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.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

West Bank Settlement & Outpost News

• Since December 2024, the High Planning Council has convened on a weekly basis to advance West Bank settlement construction. Over the past month, Peace Now has reported:
  • Feb 2nd: 655 settlement units advanced.
  • Feb 16th: Tenders were published for 974 new settlement units in Efrat, establishing a new neighborhood that expands the size of the settlement.
  • Feb 26th: 1,170 settlement units advanced.
  • March 5th: 1,408 settlement units were advanced.
  • March 12th: 1,439 settlement units advanced, including the construction of a new neighborhood in the Talmon settlement.
• The Israeli government announced that the Adorayim outpost is now recognized as an official/legal settlement. Adorayim is located south of Hebron. (Middle East Eye, Andalou Agency, Wafa)
• “The Civil Administration Announces Allocation of 16,121 dunams for Grazing” (Peace Now, 2/11/25)
• “In face of IAA’s opposition MK Amit Halevi promotes the establishment of a new body to oversee West Bank archaeology” (Emek Shaveh, 2/21/25)
• On Annexation:
  • “‘Just Like Any Place in Israel’: West Bank Theater Opens With Calls for Annexation” (Haaretz, 3/10/25)
  • “Majority of Israeli Jews say Judea and Samaria towns contribute to security” (JNS, 3/12/25)
• Analysis & Reports:
  • “Israel’s Tool for Palestinian Land Appropriation: A Field Report on Accelerating Pastoral Settlement Expansion in Sebastia, Nablus” (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 2/25/2025)
  • “Israeli Systematic Denial of Palestinian Farmers From their Land” (Al Haq, 3/1/25)
  • “The Need to Hold Accountable Nonprofit Enterprises Entrenching Zionist Colonisation of Palestine, through Illegal Israeli Settlement Activity” (Al Haq)
  • “Israel’s settler outposts stir annexation fears in West Bank amid doubt over Trump policy” (Reuters, 3/5/25)

East Jerusalem Settlement News

• • Since January, Ir Amim reports the Israeli government has advanced six new settlement plans in East Jerusalem:
    • Nof Zion enclave – a plan to significantly increase the number of settlement units in the Nof Zion enclave, located inside the Jabal Al-Mukaber neighborhood. Plans to add 380 units and a school were discussed February 5th by the Jerusalem Municipality.
    • Sheikh Jarrah (1) – a plan to build the Glassman Yeshiva  and dormitory (or “Or Somayach Yeshiva) at the entrance to the neighborhood. This plan was revived in January 2025 and the Jerusalem District Committee has indicated that it intends to reach final approval of the plan by September 2025.
    • Sheikh Jarrah (2) – a plan to demolish the Um Haroun section of the neighborhood and replace it with a new settlement. The Jerusalem Local Planning Committee is expected to hold its first hearing on this plan in March 2025.
    • Atarot – a plan to build a new settlement with 9,000 unit located on the northern edge of East Jerusalem. This plan was revived in January 2025 and appears to be moving forward.
    • Givat Shaked South – a plan to add 200 new settlement units and takeover and addition 20 dunams of land in the northern part of the Beit Safafa neighborhood. This plan was discussed in January 2025 by the Jerusalem District Committee.
    • Nofey Rachel – a plan to build a new settlement near the main entrance to the Umm-Tuba neighborhood. 

• “Jewish Settler Group in E. J’lem Running Fictitious Entity to Control Assets, Justice Ministry Finds” (Haaretz, 2/18/25)
• “After 20 years, a house in Sheikh Jarrah is taken out of the hands of settlers” (Peace Now, 2/6/25). Also See: “Settlers Took Over an East Jerusalem Home. They Didn’t Know Who They Were Messing With” (Haaretz, 3/6/2025)
• “In a First, Israel Carries Out Demolitions in East Jerusalem During Ramadan” (Ir Amim, 3/7/25)
• Analysis & Reports:
  • “Analysis of Bill Designed to Annex West Bank Settlements around Jerusalem: Jerusalem Metropolitan Bill” (Ir Amim, 3/7/25)
  • “Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem hit new record” (+972 Magazine, 3/6/25)

Gazafication of the West Bank

• “Gaza doctrine: The West Bank is under fire” (B’Tselem, 3/10/25)
• “Humanitarian Situation Update #272 | West Bank” (OCHA, 3/13/25)
• ““More than a human can bear”: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since October 2023” (UN Human Rights Council, 3/13/25)

State & Setter Terrorism

• “Israeli settlers attack West Bank village, residents say” (Jerusalem Post, 3/14/25)
• “Extremist settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in West Bank village” (The Times of Israel, 3/11/25)
• “Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron” (Middle East Eye, 3/8/25)
• “How State-Sanctioned Terrorism by Israeli Settlers Affects the Two-State Solution” (New Lines Institute, 1/30/2025)
• -”IDF Decides Not to Investigate Illegal Expulsion of Palestinian Families by Soldiers in West Bank” (Haaretz, 3/4/25)
• “Data Sheet: Law Enforcement Against Israeli Soldiers Suspected of Harming Palestinians and Their Property – Figures for 2018-2022” (Yesh Din, 2/4/25)

The U.S. Scene

• “Far-Right Israeli Minister Visits Washington After Years of Being Shunned” (The New York Times, 3/5/25)
• “Palestinian businessman lobbies DC with long-shot Gaza vision” (The Hill, 3/1/25)
• “US Evangelicals pressure Trump to let Israel take control of the West Bank” (Jerusalem Post, 3/9/25)