First half of this year witnessed the largest wave of construction in settlements.

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that Israeli Occupation State is expanding in all -dir-ections and areas as its aggressive wars are from Gaza to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. These wars don’t distract it from expanding its settlement projects and schemes. Rather, while the world is preoccupied with these wars, the Israeli government is going far in its plans and projects that don’t stop. Israeli media reported last week that the Civil Administration, headed by Smotrich at the Ministry of Army, declared about 800 dunams as state land in the area surrounding the ‘Malachi Hashalom settlement outpost’, on the lands of the Al-Mughayyir village in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate.
The official announcement hasn’t yet been published on the Civil Administration website, but a map accompanying media reports indicates that the area in question includes 750 dunams between the villages of Duma and al-Mughayyir, to reinforce the presence of 9 new settlements approved by the Israeli Cabinet in Feb. 2023, including Malachi Hashalom, although the Israeli army doesn’t consider the lands within this settlement area to be state land.
Knowing that since the formation of the current government in Dec. 2022, about 25,510 dunams have been declared s State land, equivalent to half of the total land declared state land since the Oslo Accords, which means state land is one of the main tools used by the occupation authorities to control Palestinian land, especially in Area C of the occupied West Bank. Once land is declared state land, Israel no longer considers it privately owned by Palestinians and does everything in its power to prevent them from using it. At the same time, it allocates it exclusively to settlers and their colonial projects.
The seizure of Palestinian land by -convert-ing it into state land is an old-new policy practiced by the occupying state. In the 1980s, Israel declared hundreds of thousands of dunams of land as state land. In 1992, the Rabin government decided to halt these declarations, but the Netanyahu government resumed this policy in 1998. Over the past two years, the area of land declared as state land has witnessed a sharp increase, as the current government continues to issue more declarations to enable the establishment of new settlements without a minimum violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, especially resolution 2234 of 1916, which condemns Israel s settlement activities, considers them illegal, and demands their unconditional cessation. This policy also reflects the positions of most countries in the world.
The Israeli Peace Now Movement commented on the new move by the occupation government, saying in its latest position, ‘Netanyahu and Smotrich are determined to fight the entire world and the interests of Israeli citizens for the benefit of a handful of settlers, who are receiving thousands of dunams as a gift – as if there is no political conflict to resolve´-or-war to end it.
Today, it is clear to everyone that this conflict cannot be resolved without a political agreement that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, yet the Israeli government chooses instead to make peace more difficult and push us further away from ending the bloodshed. The announcement of the intention to legalize the Malachi Hashalom outpost is a reward for Jewish terrorism: after the settlers violently and illegally seized vast swaths of land, the government comes and hands it over to them as a gift.’
What is the story behind this settlement outpost called ‘Malachi Hashalom’? Like other settlement outposts, it is a hotbed of Jewish terrorism in the West Bank. Established in 2015 next to a military base, it has evolved into an agricultural outpost, seizing thousands of dunams and spawning its own agricultural outposts in the area. In 2020, settlers from this outpost established the ‘Rashat’ farm about 3 kilometers east of the original outpost.
In 2023, the ‘Rosh Hatayina’ farm was established about 2 km south. In early 2024, the ‘Gal Yosef’ outpost was established about 1 km north, near the spot where a settler was killed in April 2024. Most recently, last month, the ‘Malachi Hashalom West’ outpost was established about 1 km southwest of the original outpost, very close to the homes of the village of Al-Mughayyir in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate.
It is a terrorist hotbed that spawns a number of terrorist settlement outposts in its vicinity, seizes Palestinian land and expels them from the area, as happened in August 2023 when the residents of the Qabon village located about 1,500 meters south of Malachi Hashalom, were expelled due to settler violence and the destruction of their property, in Oct. of the same year when the residents of two residential areas north of the settlement outpost were expelled: Khirbet Jabait and Ein al-Rashash, in the vicinity of the Duma village, Nablus. As is also known, the villages of al-Mughayyir , Ramallah, and Duma, Nablus, between which this settlement outpost was established, have been subjected to repeated attacks by settlers in this terrorist outpost since its establishment.
Concurrently with all this generous support for the new settlement ‘Malachi Hashalom’ and its terrorist outposts, the so-called ‘Higher Planning Council,’ headed by Finance Minister and Minister of Settlement in the Army Ministry, Smotrich, is discussing plans to build hundreds of settlement units in the ‘Eli settlement’, halfway between Ramallah and Nablus, and in the ‘Givat Ze ev settlement’, northwest of occupied Jerusalem. One of these plans ‘Plan o. 237/6 includes the construction of 347 settlement units in the ‘Plagi Maim settlement outpost’, which until June 2023 was considered a neighborhood of the ‘Eli settlement’.
