Settlement Assault on Jerusalem Governorate and Northern Jordan Valley Under Military and Judicial Orders

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
22 – 28 Nov. 2025

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that once again, the Jerusalem Governorate - much like the northern Jordan Valley - is confronting a renewed settlement drive with far-reaching and serious implications for the future of the areas surrounding Jerusalem, as well as for the extensive agricultural lands in the Tubas Governorate and the northern Jordan Valley. Within the context, the occupation authorities have started using various methods under different names, to seize Palestinian lands, but with the same result that is to expand settlement at the expense of the land and local Palestinian communities using the so-called Israeli military and judicial orders.
Taking into account that the Judicial orders and Military orders aren’t the same. The Judicial orders are issued by a civilian´-or-military judicial authority to enforce a court ruling, while military orders are issued by a military command often -dir-ected at members of the armed forces´-or-the population in an area under military rule. Military orders are issued by a military command within the framework of military law, whereas judicial orders are issued by civilian´-or-military judicial authorities to refer´-or-enforce a court decision´-or-ruling.
Recently, the occupation authorities issued military orders to seize large areas of land in the Tubas and Northern Jordan Valley Governorates to construct a military road. This involves seizing lands, some of which are privately owned ‘Tabu’ and others are state lands, extending from the Ein Shibli area, passing through the Al-Baqi’a Plain southeast of Tubas, the Enon area near the Tubas Plain, and Yirza east of Tubas, reaching east of the Tayaseir village east of the city of Tubas.
There are various estimates regarding the length of this “military” road. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission states that, according to the maps attached to the project, its length exceeds 22 km, and it seizes about 1042 dunams of citizens lands, which turns it from a temporary military road into a strategic corridor that redraws the geographical structure of the northern Jordan Valley, and establishes a new stage of gradual annexation that is being established step by step without an official declaration, and completely reshapes the field scene east of Tubas and deprives farmers and shepherdess of access to the eastern plains that are the backbone of economic and environmental life in the region.
Other sources stated that the goal of the confiscation is to construct a military road that extends from Ein Shibli to the Tayaseir Checkpoint, with a length of more than 40 km, and that the occupation machinery continues bulldozing work at the eastern entrance to the Ein Shibli village, with the aim of moving the Hamra Military Checkpoint on the road connecting Nablus, Tubas and Jericho, and bringing it closer to the village. The occupation forces maintain the checkpoint at a crossroads linking the cities of the West Bank with the central, southern and northern Jordan Valley, which constitutes a main access point for thousands of citizens to reach their workplaces in the Jordan Valley areas.
Governor of the Tubas and the Northern Jordan Valley, Ahmad Al-Asaad confirms that this road will isolate the governorate from its surroundings, in addition to seizing 180,000 dunams of the governorate s land and reinforcing the policy of isolation and separation pursued by successive Israeli governments to fragmenting the occupied Palestinian territories and driving another nail into the coffin of the two-state solution.
Meanwhile, Mu taz Bisharat, the official in charge of the settlement file in the Tubas Governorate indicates that the occupation issued military orders to seize privately owned land ‘Tabu’ and state-owned land, from the Ein Shibli area, passing through the Al-Baqi a Plain southeast of Tubas, the Enon area near the Tubas Plain, and Yirza east of Tubas, reaching east of the Tayaseir village+. The goal of the confiscation is to construct a military road that will reach from Ein Shibli to the Tayaseir Checkpoint by a length of 40 km.
Parallel with the military orders concerning the Tubas Governorate and the northern Jordan Valley, and within the framework of stealing and forcibly confiscating West Bank lands to bolster settlement construction, the so-called commander of the Central Command in the Occupation Army, Avi Blot, signed 10 new judicial orders that will intensify settlement activity in the West Bank and transform a number of settlement outposts, pastoral farms, and neighborhoods near settlements into independent settlements with all the associated plans and privileges.
