The US administration is complicit with Israel and provides cover for settlement plans.

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that the US President Donald Trump’s Administration has encouraged settlement activity and settler violence by favoring the occupation’s policies and narrative at the expense of the rights and interests of the Palestinian people. It not only canceled all sanctions imposed by the previous administration on violent settlers and settlement-related entities, a move that has encouraged the expansion of settler violence across the West Bank, but has also colluded with Tel Aviv on settlement projects. At the same time, it continues to turn a blind eye to practices and policies occurring on the ground - both in the Palestinian territories occupied since the June 1967 aggression and, at times, within the United States itself.
Recently, three events took place that explains the US true nature policy and its encouragement of settlement activity and settler practices. Firstly, the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee s claim last week that the construction of 19 new settlements in the West Bank isn’t a violation of international law as they are in Area C. Huckabee wrote on X: ‘There is no need for any reaction to Israel allowing the construction of 19 settlements. This is not annexation´-or-a declaration of sovereignty. They have issued 35 permits since Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025, all are in Area C, and none of them are in Palestinian Authority areas, and this isn’t a violation of international law.’
Huckabee settled the matter in his own way: Palestinians are confined to enclaves in Areas A and B of the West Bank, while the wider space is for settlements. For those familiar with apartheid systems, the situation in Huckabee s settlements will be immeasurably worse than that of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Israeli Security Cabinet approved the establishment of these new settlements on the 11th of this month, including the settlements of Ganim and Kadim, which were evacuated in 2005 as part of the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.
In this regard, both Yediot Aharonot and Haaretz reported on the Dec. 14. 2025, that the decision was coordinated with the Trump’s administration, which requested that it be kept secret. However, it was leaked to the media the following day, the 12th of this month. This is further reinforced by the Israeli Foreign Ministry s organization of a tour of the northern West Bank last Sept. for a delegation of 250 members of the US Congress and Senate from all states.
Secondly, a visit by a delegation of about 1000 American evangelical pastors to an archaeological site on a hill adjacent to the settlement of Shiloh, this event carried political messages and -dir-ect support for the settlers demands to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. It was organized at the beginning of this month and funded by the Israeli government, turned into a platform for absurd political propaganda. On that hill once stood the Canaanite city of Shiloh, where no Hebrew artifacts have been found to support the Zionist narrative, its remains are either Canaanite, Roman,´-or-Islamic, nothing more.
During the main gathering at the site, Pastor Mike Evans addressed the participants, urging them to show strong support in front of the cameras. He said, ‘Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked for a photo, and we will give him the photo he wants.’ Waving a Torah scroll, he addressed Vice President Vance, saying, ‘This isn’t your policy´-or-mine, this is the word of God. Judea and Samaria are the land of the Bible, so don’t pressure Israel to hand them over to the enemies of the Jewish people.’
The field visit to the settlement of Shiloh turned into an additional platform for disseminating internal political messages. The delegation was accompanied by the head of the settlement council of Binyamin, Yisrael Gantz, who presented himself to the priests as the one who actually implements sovereignty and described them as ambassadors of ‘Judea and Samaria, asking them to help Israel in Washington.’
The second event was a visit by a delegation of approximately one thousand American evangelical pastors to an archaeological site on a hill adjacent to the settlement of Shiloh. This event carried political messages and -dir-ect support for the settlers demands to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. The event, organized at the beginning of this month and funded by the Israeli government, turned into a platform for absurd political propaganda. On that hill once stood the Canaanite city of Shiloh, where no Hebrew artifacts have been found to support the Zionist narrative. Its remains are, either, Canaanite, Roman,´-or-Islamic, nothing more.
During the main gathering at the site, Pastor Mike Evans addressed the participants urging them to show strong support in front of the cameras. He said, ‘PM Netanyahu asked for a photo, and we will give him the photo he wants.’ Waving a Torah scroll, he addressed Vice President Vance, saying, ‘This isn’t your policy´-or-mine, this is the word of God. Judea and Samaria are the land of the Bible, so don’t pressure Israel to hand them over to the enemies of the Jewish people.’
The field visit to the settlement of Shiloh turned into an additional platform for disseminating internal political messages. The delegation was accompanied by the head of the settlement council of Binyamin, Yisrael Gantz, who presented himself to the priests as the one who actually implements sovereignty and described them as ambassadors of ‘Judea and Samaria,’ asking them to ‘help Israel in Washington.’