In any case, the plans approved by the Supreme Planning Council in the Civil Administration since January 2025 included the construction of 19,389 settlement units in a large number of settlements covering various governorates in the West Bank, more than half of which were in Ma ale Adumim 3,500, Beitar Illit 2,200, Kedumim 1,388, Kochav Ya akov 1,246, Talmon 968, Geva ot 756, and Eli 650. The other housing units were distributed among a large number of settlements and outposts spread across the West Bank.
This fattening of the Eli settlement carries particularly significant and dangerous implications. This settlement is not an ordinary settlement, but a dangerous one. The occupation is working to transform it into a new settlement bloc center not far from the Ariel settlement bloc, and to connect the two blocs to form an extended bloc that controls large areas of land in the Nablus and Ramallah governorates, and important transportation links in the West Bank along Highway 60 and the so-called Trans-Samaria Bloc, with all the devastating effects that this has on the Palestinian presence on the edge of the Jordan Valley,´-or-what is called the Back of the Mountain, to the east of the settlements of Tapuah, Eli, Shiloh, Shevut Rachel, and Ma ale Lebona, and the terrorist settlement outposts spread around them.
This settlement of Eli was established by the Gush Emunim Movement in 1984 on the lands of the villages and towns of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, Qaryut, and As-Sawiya. Along with the other settlements, it forms a settlement strip extending from Kafr Qasim inside the territories occupied in 1948, separating the northern West Bank ‘Nablus’ from its center ‘Ramallah’. It is about 26 km south of the city of Nablus. It is located on a mountain adjacent to a valley that the people of the region have called ‘Wadi Ali’ since ancient times, but its name was stolen and changed to Eli to delude people into believing the truth of the biblical narrative. Over time, this settlement began to expand rapidly and today it sits on seven hills belonging to the villages of Qaryut, Talfit, As-Sawiya, and Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya.
This settlement includes a military training college and a tourist hotel, in addition to the cemetery located on the main road between Nablus and Ramallah. This cemetery is a dangerous reminder that the settlement cannot be dismantled. Establishing a cemetery for the settlers would confirm the ideological position of the settlers, who believe in the blessing of being buried in the Holy Land. What distinguishes this settlement is the Bnei David pre-military academy.
The academy described by the French newspaper Le Monde as ‘the settlers bridge to the Israeli military elite,’ was established in 1988 by Rabbi Levinstein to ensure the enrollment of religiously committed soldiers in the army. Serving and former army ministers and chiefs of staff visit and lecture at the academy. According to the Hebrew website HaKiba, Bnei David is the leading religious pre-military academy in Israel, with 40% of the academy s graduates participating in officer courses. 65% of them completed the course to become junior officers and eventually brigade commanders.
On June 3, 2023, the Le Monde Newspaper published an investigation into the academy, confirming that it receives€ 3.5 million annually from the occupation government. Each year, 100 students graduate from it, half of whom join the occupation army. It is distinguished by graduating elite occupation army officers. Among them: Benji Helman, killed in the battle of Maroun al-Ras, Lebanon in 2006. Roy Klein, from the Golani Brigade, killed in the battle of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon in 2006. Brigadier General Avi Bluth, commander of the West Bank Division in the occupation army. Commanders of the Givati Brigade and the Ephraim Regional Brigade in the occupied West Bank, 3 advisors to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is responsible for settlement projects.
Former Army Minister and Chief of Staff Moshe Ya alon visited the settlement on its 25th anniversary and emphasized that this settlement, with its men and women, is trying to breathe new life into the Zionist dream. At the center of the settlement is a revolutionary educational institution that has transformed higher education in Israel: the Bnei David Academy, the pioneer of academies-;- the talented officers, who have led the process of shouldering the burden of security in recent years-;- and the heroic deeds of the soldiers, who have breathed new life into the country.
Personally, I have known and greatly appreciated the activities of this academy since its founding when I was a commanding officer in the Paratroopers Brigade. After this academy, many more academies were established, and I have come here, my fellow citizens, in the name of the Israeli government, to bless you, so that you may continue to flourish and prosper, to spread the ideas of the Torah that are taught in the study hall here, the Torah of the Land of Israel, to all levels of society for the benefit of us all.
On another level, the foreign ministers of Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden wrote to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas to propose ending EU trade with settlements. The ministers referred to the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, which ruled that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the settlements were illegal, and called on countries to take measures to prevent trade and investment relations that contribute to the continuation of this situation.
The EU is Israel s largest trading partner, accounting for about 32% of its total external trade in goods, noting that bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Israel last year amounted to € 42.6 billion. The letter comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels on June 23, where EU foreign ministers will discuss the bloc s relations with Israel.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Attacking the Bedouin village of Maazi, Jaba , east of occupied Jerusalem, assaulting residents, and torching their tents, 4 residents sustained varying degrees of injuries, and were subsequently transferred to the Hizma Health Center. The attack also caused significant material damage to the area.
