Key facts
- The Jerusalem Governorate warned that Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to establish 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
- The governorate stated the plan aims to expand settlement activity, reshape the central West Bank's geography, and further isolate Jerusalem.
- The plan includes establishing four to six new settlements in its first phase and legalizing existing outposts.
- The project aims to connect settlement blocs, restrict Palestinian territorial continuity, and reinforce Israeli control over Area C.
- The governorate described the settlement plans as a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law.
The Jerusalem Governorate has issued a strong warning against the Israeli security cabinet's recent approval of a plan to establish 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. The governorate stated that this decision is part of a broader Israeli policy of accelerating settlement expansion and land seizure, particularly during election periods, which it claims turns Palestinian land and lives into political competition.
According to Israeli planning documents, the initial phase of the project, expected to commence in the coming months, involves the creation of four to six new settlements and the formal legalization of several existing pastoral outposts, allowing them to receive government funding and infrastructure. The plan is concentrated in two key areas: one stretching across the northwestern part of the Jerusalem Governorate and western Ramallah, along Route 60, and another extending eastward towards the Jordan Valley, aiming to connect settlement blocs across the central West Bank.
The governorate emphasized that the project, falling under the Binyamin Regional Council, is intended to expand settlements, strengthen Israeli control over strategic locations, and restrict Palestinian territorial continuity between the central West Bank and the Jordan Valley. It also aims to reinforce Israeli control over Area C.
This move is described by the Jerusalem Governorate as a dangerous escalation that would further fragment the occupied West Bank, isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and undermine prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state, in violation of international law. The governorate has previously warned about other Israeli settlement plans, including the completion of land registration in occupied Jerusalem by 2029 and the revival of the E1 plan east of Jerusalem, which it argues would divide the West Bank and suffocate the possibility of a connected Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.