Heritage Sites and Tourist Infrastructure as Additional Levers of the Colonial Settlement Project

Settlement Weekly Report 4 – 10 July, 2026
By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that last Sunday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu laid the cornerstone for what he described as a ‘heritage center’ at the site of the former Jerusalem International Airport in Qalandia. The project targets the identity of the site and of occupied Jerusalem by further isolating the city from its Palestinian surroundings and obstructing the possibility of Palestinian urban contiguity. According to a statement issued by Netanyahu s office, he participated in the ceremony alongside Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. Eliyahu has previously drawn widespread criticism for remarks in which he suggested that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was ‘one of the possibilities.’
During a speech he delivered at the event, Netanyahu said, ‘there must be a compass, and the compass points to the path, to the thought. In short, the compass points to the desired destination, and in our case: to the north. And I do not mean only the north of the country, in which we are determined to -restore- security, prosperity and growth, but I mean the north of Jerusalem, as an area of great importance for the development of the united city, which will no longer be divided. This requires a firm commitment, concrete actions, and our government protects Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty with all its might.’
The dangerous escalation comes within a series of decisions taken by the occupation government on the 17 May, on the occasion of what is called ‘Jerusalem Day’, with the aim of expanding and deepening the settlement project within the city, including transforming the Jerusalem International Airport building into a center with a cultural and ideological character that reformulates the historical narrative of the site according to the Israeli narrative.
The so-called ‘Heritage Center’ project goes beyond reusing the building, to include reproducing the historical narrative of the place by allocating spaces to promote the so-called ‘settlement history’, and linking the site to Israeli political and military figures, including Netanyahu’s older brother, who was killed in Uganda in 1976, in an attempt to erase the Palestinian and Arab memory associated with the airport as one of the symbols of Palestinian sovereignty.
The project also coincides with a large-scale settlement escalation north of Jerusalem, including the establishment of a waste treatment facility on the lands of Qalandiya, which threatens to confiscate hundreds of dunams and isolate´-or-displace dozens of Palestinian families, in addition to promoting the Atarot settlement project, which aims to establish thousands of settlement units.
Within the framework of an integrated system to redraw the geographical reality of Jerusalem, by strengthening communication between the settlement blocs, in exchange for cutting off the Palestinian geographical extension, especially in the north of the city, in a way that prevents any Palestinian urban´-or-demographic continuity.
The Occupying State isn’t only looking to rebuild an alleged heritage on the land of Qalandiya Airport, but it goes further in inventing narratives that have no basis, even in myths. It was revealed that the occupation authorities seized more than 140 archaeological sites and historical ruins in the Hebron Governorate, and reclassified them on maps issued by what is known as the ‘Civil Administration’ as Israeli archaeological sites.
In mid-June, the Civil Administration published new maps showing these sites in yellow. These sites are all located within Area C, which is under full Israeli control, and constitute about 62% of the total archaeological sites in the governorate, which makes them vulnerable to organized Judaization and theft under historical and heritage pretexts. Among these sites is ‘Khirbet Humsa’ and the caves and ancient houses in the town of Dura.
They are Palestinian landmarks documented and officially registered in the Al-Waqi newspaper and in archaeological surveys. These ruins and targeted sites are considered the private property of Palestinian citizens, whose owners possess legal documents and official ‘coaches’ proving their rights.
Within the context, the Knesset General Assembly approved in mid-May a draft law establishing an Israeli ‘Antiquities Authority’ for the West Bank, granting it broad powers that include supervising heritage and antiquities affairs, in addition to the possibility of confiscating lands in the region. The project was presented by Knesset member Amit Halevy from the Likud Party, and stipulates the establishment of a ‘Judea and Samaria Antiquities Authority’ that reports -dir-ectly to the so-called Israeli ‘Minister of Heritage’. The proposed law grants this authority broad powers that include exclusive supervision of antiquities affairs in the West Bank, in addition to the possibility of confiscating lands associated with archaeological sites.
The project also provides for transferring the powers of the ‘Antiquities Officer’ of the so-called ‘Civil Administration’ to the new authority, so that its duties include excavation operations and management in areas ‘B’ and ‘C’ of the West Bank. A clause grants priority to the decisions of this authority over any other party, including the management of natural reserves, while subjecting them to the Israeli military law in force in the West Bank.