Hebron:
- Bulldozing the area surrounding the home of Mah’d Ahmed Al-Hour, which the occupation forces had previously notified of demolition, a number of trees and retaining walls were damaged and destroyed in the Surif town.
- Assaulting citizen Imran Ismail Al-Nawaj a, causing him head injuries in Masafer Yatta. He was subsequently transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital. Settlers also released their livestock onto the lands of Khirbet Qawawis in Masafer and pursued shepherds in Wadi Ma in. they also conducted surveys on lands and around homes in the village of Um Al-Khair, south of Hebron. These actions were carried out under the protection of the occupation forces, raising residents fears of new settlement plans.
- Storming the Jourat Al-Khail area in the Ash-Shuyukh town. They brought their sheep, tents, and about seven mobile homes. They settled on privately owned Palestinian land and began establishing a new settlement outpost on about 48 dunams.
Bethlehem:
- Blocking a main road in the Tuqu town in the Khirbet al-Deir area on the main street leading to the town of Janata and the center of Bethlehem with cement blocks. The occupation forces then sealed it off by placing large rocks.
- Damaging the tires and smashed the windows of a vehicle belonging to farmer Omar Rashid Salah while he was on his agricultural land in the "Wadi al-Ghuwait" area south of the al-Khader town.
Ramallah:
- Attacking an industrial facility in the Al-Mazra a Ash-Sharqiya town, and destroyed property, while the occupation forces secured their withdrawal after clashes with Palestinian youths.
- Setting fire to agricultural lands in the plain area east of the Turmus Ayya town, which led to the burning of a number of olive trees. They also attacked citizens under the protection of the occupation forces in the Al-Qurna area on the outskirts of the town, while the occupation forces fired live bullets at the youths.
- Establishing a settlement outpost, and about 15 settlers continued to build wooden rooms in the Jabal Al-Tall area, south of the Sinjil town. They have continued their raids on the archaeological area, where they had previously set up tents for a settlement outpost, for about a week.
Nablus:
- Uprooting trees in the lands of Al-Sawiya village, covering an area of one dunum and 800 square meters, on the road between Nablus and Ramallah.
- Setting fire to lands in the Huwara town, and fired live bullets at civil defense personnel when they tried to approach to extinguish the fire.
- Bulldozing lands in the "Al-Ruwais" area in the village of Salem, and set up tents in the place. Settlers from the new settlement outpost established on the lands of the Beita town attacked the homes of citizens in the neighborhoods of Za tara and Bir Qouza and destroyed a number of vehicles, before the residents confronted them.
- Bulldozing a number of agricultural dunums in the village of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya and uprooted barbed wire fences near the main street east of the village.
Salfeet:
- Attacking Anas Basem Khafash from Marda village while he was taking a rough -dir-t road that connects Marda and Yasuf villages, assaulted him and attacked his vehicle, causing extensive damage to it, and forced him under threat to turn back towards his village. It is noteworthy that the aforementioned -dir-t road is rough and is used as a secondary route due to the occupation s closure of the main roads in the area.
- Demolishing an agricultural room belonging to Ali Abdel Hamid Ahmed under the pretext of lacking a license, in the same context, settlers continued extensive bulldozing of citizens lands in Yasuf village, near the Tafuh settlement, while others vandalized an irrigation network and agricultural lands in the "Al-Matwi" area located between Bruqin and Salfeet, and destroyed land planted with mallow Molokhia crops, where the damage affected an area estimated at more than a dunum.
Qalqilia:
- Demolishing a tourist facility (a chalet) covering an area of one and a half dunams, owned by Abdullah Odeh. They also demolished a 150-square-meter apartment owned by Hussam Abu Sheikh from Qalqilya, under the pretext of building in Area C in the village of Ezbet Salman, south of Qalqilya.
Jenin:
- Bulldozing agricultural lands in the village of Zanuba, west of Jenin, and began paving a road and uprooting olive trees in the area surrounded by the racist annexation and expansion wall that has been built on the village s lands since 2003.
Jordan Valley:
- St3aling a water tanker in Khirbet Ibziq, northeast of Tubas, belonging to Aziz Ismail Nawajaa. Other settlers attacked the property of citizens in the Shallal Al-Auja community, north of Jericho, after they spread out among citizens homes, specifically in the Al-Omariyyin area, in a provocative and repeated attack. They released their sheep among them and also watered their sheep from the community s water tank, at a time when citizens bear the cost of water tanks at their own expense, due to the lack of a regular water network in the area. Furthermore dismantling a manger belonging to one of the residents.

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