organization recently announced that it will begin allowing settlers to buy a second residential plot of land. Until now, the WZO closely controlled land management and most settlers do not own the land on which their houses are situated, instead they have long term leases on the land via the WZO.
Bonus Reads
- “Israeli Settlers Wound Three Palestinians in Attack Near West Bank’s Hebron, Medics Say” (Haaretz, 6/5/26)
- “Seven Palestinians Wounded in West Bank Settler Raid, Some by IDF Fire” (Haaretz, 5/30/26)
- “Digitally annexing the West Bank: Israel moves its theft of Palestinian land online” (Mondoweiss, 6/3/26)
- “Who Will Stop Smotrich, if Not The Hague?” (Haaretz, 6/3/26)