In contrast, the International Law stands in opposition to the complicity of the US administration, the Israeli occupation state s settlement projects, and the terrorist practices of the settlers. UN Secretary-General Antó-;-nio Guterres, in a document recently sent to members of the Security Council, stated that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank has reached record levels. Stressing that this further entrenches the illegal Israeli occupation and violates international law and the Palestinian right to self-determination.
He reiterated his call for an immediate halt to settlement activity and simultaneously condemned the alarming increase in settler violence, which sometimes occurs in the presence´-or-with the support of security forces and has resulted in numerous deaths, including women and children, as well as the displacement of residents, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the killing of more than a thousand Palestinians by Israeli soldiers´-or-settlers, according to consistent data from local and international sources.
Noting that, the UN has declared that the occupying power is carrying out a process of displacement and ethnic cleansing in Area C of the occupied West Bank. This statement was made by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, during a press conference on 12th of this month. Based on UN data, Haq said that ‘since the beginning of the year, more than a thousand people have been displaced in Area C, which constitutes about 60% of the West Bank, an area in which Israel almost exclusively monopolizes law enforcement, planning and construction authority.’
Recently, several plans have surfaced in both the Jordan Valley and the Jerusalem Governorate to tighten control over it and seize vast lands, the Israeli Ministry of Army announced that the Border and Seam -dir-ectorate, the Ministry s Engineering and Construction Department, and the army s Central Command have begun constructing the first two sections of a wall along the border with Jordan, totaling 80 km.
Alongside those field works, the Ministry and the army are continuing to plan the remaining sections of the wall. The cost of the project is NIS 5.5 billion, which includes the establishment of a multi-layered system to bolster settlements along the border. In this context, Army Minister Yisrael Katz stated that he had ordered the establishment of new settlements along the wall in order to consolidate control in the area and strengthen settlements as a strategic element of our national security.’
The -dir-ector General of the Ministry, Amir Baram, explained that ‘the eastern border is Israel s longest border. Defending it is a complex task that begins with a wall and the redeployment of army forces, but it doesn’t end there.’ The strategy we are leading, in conjunction with other ministries, is to establish a complete system of settlements, employment opportunities, transportation, a water network, agriculture, health services, and other infrastructure. The ministry has allocated the first NIS 50 million for the plan s implementation within the 2026 budget.
In Jerusalem, the so-called Israeli District Planning and Building Committee is currently discussing the advancement of Plan n. 101-0764936 to establish a new settlement on the land of the former Jerusalem International Airport, north of occupied Jerusalem. The committee is also considering approving the basic principles of the settlement plan, including the allocation of commercial and public spaces. The Jerusalem Governorate considers the plan a dangerous escalation of the settlement policy, -dir-ectly aimed at severing northern Jerusalem from its Palestinian hinterland, disrupting the geographical and demographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Ramallah, and imposing new settlement realities that undermine any political horizon based on a two-state solution.
The plan includes the construction of 9,000 settlement units in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian urban area encompassing Kafr Aqab, Qalandia, Al-Ram, Beit Hanina, and Bir Nabala. This poses a -dir-ect threat to the integrated Palestinian urban space north of Jerusalem and deepens the policy of separation and isolation imposed on the city and its surroundings.
According to the Governorate, the Israeli Ministry of Finance had requested in Dec. 2025 the approval of the Knesset Finance Committee to transfer NIS 16 million to the Ministry of Environmental Protection under the pretext of ‘rehabilitating contaminated lands’, including Jerusalem International Airport, in a move that practically aims to remove what it described as artificial environmental obstacles and accelerate the implementation of the settlement project, adding that the majority of the lands of the plan have been classified as ‘State lands’ since the British Mandate period, despite the existence of large areas of private Palestinian lands, which the occupation intends to subject to forced unification and division procedures without the consent of their owners, in a clear violation of private property rights.
