Jerusalem suffers displacement, demolition on the one Hand , isolation, and settlement expansion on the Other.

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
Settlement Weekly Report 10 - 16 Jan. 2026
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that last week, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee began deliberations on approving 2 settlement projects poised to reshape the political and demographic landscape of occupied Jerusalem: the Atarot plan, which proposes construction on the site of the former Jerusalem Airport, and the Nahalat Shimon plan in the Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood, in the heart of the occupied city. The Atarot plan includes the construction of a new settlement with 9,000 housing units on the land of the Jerusalem Airport, south of Ramallah, between the Kafr Aqab and Beit Hanina Neighborhoods.
The plan number 764936 lies at the heart of a contiguous Palestinian urban area stretching from Ramallah, through Kafr Aqab and Qalandia, to Beit Hanina and Shuafat - a densely populated Palestinian area. The settlement project aims to create an Israeli enclave that would impede Palestinian development in the central urban area and in the future Palestinian state, namely the Jerusalem - Ramallah - Bethlehem area. Similar to the settlement project in the E1 area, its implementation would deal a severe blow to the possibility of resolving the conflict based on a two-state solution. The project was scheduled to be discussed in Dec. 2025, but the discussion was postponed until after the meeting that Netanyahu held with President Trump on Dec. 29. A new date was set as if Netanyahu had received a green light to proceed with the work.
As for the ‘Nahalat Shimon’ plan number 1237767 in Sheikh Jarrah involves the demolition of the Palestinian Neighborhood of Um Haroun and the construction of a settlement neighborhood in its place comprising of 316 housing units. The Israeli organization Ir Amim confirmed in its latest report on the situation in Jerusalem that the Israeli government has begun taking new measures to control the Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood and expel its Palestinians.
A report issued by the organization in Oct. 2025, entitled ‘Strangling Sheikh Jarrah: New Tools of Israeli Control and Palestinian Displacement’, stated that ‘the Israeli Government has entered a new and dangerous phase in its efforts to control Sheikh Jarrah, one of the most prominent and symbolic neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.’ The report warned that the State of Israel is now using unprecedented legal, planning, and administrative tools to achieve the same goal: the displacement of the Palestinian residents and the consolidation of the settler presence in the heart of the neighborhood.
Amongst the tools, according to the report, are ‘large-scale urban renewal projects, including approximately 2,000 housing units for Israeli settlers, completely excluding the Palestinian residents.’ The report cited ‘land registration ‘property rights settlement’ in a number of plots, which has allowed government institutions and settlers to register them in their own names, as well as the confiscation of public spaces and their reallocation to serve Jewish religious institutions and projects’.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation authorities notified Bedouin communities and the Al-Eizariya municipality of their intention to begin implementing their dangerous settlement project known as the ‘Fabric of Life project’, after a 45-day notice period following the notification issued by the so-called military prosecution of the occupation. The Jerusalem Governorate stated in a press release last Thursday that this project represents the practical implementation of the Israeli annexation plan for the area known as E1.
It aims to achieve complete geographical contiguity between the Ma ale Adumim settlement and occupied Jerusalem, leading to the annexation of a new area of West Bank land as part of the ‘Greater Jerusalem plan’. The commencement of the so-called ‘Fabric of Life Road project’ in East Jerusalem is the culmination of Israeli efforts to annex lands outside the Jerusalem municipal boundaries to the east, particularly the greater Ma ale Adumim settlement, and to amend the boundaries of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem to include 3% of the West Bank, thus formally annexing it to Israel.
The idea of the project is based on digging a tunnel that extends from north to south in East Jerusalem, and turning it into a road exclusively for Palestinians, so that Palestinians are prevented from using St. 1, which extends from the center of Jerusalem and through the Arab neighborhoods in the city, then passes in front of the entrances to the Ma ale Adumim settlement on its way to Jericho. Palestinians were forced to use a part of this road designated for settlers to move between the northern and southern West Bank, where they enter St. 1 near the Anata area and exit the area southward after passing near the Ma ale Adumim settlement to enter the Ramallah-Bethlehem road, known as ‘Wadi-Nar Road’. The project is not new, it was first proposed and approved in the spring of 2020 during Netanyahu s coalition government.
