Israel Expand Settlement Influence Zone through Military Orders

Settlement Weekly Report 27 June – 3 July, 2026
By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that the Israeli occupation authorities have used military orders on an unprecedented scale to define and expand settlement areas of influence in the West Bank, particularly since Oct, 7, 2023. Since that date, they have issued 114 military orders to establish´-or-expand settlement areas of influence, nearly as many as the total number of orders issued in the previous 20 years.
In accordance to Israeli estimates, those orders have added more than 25,000 dunams to the areas of influence of existing settlements and paved the way for the establishment of 53 settlements, including 39 new settlements, 14 settlements established as a result of administrative separation from existing settlements, and 11 cases of expansion of existing areas of influence.
Even though, those orders don’t usually receive widespread media attention, they have become a pivotal stage in the settlement expansion process. Once land is annexed to a settlement s area of influence, it becomes designated for future development and transforms into a base for planning, infrastructure development, and construction expansion. In many cases, these orders precede the actual establishment of settlements by years, but they determine the future of the land from the moment they are issued.
Within the context, a recently issued report by the Israeli human rights organization ‘Bimkom’ monitors a remarkable development during the year 2026, represented by the allocation of settlement areas of influence on lands on which Palestinian communities were residing and were displaced during recent years, including but not-limit-ed to the Ein Samiya community and Al-Murajat Al-Wusta, whose residents were forced to leave their lands in the wake of continuous and increasing pressure from settlers.
Accordingly, new settlement areas of influence were subsequently identified in these locations that imposes major legal and planning obstacles to any future possibility of the displaced population returning to their lands. The results of these military orders are not-limit-ed to expanding existing settlements, but also include consolidating Israeli control over areas emptied of their Palestinian residents, and turning temporary displacement into a permanent reality.
The Bimkom’s report, which focuses on ‘promoting social justice, equality, and human rights in the areas of spatial planning, housing, and land policies’, also highlights military orders issued in 2026 to designate areas of influence for new settlements in parts of the northern West Bank that were not previously settlements. The organization argues that the cumulative impact of these measures extends beyond the boundaries of each individual settlement.
Establishing new settlement areas of influence in strategic locations in the West Bank leads to increased fragmentation of Palestinian territory, restricts future Palestinian urban development, and reinforces the occupation s control over large areas of Area C. Meanwhile, Palestinian communities in Area C still lack similarly recognized areas of influence, severely-limit-ing the ability of Palestinian local authorities to plan, expand housing, develop infrastructure, and provide basic services to residents.
The issue isn’t-limit-ed to areas classified as Area C, but extends even to areas classified as Area A. Last Monday, the newspaper Israel Hayom revealed hidden orders within a settlement plan to seize control of 100 strategic locations within Area A, which falls under the Palestinian Authority s jurisdiction in the occupied West Bankm whi8ch constitutes a dangerous shift in the course of Israel s annexation policy. The newspaper stated that a plan being prepared by settlement movements in the West Bank aims to fundamentally -alter-the region s map by targeting Area A.
It explained that the plan, spearheaded by the ‘-union- of Settlement Farms’ and the Habita ‘Homeland Forum’, and published by the newspaper for the first time, outlines a mechanism for deploying forces at 100 strategic points in the West Bank on what is termed ‘Order Day’´-or-‘Implementation Day’. Those points are located deep within Area A, which is under Palestinian civil and security control according to the 1995 Interim Agreement.
The plan was presented to Israeli government ministers and figures close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This scheme coincides with the Israeli army s continued construction of a military site within Area A in the city of Jenin, following the seizure of privately owned Palestinian land by military order.
The plans to control the West Bank proceed according to this systematic plan, which was prepared in advance, and transform from mere expansion into a de facto annexation and a comprehensive reshaping of the reality in a way that undermines any future opportunity to establish a contiguous Palestinian state. In this regard, the current settlement policy of Benjamin Netanyahu s far-right government is moving along two parallel tracks.