Among the neighborhoods, outposts, and farms whose jurisdiction has been updated are, ‘Goder (Tefetz) in the Tulkarm Governorate-;- Leshem in the Salfeet Governorate, Kerem Re im, and Neria, east of Deir Ammar in the Ramallah Governorate, Avot and Gilad Farm in the Qalqilia Governorate, Efe Hanahal in the Bethlehem Governorate, as well as Vershim ‘Eil Neve’, Mashua and Har Adar settlements in the Jerusalem Governorate.
This is part of what is known as the ‘regulation wave’ led by the Settlement Division within the Civil Administration of the Israeli military, where starting from the beginning of 2025, 39 new jurisdictional areas have been established, and 30 new settlements have been granted official status, as part of the government s decision to establish 50 new settlements in the West Bank, designating a jurisdictional area is a central and crucial step in establishing a settlement, as it allows for the construction of infrastructure and the development of plans.
Smotrich commented, ‘We continue to strengthen the settlements and entrench them throughout the Land of Israel. Defining jurisdictional areas is a Zionist, security, and national step that brings stability and a future to tens of thousands of citizens.’
Moreover, the Israeli occupation army issued a military order last Monday to seize more than 77 dunams of land belonging to residents of the towns of Al-Za im and Al-Issawiya, east of Jerusalem. This seizure order is part of Israeli policies aimed at confiscating land in the vicinity of East Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate considered the military order issued by the occupation army, which stipulates the seizure of 77,608 dunams of land in the Al-Issawiya town, a dangerous escalation in the annexation and Judaization policies targeting the governorate. It explained that the decision, issued under ‘Seizure Order No. 152/25’, comes under the pretext of ‘military needs’, while in reality it falls within a strategic plan to seize more land to expand settlements in the future and connect them at the expense of Palestinian land, and to implement the E1 plan and, more broadly, the Greater Jerusalem plan.
The governorate stated in a statement issued last Monday that the occupation claimed that 42,632 dunams of confiscated land fall outside the scope of ‘state lands’, while classifying 34,976 dunams as state lands, including areas of Al-Issawiya. It affirmed that these military orders are used as a systematic tool to impose control over Palestinian lands under the pretext of security, before later transferring them to serve settlement projects, including bypass roads and the expansion of settlement blocs and outposts surrounding Jerusalem.
At the same time, on 17th of this month, a group of settlers established a new settlement outpost in East Jerusalem, in the Sur Baher Neighborhood of Deir al-Amud, after fencing off an area of land estimated at 10 dunams. The land is located in an open area near the eastern ring road and the Sur Baher Neighborhood. Sources in the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality indicate that the project is likely linked to the Elad Settlement Association.
The establishment of this outpost appears to be the first step towards establishing an Israeli settlement, as the settlers are currently seeking to demarcate and control the land in an area where land ownership is in advanced stages of settlement, and which the settlers claim to have purchased.
A study conducted by the NGO Bimkom, which monitors settlement activity in East Jerusalem, revealed that the government is primarily exploiting the settlement process to enable the state and settler groups to seize Palestinian land in East Jerusalem and register it under the Settlement Law, which was passed by the Israeli government in 2018.
According to Bimkom data, only one % of the land settled since 2018 is registered in the names of its Palestinian owners. The government appears to be promoting settlement activity specifically in areas where Israeli groups claim ownership, and settlers claims of purchase in the Deir al-Amud area likely contributed to the advancement of settlement activity on the ground.
In Jerusalem, the Occupation Authorities also issued demolition and eviction orders for shops, justifying the demolition by claiming the buildings slated for evacuation are illegal and lack building permits. Palestinians, however, link these orders to a settlement project approved by the Civil Administration of the Ministry of Army, which runs through the Al-Eizariya town.
All the shops targeted for evacuation are located in Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and security control according to the Oslo Accords between the Palestinians and Israelis. This measure constitutes widespread destruction of the economy and the interests of citizens. Not merely about shops´-or-citizens land, but extends to severing social connections, especially in the context of implementing the ‘E1" project, approved by the Civil Administration last August, for the construction of a new settlement covering an area of 12 km2 east of Jerusalem.
Officially, there is no Israeli link between the demolition and eviction orders and the large settlement project, according to Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Israeli anti-settlement organization Ir Amim, but he believes that Israel wants ‘to take the land in Area C without the people, which leads to an increase in the number of settlers and the evacuation of Palestinian communities.’