However, its implementation was halted due to obstacles faced by the Israeli governments at the time. The government fell just 2 months after the project s approval, and a new government, also headed by Netanyahu, was formed. The government lasted only a month, collapsing in mid-2020, and was replaced by a coalition government led by Naftali Bennett in cooperation with Yair Lapid. The coalition government fell at the end of 2022, and Netanyahu returned to power in his current government, formed in cooperation with the Religious Zionist Movement, headed by Smotrich.
Jerusalem is also facing a widespread demolition campaign targeting Palestinian homes, in the Batn al-Hawa Neighborhood of Silwan, 29 homes housing 33 families, comprising 219 Jerusalemites, are facing the nightmare of forced eviction within 21 days, in favor of settler organizations. The so-called Israeli ‘Execution and Enforcement Authority’, accompanied by occupation police, delivered eviction notices under the pretext that the land belongs to Jews of Yemeni origin.
All those buildings fall within a settlement plan led by the Ateret Cohanim organization, which aims to seize about 5 dunams and 200m2 in the central part of the neighborhood. The occupation plans to establish a large settlement outpost in the targeted area at the expense of the Palestinian presence, exploiting all current circumstances to advance its policy of displacement in Jerusalem and empty it of its original inhabitants. On Dec. 30, the occupation authorities demolished a number of homes under the pretext of building without a license, after deploying military reinforcements. The Jerusalem Governorate considered this move an extension of the policy of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.
Besides, the West Bank is witnessing displacement operations that aren’t-limit-ed to Palestinian Bedouin and pastoral communities in Area C, but extend to Palestinian citizens in areas under Palestinian civil control. A new development in the operations is that they have begun to extend to Area B, which is under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority. This is occurring amidst documented evidence of -dir-ect involvement by the Israeli army in preventing the return of residents and evicting them, transforming this pattern into a de facto policy.
In a qualitative development, and in increasing cases, the Israeli army is -dir-ectly involved, either by preventing residents from returning to their homes´-or-by actively intervening alongside settlers during the expulsion and displacement process.
According to a report published by Ha’aretz newspaper, the shift reflects a transfer of the expulsion pattern used in recent years to empty Area C of Palestinian communities into Area B, even though Israel, its army, and the settlers have no legal authority to expel the residents´-or-prevent their return. Examples of this are numerous and clear. In late Nov. scores of residents from the Tarqumia town, Hebron, attempted to accompany Palestinian families to their homes on the outskirts of the town, located in Area B, after they had been expelled from them in Oct. 2023. The newspaper reported that upon arrival, they found a gate erected by settlers on the boundary between the two areas, preventing access to five isolated Palestinian homes.
During the return attempt, armed settlers arrived in four-wheel-drive vehicles, later joined by Israeli soldiers. In the northern Jordan Valley, near the Beit Hassan village, the Abu Seif family, each with 10 children, was forced to leave their home after years of escalating harassment. According to testimonies, Israeli soldiers arrived at the house accompanied by a settler who runs a nearby farm and informed the family that they had one week to leave.
The house is located just meters within Area B, but after the family left, the settler s control in the area expanded, preventing Palestinian farmers from accessing their agricultural lands. In the Atara village, near Ramallah, an outpost was established within Area B near the home of a 65-year-old Jerusalemite, who had legally purchased the land some 25 years earlier. After the outpost was established, the army was called to the site and imposed a closed military order, forcing him and his neighbors to leave their homes, while the settlers were allowed to remain.
Noting that on June 28, 2024, the Israeli government decided to withdraw the Palestinian Authority s powers in the Jerusalem desert ‘classified as Area B’ under the Wye River Memorandum ‘or Wye Plantation Agreement of 1998’ and return them to the Civil Administration. The Palestinian side petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to prevent the implementation of this decision.