We also point out here that the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu had approved a plan worth a quarter of a billion shekels, aiming to control sites in the West Bank under the guise of ‘antiquities and heritage’ to advance the annexation plan, while Israeli ministries described the step as unprecedented. It came in a joint statement issued by the Office of the Israeli PM, MF, Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Heritage, and the Ministry of Settlement, which includes establishing new heritage centers, developing tourism infrastructure, intensifying efforts to protect against the theft and destruction of antiquities, as it claims, and strengthening the Israeli public’s connection to the historical heritage of the Jewish people in the region.
According to the statement, the new heritage centers will serve as basic pillars for research, education, tourism, and community development, and will include visitor centers, interactive displays, educational activities, and cooperation with academic bodies. and research.”
In this regard, Israeli PM Netanyahu stated, ‘In the year we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, the heart of our homeland, the Israeli government is making a decision of profound national and historical significance. Virtually every stone, hill, and heritage site holds within it thousands of years of the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.’ Adding, ‘We are investing in preserving our past to ensure our future, strengthen our attachment to the Land of Israel, and pass on our people s heritage, identity, and historical truth to future generations.’
As for FM Smotrich, he commented on these steps, saying. ‘Since the beginning of our term, we have been leading a revolution in the West Bank, where we approved more than a hundred new settlements, tens of thousands of housing units, and at least 160 new settlement outposts that preserve one million dunums of state land.’ Adding, ‘At the same time, it was important for us to strengthen the connection of the entire Jewish people to the heritage of the region and the history of the Jewish people in these places. Contrary to the hypocrisy of the international community, a people cannot be occupiers of their own land,’ as he described it.
Israeli Minister of Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, said that the move was ‘a high-level Zionist and historical decision. After many years of neglecting Jewish heritage sites in ‘Judea and Samaria, as he put it’, and even looting them sometimes for the purpose of destruction and theft, the State of Israel is today carrying out a historical correction. We are restoring Jewish heritage to its rightful place, investing in preserving our history, and connecting future generations to the deep roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.’
The decisions ‘establishing the Heritage Center on the lands of Qalandia Airport, a law requiring the establishment of a special Israeli ‘Antiquities Authority’ for the West Bank and seizing more than 140 archaeological sites and historical ruins in the Hebron Governorate’ come to complement other decisions taken by the occupation authorities in the northern West Bank. On August 6, 2025, the people of Sebastia were surprised by an Israeli decision to -convert- about 1,775 dunums - that is, a third of the town’s land - into a so-called ‘park.’ ‘National Samaria’, based on biblical claims claiming that Sebastia was the capital of the ‘ancient kingdom of Israel’.
In fact, the decision was not completely surprising, but rather the culmination of a years-long Israeli campaign that included public and secret excavations, funding academic research, and bringing in local and international excavation missions, with the aim of perpetuating this narrative before world public opinion. Despite the inclusion of Sebastia on the ISESCO’s Islamic World Heritage List in 2024, and its presence on the list according to the UNESCO interim report, the occupation continues to proceed with its plans, ignoring international laws that prohibit changing the status quo in the occupied territories´-or-disposing of their cultural heritage.
The Israeli project isn’t-limit-ed to ‘protecting’ the antiquities. rather, as the town’s residents and officials explain, it aims to isolate the archaeological area from the rest of the lands of Sebastia, and open it to settlers and the various occupation departments, within the framework of the ‘soft annexation’ policy, which is translated on the ground by expanding settlements and establishing new outposts.
The theft of Palestinian heritage sites has become a tool in the settlement policy and the land grab of Palestinians. Alongside this, the theft of Palestinian land continues through plans to develop tourism infrastructure in settlements. The occupation government approved a new plan to accelerate hotel construction in West Bank settlements, according to Israeli media reports last Sunday. The occupation authorities are working to remove what they call ‘obstacles’ related to planning and licensing procedures and are offering financial grants to encourage the construction of hotels and the expansion of tourist accommodation facilities.
According to Army Radio, these plans include allocating a budget of NIS 27 million, in addition to removing ‘obstacles’ related to planning and licensing procedures and providing financial grants to encourage the construction of hotels and the expansion of tourist accommodation facilities. The plan also allocates seven million shekels from the Ministry of Tourism s current budget from 2026 to 2030 to fund the preparation of zoning plans necessary for the construction of hotel facilities, in addition to implementing procedures that will facilitate the completion of construction´-or-the marketing of land plots, based on a survey to be conducted by the Ministry.