Noting that Al-Eizariya lies east of East Jerusalem, separated from Jerusalem by a section of the wall built by Israel during the 2nd Intifada and by military checkpoints. Thousands of Palestinians from various cities, particularly East Jerusalem, visit Al-Eizariya daily to shop on its four-kilometer-long commercial street, according to Mayor Khalil Abu Rish, the town is a tourist destination, as it contains the tomb and church of Lazarus, who, according to historical accounts, was a friend of Jesus Christ.
Half a million tourists visit Lazarus s tomb and church annually, and shops selling oriental artifacts and souvenirs will be negatively impacted by the settlement project. According to Israeli official sources, 370,000 Palestinians and more than 230,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem.
In a sudden move that had been stalled for some time, the Knesset s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee approved, in its first reading last Tuesday, a bill that would allow settlers to -dir-ectly purchase properties in any area of the West Bank without going through the Civil Administration of the Israeli military. This constitutes a significant step forward in the plan to annex the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over it. The bill aims to repeal the Jordanian law concerning the rental and sale of real estate to foreigners, which is currently in effect in the West Bank.
Settlers view this law as a restriction that-limit-s their ability to acquire land and property in the West Bank, regardless of the area s classification. The bill, titled ‘Eliminating Discrimination in the Purchase of Real Estate in Judea and Samaria’ for the year 2023, was submitted by Knesset members Moshe Solomon of the Religious Zionist Party ‘Smotrich’, Limor Son-Har Melach of the Jewish Power Party ‘Ben-Gvir’, Yuli Edelstein ‘Likud’, and a group of other Knesset members.
The proposal was supported by 4 Knesset members without any opposition. The proposal calls for the repeal of the Jordanian law concerning the rental and sale of real estate to foreigners, which is currently in effect in the West Bank, and would allow any settler to purchase property rights in Areas A, B, and C without requiring permission from the Civil Administration.
At the beginning of the session, Knesset Member Boaz Bismuth ‘Likud’, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, stated that ‘the proposed law before us strengthens sovereignty. There is no reason to prevent a Jew from purchasing land in Judea and Samaria, in his homeland, by 2025. It is our responsibility as members of the Knesset and as a state to support settlement and the national interest. The time has come to eliminate discrimination and -restore- the natural right of Israeli citizens to their land.’
In view of the Israeli army and settler violence in the West Bank, the Israeli human rights organization ‘B Tselem’ stated that the situation in the occupied West Bank is characterized by a complete disregard for Palestinian lives by settler terrorist organizations and the Israeli army. In its latest report, the organization stated that since Oct 2023, Israel has killed 1,004 Palestinians, including 217 minors, and that at least 21 of them were killed by settlers.
B Tselem s Executive -dir-ector, Yuli Novak explained that the situation is deteriorating daily due to the absence of any internal´-or-external mechanism to prevent Israel from carrying out what she described as ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Novak called on the international community to end Israel s impunity and hold those responsible for crimes against Palestinians accountable. She added that the Israeli army pursues a lax and unrestrained open-fire policy, including aerial bombardment, and recruits and arms thousands of settlers into regional defense battalions and standby units within the settlements.
Novak pointed out that armed settlers attack Palestinians daily, burning homes and crops, looting, and killing, while Israeli law enforcement authorities rarely investigate them, and no legal convictions have been recorded despite the documentation of most of the attacks.
ist of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing 3 Bedouin families from the Al-Ara’ara clan to abandon their homes in the Al-Hathroura Bedouin Community near Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem. This comes amidst escalating settler attacks, which have intensified following the establishment of a new settlement outpost in the vicinity of the community.
- Attacking farmers in the town of Mikhmas, while they were plowing their land and prevent them from working. They also attacked the town for the second time within hours, setting fire to an agricultural shed.
- Assaulting Daoud Abu Dahouk, and the child Amer Daoud Abu Dahouk while they were herding the sheep, causing them injuries.
- Demolishing a shop in the Damascus Gate, Jerusalem, belonging to Iyad Abu Asnina.
