RAMALLAH/PNN/ West Bank
Israel moved ahead with plans to expand settlements and advance de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank over the past year, including issuing new construction tenders and taking steps to legalize unauthorized outposts, according to a new report by the Palestinian National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements.
In its weekly report covering Dec. 27, 2025, to Jan. 2, 2026, the bureau said 2025 marked one of the most difficult years for Palestinians in the West Bank, citing an increase in home demolitions, displacement of Bedouin communities, land confiscation and settlement construction under the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly during Israel’s war in Gaza.
The report said Israeli authorities pursued what it described as two parallel policies: military operations in Gaza and an accelerated expansion of settlements, demolitions and displacement in the West Bank. It said Israeli officials and settler leaders have increasingly promoted plans to annex large areas of the territory, especially areas with small Palestinian populations, including the Jordan Valley.
According to the bureau, Israel has established hundreds of settlements in the West Bank since 1967. By the end of 2025, it said the total number reached about 350, including roughly 200 outposts that the Israeli government is working to retroactively legalize. The report also cited the establishment of about 35 industrial zones and an extensive network of bypass roads, along with the designation of large tracts of land as closed military zones or grazing areas under settler control.
The bureau said Israeli authorities increasingly apply Israeli law to settlements, a shift it said amounts to treating settlers as residents within Israel’s sovereign territory rather than as civilians living under military occupation.
The report said the Netanyahu government, which includes religious nationalist parties, is pushing annexation plans amid growing international recognition of the State of Palestine, including at the United Nations General Assembly last September. Settler leaders, it added, have sought to accelerate those plans, citing political changes in the United States following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Israel’s Knesset approved a nonbinding resolution on July 23, 2025, supporting the application of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, by a vote of 71-13. While the resolution does not carry the force of law, the report said it reflects the direction of government policy.
The bureau said Israel’s Security Cabinet has discussed several annexation scenarios, including applying sovereignty to major settlement blocs, all settlements, or the entirety of Area C, which makes up about 60% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control.
Israeli officials have said settlement construction in Area C does not violate international law, a position rejected by most of the international community, which considers settlements illegal under international law.
The report said settlement construction accelerated sharply in 2025. Since the start of the year, Israeli planning bodies have approved 28,163 housing units in settlements, a record number, according to the bureau.
Among recent developments, Israeli authorities approved plans for a new settlement city known as Mishmar Yehuda on about 3,380 dunams (835 acres) in the eastern Jerusalem area. The settlement, also referred to as Givat Adumim or Mitzpe Yehuda, is located near the settlements of Kedar and Ma’ale Adumim.
In the northern West Bank, Israeli media reported that authorities approved master plans to rebuild the Homesh settlement, evacuated in 2005, as well as plans for several other settlements, including in the Hebron Hills, Gush Etzion, the Dead Sea area and near Nablus. The moves follow amendments to Israel’s Disengagement Law that lifted restrictions on Israeli presence in parts of the northern West Bank.
In Jerusalem, the report said Israeli authorities continued to evict Palestinian families from their homes, particularly in the Silwan neighborhood. Last week, Israeli courts approved the eviction of 13 Palestinian homes in the Batn al-Hawa area, near the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in favor of a settler organization.
Batn al-Hawa, home to about 10,000 Palestinians, has been a focal point of legal battles and settlement activity for years. With the latest evictions, the report said the number of homes taken over by settlers in the neighborhood will rise to 26.
