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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1. Israel Approves 22 New Settlements – “Dramatically Reshap[ing] the West Bank”
2. East Jerusalem & Its Environs
3. West Bank Settlement & Annexation News
4. International News
5. Israeli Politics

Israel Approves 22 New Settlements – “Dramatically Reshap[ing] the West Bank”

The Israeli security Cabinet has approved the establishment of 22 new settlements deep inside the West Bank, including the legalization of 12 existing outposts and the creation of 9 entirely new settlements deep inside of the West Bank (1 existing settlement neighborhood will be recognized as an independent settlement). The Cabinet’s decision was initially private – made in secrecy and not announced formally until one of the settler regional council’s posted about it.

In confirming the news, Defense Minister Israel Katz said:

“This historic decision to establish 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria strengthens our hold on the land, anchors our historical right to the Land of Israel, and delivers a crushing answer to Palestinian terrorism aimed at harming the settlements and weakening them…Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria serves as a vital security barrier for Israel’s major population centers. We must do everything in our power to expand and reinforce this protective shield. The decision we made today is not just about strengthening the settlements on the State’s eastern border — it’s also a strategic move to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel, and it serves as a buffer zone against our enemies. This is a Zionist, security, and national response — and a clear decision about the future of the Land.”

Bezelal Smotrich called:

“This is a great day for the settlements and an important day for the State of Israel. Through determined leadership and intense work, we have succeeded, with God’s help, in achieving a deep strategic shift, returning the State of Israel to a path of building, Zionism, and vision. Settlement in our ancestral homeland is Israel’s shield wall; today we took a giant step toward strengthening it. The next step — sovereignty!”

Though not confirmed, media reports indicate that the list of 22 new settlements include:

• 3 settlements near Jenin in the northern West Bank: Elnaveh, Maoz Zvi and Sa-Nur;
• 4 settlements near Hebron: Maalot Halhul, Afeka, Yonadav and Mitzpe Ziv;
• 5 settlements in the Jordan Valley (4 of which are new): Ir Hatmarim, Kedem Arava, Gadi Camp, Gvionit and Tevez;
• 3 settlements near Nablus: Rehavam, Mt. Ibal and Homesh;
• 5 settlements near Ramallah: Atarot Eder, Beit Horon North, Inbar, Ahiya, Adei Ad;
• 1 settlement is in the Jerusalem district – Nofei Prat;
• 1 settlement near Salfi: Havot Yair.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the Occupied Territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal. The cabinet’s decision to establish 22 new settlements—the most extensive move of its kind since the Oslo Accords, under which Israel committed not to establish new settlements—will dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further. At a time when both the Israeli public and the entire world is demanding an immediate end to the war, the government is making clear—again and without restraint—that it prefers deepening the occupation and advancing de facto annexation over pursuing peace.”

East Jerusalem & Its Environs

• Flag Day Parade in the Old City: 
  • “Riots, Racist Slurs, Religious Ecstasy: What Was Familiar and What Changed This Jerusalem Day” (Haaretz, 5/26/25)
  • “Police readying for tensions ahead of annual Jerusalem Day Flag March on Monday” (The Times of Israel)
  • “Jerusalem Day Flag March Reached a New Low: Mocking the Dead Children of Gaza” (Haaretz, 5/26/25)
  • “‘They Attack and We Can’t Do Anything’: Jerusalem’s Palestinian Residents Pick Up the Pieces After the Flag March” (Haaretz, 5/30/25)
• -”The Government Funds Private Security Companies for East Jerusalem Settlers with Hundreds of Millions of NIS” (Peace Now, 5/27/25)
• Peace Now on X: “Data on the cost of securing settlers in East Jerusalem” (5/26/25)

West Bank Settlement & Annexation News

• “Movement and access update in the West Bank | May 2025” (OCHA)
• Near Ramallah:
  • “In a single week, a new settler outpost erases an entire Palestinian community” (+972 Magazine, 5/26/25)
  • “Israeli settlers force about 150 Palestinians to leave their West Bank village” (The Guardian, 5/23/25)
  • “Violent Israeli settlers under UK sanctions join illegal West Bank outpost” (The Guardian, 5/22/25)
• Near Salfit:
  • “After Fatal West Bank Shooting Attack, Settlers Erect Illegal Building Next to Killer’s Village” (Haaretz, 5/29/25)
• In the Jordan valley:
  • “Israel approves plan to build separation wall along Jordan border” (Middle East Eye, 5/19/25)
  • “Israel aims to begin building new $1.4b border barrier with Jordan within months” (The Times of Israel, 5/31/25)
• “Israeli army continues West Bank raid as settlers attack homes and burn vehicles” (Middle East Eye, 5/17/25)
• “Is the government using the housing crisis to drive the settlement movement?” (The Times of Israel, 5/26/25)

International News

• “UK sanctions settlers, groups linked to violence against West Bank Palestinians” (The Times of Israel, 5/20/25) Also reported by: Reuters. 

Israeli Politics

• “Israel warns Europe that Palestine recognition may be met with West Bank annexation” (The Times of Israel, 5/27/25)
• “Daniella Weiss, Israel’s ‘settler godmother’, has a hotline to Netanyahu – and plans for Gaza” (Middle East Eye, 5/23/25)