Hebron:
- Attacking Palestinian vehicles’ drivers with clubs and stones, causing damage to several of them. Others blocked the road to the villages of Al-Zuweidin and Khirbet Fateh Sidra, and proceeded to plow and sow Palestinian-owned land east of Shaab Al-Batim village in Masafer Yatta, while simultaneously preventing landowners from plowing their land and confiscating their tractors.
- Stealing 4 sheep belonging to Nour Azmi Idris at gunpoint in the village of Birin.
- Launching a series of attacks on land belonging to the village of Al-Zuweidin in the Badia east of Yatta, deliberately ramming their vehicle into a car carrying 3 Palestinians at the village entrance, causing significant damage.
- Attacking a number of farmers in the Huwara area, east of Yatta, and forcibly prevented them from accessing their lands and plowing their fields.
Bethlehem:
- Demolishing a three-story house under construction in the al-Khader town, each floor measuring 250m2, belonging to Imad Hassan Abu Sarra, under the pretext of building without a permit.
- Damaging a vehicle in the al-Minya area, southeast of Bethlehem, belonging to Osama Hussein Ubayyat. Others assaulted farmers in the Wadi Abu Ayyash area of the al-Rashayda village.
Ramallah:
- Shooting on Palestinians in the village of Deir Jarir, killing 20-year-old Baraa Maali, who was shot in the chest.
- Destroying olive trees in the town of Deir Dibwan.
- Carrying out land-leveling operations in the area adjacent to the Shilo settlement in the town of Turmus Ayya to expand it. Others broke into a house in the town of Silwad and vandalized its contents.
- Uprooting scores of olive and forest trees while bulldozing dozens of dunams of Palestinian-owned land on the western side of the Beit Ur al-Fauqa village, near the military checkpoint at the village entrance. The occupation authorities also notified residents of their intention to bulldoze about 50 dunams of land on the eastern and western sides of the village, most of which is planted with olive trees.
- Injuring a Palestinian man by settler gunfire in the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, west of Ramallah.
- Constructing a road on Palestinian-owned land in the town of Turmus Ayya, connecting the Turmus Ayya plain to the settlement of Shilo, effectively seizing hundreds of dunams of land.
- Burning a number of olive trees, causing significant damage in the town of Atara. Moreover, in the village of Al-Khalil, settlers poisoned sheep, resulting in the death of three animals, and in the village of Abu Falah, settlers burned an agricultural building and spray-painted racist slogans in the area.
Nablus:
- Bulldozing land in the Masoudiya area to construct tourist roads, implementing a plan to seize large tracts of Palestinian land and -convert- them into settlement projects in the region.
- Bulldozing agricultural land, uprooting about 200 trees and destroying retaining walls and water networks on land belonging to Fathi Ahed Faqih, Omar Talal Qaddous, and Ahmed Muhammad Qaddous in the village of Iraq Burin.
- Setting fire to 6 tourist villas under construction on Jabal Tarouja, located between the villages of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and Ammouriya near the village of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya,. The villas belong to Khalil Abu Suneina and several partners. The villas guard sustained burns while attempting to extinguish the blaze.
- Cutting down and uprooted dozens of olive trees on Jabal Qamas, in the town of Beita, while in the village of Deir Sharaf, settlers attacked a plant nursery, destroying and damaging its contents.
Jenin:
- Issuing a military order to remove trees from 59 dunams of land in the town of Zububa. The military order, numbered N.K/55/25, targets a large layer of trees for removal and destruction under military pretext.
Jordan Valley:
- Setting up a new outpost within the Al-Auja Bedouin Community on the ruins of an abandoned house, constructing metal sheds and other structures within the site.
- Establishing an outpost in Khirbet al-Hadidiya, following the announcement of a road construction project there, authorized by a military order to seize hundreds of dunams of the village s land.
- Storming the Shahwan archaeological site at the entrance to the Ein al-Sultan refugee camp, and another group of settlers stormed the Ein al-Duyuk al-Fouqa spring west of Jericho, amidst heavy military presence and a deployment of occupation forces in the area.

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