The remaining NIS 20 million are earmarked for grants specifically for the construction of new hotels, the conversion of existing buildings into hotel facilities,´-or-the expansion of tourist accommodation facilities in settlements established in the West Bank. The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz, commented on the plan, saying that it ‘will allow us to exploit the significant tourism potential of settlements in the West Bank’, adding that ‘for the first time, a comprehensive plan will be implemented that includes planning, infrastructure development, the provision of land designated for settlement hotels, and the establishment of a -dir-ect support mechanism to increase the number of hotel rooms, thereby boosting the local economy and attracting more tourists.’
Noting that the occupation government has invested during the last decade about NIS 115 million in the settlement hotel sector in the West Bank, compared to about two billion shekels inside the Green Line, and this is what the occupation leaders see as ‘a large gap in the volume of investments between the two sides’. Recently, the occupation government decided to allocate three million shekels to Judaize Ein Fasayel and turn it into a tourist site for settlers, as well as planning to establish a huge settlement project under the name ‘Jubilee Cave Park’ in the vicinity of the ‘Ofra settlement’ established northeast of Ramallah.
On another front, a new report by the Peace Now movement and Kerem Navot presents an extensive examination of Israeli land policies, settlement expansion, and land confiscation in the West Bank. Entitled Year of Miracles: The Israeli Government s Measures to Annex the West Bank, 2023–2025, the report is based on in-depth research, government documents, public budget data, aerial photographs, maps, field testimonies, and findings updated through the first quarter of 2026.
The report examines what the authors describe as structural changes in governance, the transfer of civil powers, settlement expansion, establishment of new outposts, the displacement of Palestinian communities, large-scale infrastructure investments, and changes to the land regime. According to the report, these policies have resulted in the establishment of 185 new settlement outposts, the displacement of 118 Palestinian herding communities, and the creation of 102 new settlements through either the legalization of outposts´-or-the recognition of existing neighborhoods as independent settlements. It also documents government decisions approving the construction of 40,064 housing units in settlements.
The report further states that agricultural outposts now effectively control more than 1.1 million dunams, including 750,000 dunams brought under settler control since the current government took office. In addition, it documents the construction of at least 223 kilometers of new roads across the West Bank, the acquisition of control over at least 11,520 dunams through agricultural activities, and the declaration of 25,959 dunams as state land.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Controlling the ‘Rawabi Spring’, located near the town of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, after vandalizing it, in a new attack targeting the water sources on which the Bedouin communities and sheep herders depend in the region, noting that the spring is the only water source that the shepherds use for drinking and watering their livestock.
- Storming the Ka’abna ‘crushers’ gathering near the town of Anata and released his sheep among citizens’ homes, in a provocative attack targeting the Bedouin community and its inhabitants.
- Establishing a new settlement outpost near the Bedouin community of ‘Maazi Jaba’, while the occupation forces demolished a residential building in the town of Sur Baher, belonging to the citizen Fouad Awadallah.
Hebron:
- Injuring citizens in an attack carried out by settlers on the town of Idhna after they stormed the eastern area of the town and attacked the landowners, with the protection of the occupation forces, who expelled the citizens from their land and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and stun grenades, which led to a young man being injured by a metal bullet in the neck, while two elderly people sustained bruises as they tried to confront the settlers who tried to steal sheep from the area.
- Attacking the Abaid Al-Masry family in Khallet Al-Hummus, south of Yatta, resulted in 2 citizens suffering bruises and suffocation as a result of being sprayed with pepper gas.
- Attacking the family of Ibrahim Ismail al-Jabour in the ‘Huwara’ area, east of Yatta, south of Hebron, where the family members were beaten and sprayed with pepper gas, causing injuries among their ranks. In Umm al-Khair, settlers attacked citizens’ homes after closing the main gate to the village.
- beaten the residents, wounding 6 of them, who received treatment in the field.
- Demolishing the home of the citizen Musa Ismail al-Adra in the ‘Al-Dourat area’, east of Yatta, and the home of the citizen Moh’d Tayseer al-Adra. They destroyed a water well with a capacity of 200 cubic meters, and demolished a tent erected on the ruins of a house they demolished a month ago
Bethlehem:
- Attacking sheep shepherds in the village of Rashayda, shooting at them, and trying to steal a number of sheep heads. Citizens confronted them and prevented them. Later, the settlers rammed the vehicle of the head of the Rashayda village council, causing material damage to it.