Moreover, the Finance Committee at the Knesset approved on 8th this month, the transfer of a budget for the construction of police stations, allocating an additional NIS 8 million to the Oz police station on the outskirts of the Jabal al-Mukaber Neighborhood, Jerusalem, amidst Palestinian homes. Israelis established the settlement of Nof Zion in 2004, claiming to have purchased a large tract of land in the area. The construction of this settlement, as is well known, has been carried out in stages: first stage, Nof Zion was built with 90 housing units, second stage, hundreds more housing units were added, which are now in advanced stages of construction-;- and third stage, planned by the Kilas Investment Company, includes the construction of 140 housing units and 550 hotel rooms on the land where the current police station is located.
According to the Peace Now Movement, the police are serving the interests of the settlements in two ways: firstly, by building an Israeli police station on vacant land that could have served the Palestinian neighborhood, and secondly, by relocating the existing station, thus paving the way for the establishment of a new settlement within the Palestinian neighborhood.
Noting that, a similar step took place about 2 decades ago in the Ras al-Amud Neighborhood, where settlers initiated the financing of the transfer of the ‘Judea and Samaria’ district police station from Ras al-Amud to another location in E1. Once the police moved to the new location, the settlers established a settlement in the place.
Back to the Cabinet’s decision to build 19 new settlements in the West Bank, it should be noted that this comes within the framework of whitewashing and legitimizing existing settlement outposts in which the occupation army participates in establishing and sponsoring them. In this context, an Israeli army officer revealed last week during an interview with the Israeli Ch. Kan 11 s ‘Zman Emet’ program that since Avi Blot s appointment as commander of the Central Command, the Israeli army has been collaborating with settlers in establishing agricultural settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank.
The officer explained that work on establishing the settlement farms actually began in July 2024, within an organized mechanism and in full coordination with the military command, adding that the Israeli army is no longer merely a passive recipient of the situation, but has become a partner in the advance planning of these settlement farms. He also revealed that upon assuming his position, he appointed Regional Army Officer Elitzur Trabelsi as the main official responsible for the settlement farm file. He plays a pivotal role in preventing the regional commander from becoming involved in the details.
Trabelsi visited the site designated for the settlement farm, conducts a preliminary tour to assess the situation before implementation begins, and after the tour, the brigade commander is briefed on the latest developments and provided with the necessary maps. The matter is then raised to the responsible general, who gives final approval for the establishment of the farm and assigns 4 – 5 soldiers to each settlement farm. There are more than 100 such farms. Settlements in the West Bank operate with the same mechanism, which means that the number of individuals tasked with guarding the farms exceeds 500 soldiers and officers i.e. a full battalion.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Notifying a family in the Jabal-Mukabber btown to demolish a sheep pen in the Al-Shayyah Neighborhood, which is its only source of income.
- Cutting down 40 olive trees belonging to As ad Kanaan in the Al-Hayy Neighborhood in the Mikhmas town.
- Firing against residents houses in the village of Khan al-Ahmar, after which Israeli forces and settlers stormed the village and deployed around the houses.
- Forcing 3 Jerusalemite families to evict their houses in the Batn Al-Hawa Neighborhood of Silwan due to pressure and court orders issued by the Israeli occupation authorities in favor of the settler organization Ateret Cohanim. Ateret Cohanim claims ownership of about 5 dunams and 200 square meters of land in the neighborhood since 1881, a claim that began in 2015 and has embroiled scores of Palestinian families in a web of legal battles before Israeli courts.
- Demolishing parts of a wedding hall that had previously been forcibly demolished by the occupation in the town of Al-Judeira, under the pretext of building without a permit.
- Demolishing a residential structure at the eastern entrance to the town of Al-Sawahra, on land belonging to citizen Moh’d Arheil Al-Jahalin in the Al-Hadab area of Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem.
Hebron:
- Attacking the house of Sheikh Saeed Amour in Khirbet Al-Rakeez in Masafer Yatta and physically assaulted him.
- Preventing shepherds from reaching their grazing lands in Khirbet Jinba, also in Masafer Yatta. Settlers from the Kiryat Arba settlement organized a provocative march east of Hebron, leading to the closure of several neighborhoods in the city.
- Attacking Palestinian homes in Khirbet Uraiba al-Nabi in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, assaulting Ali Sabah and attempting to steal his sheep after damaging and locking the door of his pen.
Bethlehem:
- Issuing a stop-work order for a house in the Wadi al-Hummus area belonging to citizen Farih Yousef Abu Lahya, claiming it was built without a permit.