The settlement organization Regavim responded with a counter-petition urging the court to enforce the Israeli government s decision, beginning with the demolition of a Palestinian school that was expected to open at the start of the 2025 academic year. The Israeli court chose to manipulate the situation and enter into legal complexities, demanding that the Palestinian side provide an explanation regarding the school s construction: Why was the school built? Was the construction legal? Did it violate the Palestinian Authority s obligations?
The court granted the Palestinian 30 days to respond to Regavim s petition, a deadline of Dec. 12, 2025, before ruling on whether to proceed with the legal action, to clarify, the Jerusalem Desert ‘or Hebron Wilderness’ stretches from the outskirts of Beit Sahour in the east to the Jordan River, in a desert strip about 85 km long from north to south and about 25 km wide.
The area boasts a rich ecosystem, most notably 19 seasonal and permanent watercourses, including Wadi Qelt and Wadi Sayal, as well as 5 extensive archaeological caves and five prominent heritage sites, despite its rugged terrain, the desert is home to small Palestinian pastoral communities and is simultaneously witnessing a growing presence of settlement activities in the form of agricultural and pastoral outposts.
In a latest development in settlement activity, the Shomron Regional Council, the umbrella organization for settlements in the northern West Bank, announced last Sunday the establishment of a new settlement east of Nablus called ‘Rehavam’. This is part of a government-backed plan to rapidly expand settlements in the northern West Bank. The settlement falls within a broader plan aimed at increasing the number of settlers in the northern West Bank to 1,000,000.
The council selected an area near the existing settlement of Migdalim, which was established in the 1980s on land belonging to the Qusra town in the Nablus Governorate. The head of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, participated in the inauguration ceremony, along with representatives from the Amana settlement movement, which was a partner in establishing the settlement. Israeli FM Smotrich sent a congratulatory message on the establishment of the settlement, stating: ‘We are working diligently to ensure that the numerous decisions regarding the establishment and legalization of new settlements do not remain mere words on paper, but rather become a tangible reality. We are investing significant efforts and substantial budgets in this endeavor.’ He emphasized, ‘We will continue to consolidate our hold on the West Bank and strengthen Israel s security perimeter.’
For his part, Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council ‘the umbrella organization of settlements in the northern West Bank’, declared that they had achieved a ‘settlement victory on the ground,’ adding, ‘We are operating in the Shomron ‘northern West Bank’ according to a well-defined plan: identifying the plots of land we desire and establishing settlements and farms, with the goal of reaching one million Jews in the Shomron under full Israeli sovereignty.’
He pointed out that the settlement of ‘Rehavam’, which they announced the inauguration of, bears the name of the former racist minister Rehavam Ze evi, adding that ‘the settlements they are currently establishing in the West Bank are based on the plan written by Ze evi, who prepared the first comprehensive plan for settlement in the West Bank and Gaza.’
Two weeks ago, the occupation government approved the establishment of the settlement of ‘Mishmar Yehuda’, which extends over an area of 3,380 dunams, within the Gush Etzion Regional Council, in the Jerusalem desert area north of the Al-Ubeidiya town.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Issuing preemptive recommendations to restrict the access of worshippers from the West Bank to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming month of Ramadan by the so-called ‘Israeli Parliamentary National Security Committee’.
- Storming neighborhoods in the eastern part of Al-Za im, in the area where a tender was issued last week for the construction of 3,401 settlement units as part of the E1 project. Dozens of Israeli soldiers also stormed the Ras Khamis neighborhood in the refugee camp for the third consecutive day, raiding several homes and arresting 8 Palestinian citizens.
Hebron:
- Attacking Palestinian homes in the Al-Quraynat area of Surif, and in Masafer Yatta, settlers conducted provocative tours in Khirbet al-Markaz and released their livestock near Palestinian homes in Khirbet Um Khair.
- Storming the Hamroush area east of Sa ir after groups of settlers released their sheep near Palestinian homes, deliberately grazing them alongside the houses and causing damage to agricultural property.
- Attacking shepherds in the Wadi Abu Shaban area of Masafer Yatta, and others released their livestock into crops in the Rajoum Ali area of Masafer Yatta.
- Demolishing a water well and a poultry farm in the Al-Dahr area in the town of Beit Ummar, without prior warning. They also began constructing a new settlement road in the town of Al-Dhahiriya and uprooted scores of productive olive trees.