- Destroying the electrical power line for the second time in a week in the village of Al-Minya. The occupation forces also demolished a house belonging to the citizen Ali Mahmoud Suleiman, under the pretext of building without a permit in the town of Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem.
Ramallah:
- Attacking the outskirts of the village of Deir Jarir, and the citizens confronted them, leading to the outbreak of confrontations, while the occupation forces stormed the village to provide protection for the settlers.
- Attacking the town of Turmusaya and the nearby village of Abu Falah, and injured a number of protesters. A march was launched for the people of Turmusaya and the village of Abu Falah, to enable the owners of threatened lands to reach their lands in the ‘Al-Badoud’ area, where dozens of settlers attacked them in the road linking the two towns, and they prevented them from reaching their lands threatened by seizure, and they attacked citizens and foreign activists.
- Injuring an elderly man in the settlers’ attack, as well as a number of activists who were sprayed with pepper gas, moreover 3 citizens from the Radwan family were injured while they were in the ‘Wadi al-Zarqa’ reserve on the outskirts of the village of Bitello, as a result of settlers attacking them, which led to them being injured by pepper gas, one of them having his hand broken, and their phones being stolen.
- Attacking the home of the Nayef Kaabna family, near the village of Al-Taybeh, after they targeted the family home, threw stones at it, and tried to put a toxic substance in the family’s water tank, as part of ongoing attacks carried out by settlers.
- Stealing 4 heads of sheep in the village of Um Safa,, and in the Kaabna community, east of Ramallah, settlers burned a home belonging to a citizen in the Bedouin community, and others released their sheep onto lands.
Nablus:
- Cutting the iron electricity pole that supplies a house belonging to the Soufan family in the village of Burin with the aim of pressuring the family to deport them, noting that the house is the closest to the ‘Yitzhar settlement’, which is established on the lands of a number of villages in the area and is repeatedly exposed to settlers’ attacks and violations.
- Medical sources reported that citizens Maher Bani Jama, Firas Shehadeh and Adi Bani Jaber arrived at the emergency department at Rafidiya Hospital after sustaining several bruises as a result of settlers’ assault on the people of the town of Aqraba, while others were injured and received treatment in the town’s dispensary, after settlers attacked them while they were in the Yanun area.
- Uprooting electricity poles in the Ras al-Ayn spring area, west of the town of Qasra, and in the village of Duma, the occupation forces demolished an agricultural barracks for raising livestock owned by the citizen Ibrahim Abdel Razek Dawabsha, under the pretext of building without a license.
- bulldozing hundreds of trees in the village of Madama, south of Nablus, including uprooting large numbers of perennial olive trees, in addition to almond and fig trees.
Salfeet:
- Launching a series of attacks on citizens’ property in the Wadi al-Shaer area, located between the city of Salfeet and the eastern village of Laban, south of the governorate, by burning commercial establishments, attempting to burn a house and a garage, and sabotaging vehicles and private property.
- Setting fire to the ‘Rouqan Restaurant’ and cafeteria opposite Al-Zaytouna University, owned by the head of the Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village council, Yaqoub Owais, which led to its complete burning and causing major material losses.
- Attacking the vehicle of the citizen Abdullah Lamy from the village of Sakaka, while he was inside it with his wife and children, while passing through the area, which caused a state of terror among the family members, and the attacks extended to affect a real estate office belonging to a businessman from the Hebron Governorate, where the settlers broke up its contents and caused significant material damage to it. Settlers also stole agricultural property in the town of Kafr al-Dik.
Tulkarem:
- Vandalizing greenhouses in the ‘wild’ area near the Shufa military checkpoint, southeast of the city, where they tore the netting surrounding the greenhouses, causing damage to the agricultural facilities, which belong to the Ismail family from the village of Shufa.
Jordan Valley:
- Injuring 7 citizens in an attack by settlers on the village of Yirza Mukhlis Masa’id, where they attacked citizens who came to inspect their homes that they were forced to leave months ago, resulting in 7 of them sustaining bruises, and 2 of them were transferred to the hospital for treatment.
- Demolishing residential structures and livestock pens in the Ain al-Hilweh area, despite the existence of an order from the Israeli Supreme Court prohibiting the demolition.

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