- Killing 19-year-old Muheeb Ahmed Jibril by Israeli settler in the Tuqu town, Bethlehem.
Ramalah:
- Flying a drone over the house of the Abu Hamam Rizq Abu Naim family in the Al-Khala il area of Al-Mughayyir, -dir-ecting insults and derogatory remarks at the family members.
- Burning a caravan and a bulldozer and wrote racist slogans in the Al-Masayat area north of the Kafr Malik town, Ramallah.
- Storming the village of Burqa and set fire to a number of olive trees in the Al-Hadab area on the western side of the village.
- Bulldozing and uprooted a large number of olive trees, estimated at 400, affecting about 35 dunams of agricultural land adjacent to the apartheid wall erected on the Budrus village s land. This targeted agricultural land and the livelihood of the villagers, and was carried out under heavy protection from the occupation forces, who prevented the landowners from accessing their land´-or-objecting to what was happening, in implementation of a decision issued by the occupation authorities under the pretext of ‘security’.
- Uprooting 100s of olive trees in the plain of Turmusaia, north of Ramallah. Setting fire to 2 vehicles and wrote racist slogans during their attack on the village of Ein Yabrud.
Nablus:
- Stealing a vehicle belonging to Fawzi Shahada from in front of his house in the town of Awarta, south of Nablus. Another vehicle belonging to Shahada was damaged after settlers deliberately rammed it as he tried to block their path while they were withdrawing from the area.
- Forcing 6 families to evacuate their homes on Al-Olwi Ta awon Street in Nablus, in preparation for their demolition under the pretext of building in Area C.
- Storming the Shakkara Community, east of Duma, using Tractorons among residents houses and attempting to seize some of their property.
- Storming Islamic religious sites in the Awarta town, southeast of Nablus, forcing shop owners to close their shops before several buses carrying hundreds of settlers entered the sites, where they performed Talmudic rituals.
Jenin:
- Issuing a military order to seize 531 dunams of land belonging to the villages of Jaba , Fandaqumiya, Silat ad-Dhahr, and Burqa in the Jenin and Nablus governorates, under the pretext of security and military purposes and the construction of roads to connect settlements evacuated in 2005.
- Approving to lighten Hanukkah candles in the settlements of Ganim and Kadim for the first time since their evacuation 20 years ago.
Salfeet:
- Vandalizing an agricultural room in the Al-Wajh al-Shami owned by Sa adat Taher Mustafa Saeed, causing significant damage to its contents.
- Issuing 8 stop-work and demolition orders for homes inhabited for decades in the Al-Buq an area, west of Salfeet, claiming they lacked permits.
- Storming the Kafr Haris town to secure the settlers incursion into ‘religious sites’.
Qalqilia:
- Demolishing an agricultural facility belonging to citizen Rashid Salim in the Yubak area of Jayyous, and a car wash constructed of corrugated iron sheets on an area of 300 square meters, surrounded by a 5-meter-high concrete wall, in the village of Jit, under the pretext of lacking a permit.
- Bulldozing agricultural lands at the eastern entrance to the city of Qalqilia, affecting several sites extending to the eastern, southern, and western perimeters of the camp established at the eastern entrance to the city. This is part of measures aimed at clearing and securing the perimeter of the camp on the outskirts of the city at the expense of citizens lands. The bulldozing operations affected at least 6 dunams planted with fruit trees, where 120 guava trees, 100 olive trees, 39 mango trees, and 30 avocado trees were uprooted and destroyed, in addition to destroying a main water pipeline with a diameter of 6 inches that supplies the cultivated lands.
Jordan Valley:
- Storming Palestinian-owned lands in the Ein al-Hilweh and Wadi al-Faw areas of the northern Jordan Valley, preventing farmers from plowing their fields and confiscating several tractors and agricultural equipment.
- Launching a violent attack on several Palestinian homes in the Bedouin community of Ein al-Duyuk, smashing windows and terrorizing the residents.
- Attacking the Wadi Abu al-Hayat Community west of the Al-Auja town, injuring 6 people.
- Destroying 2 water reservoirs belonging to the Abu Jarar and Hassouna families and damaged their property in the industrial zone east of Jericho.

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