- Assaulting water department employees while they were working to open valves in the ‘Dhakhra Rajih’ arean in the town of Idhna, causing them bruises.
- Spoiling a fence surrounding the lands of the Rumi family in the Wadi Al-Rakhim area, destroyed 80m section of the fence, in addition to damaging crops and trees after grazing their livestock on the land.
Bethlehem:
- Renewing demolition notice for a seven-a-side football field in Aida camp, north of Bethlehem, located in the ‘Khallat Hammama’ area on the outskirts of the camp, near the apartheid wall, under the pretext of building without a license. The notice was posted on the gate of the field and includes a one-week deadline for self-demolition, otherwise the occupation authorities will demolish it at the expense of its owners.
- Bulldozing citizens lands near Solomon s Pools, the occupation forces demolished a house under construction in the Al-Buq a area near the Murad Tourist Resort, consisting of a basement and columns with an area of 200 square meters, in the town of Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem.
Ramallah:
- Killing Muhammad Sa’ad al-Naasan, 14 by Israeli occupation forces who attacked worshippers as they left the al-Mughayyir al-Gharbi mosque after Friday prayers.
- Raiding a farm belonging to Thaer al-Nabali in the al-Dhahrat area in the town of Kobar, detained the guard, tied his hands, and stolen 200 sheep and a parked vehicle before withdrawing.
- Storming the Qalaa area east of al-Mughayyir village, north of the town, and fired live ammunition at residents who confronted them.
- Grazing sheep in the southern part of the village before being confronted by residents. Settlers, under the protection of occupation forces, also grazed their livestock on Palestinian-owned land in the al-Khala’il area south of the village, damaging a number of olive trees.
- Storming Palestinian-owned land in the village of Um Safa, while Israeli occupation forces, accompanied by groups of settlers, continued bulldozing, vandalizing, and uprooting trees around the Abu Awad family home in the plain of Turmusia.
- Bulldozing around the Abu Awad family home, close to the houses and excavating alongside them, posing a -dir-ect threat to their structural integrity and risking collapse, especially given the waterlogged soil in the Turmus aia town.
Nablus:
- setting fire to classrooms, spray-painted racist slogans on their walls, and caused significant damage to the school facilities in the village of Jalud, they also set fire to 5 vehicles in the village of Bazariya.
- Attacking 2 Palestinians, aged 65 and 50, one critically, by settlers near the the Junaidi Nursery close to the village of Deir Sharaf.
- Injuring 2 young men in separate attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers near the Huwwara military checkpoint. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that a 30-year-old man was struck in the head by a stone thrown by settlers near the Huwwara checkpoint and was hospitalized. Another young man, aged 39, was hospitalized after being beaten by Israeli soldiers in the village of Awarta.
- Bulldozing on citizens’ lands in the town of Qusra in the northeastern part of the village, and the bulldozing operations became very close to citizens’ homes, and settlers placed mobile ‘caravans’ on citizens’ lands in preparation for seizing more lands and establishing settlement outposts on them.
Salfeet:
- Assaulting Sharhabil Tawil, a young man from the Beit Furik town, east of Nablus, as he was traveling on the road between the towns of Biddya and Saniriya, west of Salfeet. They beaten him before seized his vehicle.
- Bulldozing land in the Ras area of Salfeet to expand settlements and construct settler roads in the area, prevented the owners from accessing their land´-or-approaching the bulldozing site.
Jordan Valley:
- Destroying crops in the Bedouin village of Shalal al-Auja after storming the community, spreading among the residents homes, and deliberately grazing their livestock on the crops, resulting in their destruction.
- Forcing 33 families to leave their homes in the Shalal al-Auja community north of Jericho, displaced families include 20 from the Rashayda tribe and 13 from the Ghawanima tribe.
- Forcing 17 families, comprising dozens of individuals from the Rashayda tribe, and to dismantle their 8 homes and a sheep pen. The attacks included settlers releasing their livestock around the homes and pastures and preventing shepherds from accessing their lands for several days.

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