The first is represented on the official governmental level through the issuance of a series of military orders and government decisions to expand existing settlements and approve new structural plans, and allocate large areas for future projects. The second depends on giving the green light to settler groups to move on the ground to control the land on the one hand and accelerate the pace of displacement of Bedouin and pastoral communities on the other hand, and expand the establishment of new random settlement outposts that extend over large areas to form buffer zones that prevent Palestinians from accessing their lands, especially after administrative and legal powers were transferred from the authority of the army and the temporary civil administration to civilian bodies and institutions that are -dir-ectly managed by the settlement faction within the far-right occupation government.
A shift represents a significant step toward de facto annexation, as the West Bank is no longer treated as an area under temporary military occupation, but rather as part of Israeli sovereignty. It comes after the past three years witnessed the confiscation of 70,000 dunams of Palestinian land under various military orders, including declarations of control under the guise of “state land,” nature reserves, and closed military zones.
The most alarming aspect is the classification of some 27,000 dunams of this land as ‘state land’, a record figure that nearly equals the total area confiscated under this designation since the signing of the Oslo Accords more than three decades ago. This land grab is complemented by the establishment of over 200 new settlement outposts, primarily concentrated between 2023 - 2026, with the aim of severing the contiguity between Palestinian towns and villages.
On the other hand, circles in the Ministry of Finance, which is headed by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Settlements in the Ministry of the Army, according to the Israeli newspaper ‘The Marker’, are talking about a flood of draft decisions that Smotrich will present to the government, soon, for approval in order to pump money for coalition considerations. The newspaper quoted an official in the Ministry of Finance as saying:
Enormous funds will be pumped, and estimates in the government are that Smotrich will use the last months of his position to push forward as many decisions as possible in order to strengthen his political power, taking advantage of the Knesset’s approval of a law presented by the minister, granting tax exemptions to settlers, and that he is pushing these days with two decisions that aim to significantly expand the definition of “national preference areas,” through a decision that describes the settlements in the Jordan Valley region and another decision that expands The number of settlements around the Gaza Strip is considered “national preference areas,” and these settlements are granted benefits and incentives in addition to tax exemptions.
The Ministry of Finance is also looking into other proposals for draft government decisions that would transfer large budgets during the current budget year and the coming years to various goals, according to the newspaper, and some of these decisions are being drafted by the office of the -dir-ector General of the Ministry of Finance, Israel Malachi, an expert in transferring funds for Smotrich’s political needs.
In its ongoing settlement activities and projects, the Israeli Knesset approved plans to establish six new settlements and outposts around Ramallah. The aim is to link existing settlement blocs in the area, isolate Palestinian villages, and create a contiguous settlement corridor extending to the separation wall. Those settlement plans are geographically distributed around Ramallah, including areas west of the city, with the approval of new settlements and outposts between Gush Talmonim to the east and the town of Ni lin to the west.
Additional areas include Beit Horon and Mevo Horon, and preparations are underway for new settlements on land belonging to villages located between the Ramallah/al-Bireh and Nablus governorates, such as Sinjil and al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya. In this context, the Binyamin Regional Council, a settlement council in the central region, stated its support for what it described as the largest and most significant settlement operation in recent decades, based on the cabinet s decision to build new settlements before the upcoming Israeli elections.
According to a plan, permanent settlements will be established in two strategic wings of the Benjamin Regional Council settlement area: on the mountain road in West Benjamin, which connects Jerusalem to the center of the country, and in East Benjamin overlooking the Jordan Valley. The motives for this, according to Yisrael Katz, head of the Benjamin Regional Council in the central West Bank, are "either a strong Israeli settlement,´-or-Ramallah under Iranian auspices on the borders of the Gush Dan region."
The occupation authorities are also planning to establish a settlement project under the name “Jubilee Cave Park” in the vicinity of the “Ofra” settlement built on Palestinian lands northeast of Ramallah, according to what was announced by the so-called Mateh Binyamin Settlements Council, in a new step aimed at strengthening the settlement presence through tourism projects in the West Bank. According to the plan, the project is being implemented in cooperation between the Meteh Benjamin Council, the Ofra settlement, the Israeli Center for Cave Research of the Hebrew University, and the Field School of the Israeli Nature Conservation Society, with the aim of creating ‘the largest underground tourist site and attracting about 200,000 visitors annually’.
The occupation promotes the project as being based on a cave that was discovered 5 years ago, and is located within an area that includes a network of caves and rock formations, and reaches a depth of 80 meters. Under the surface of the earth, the cave contains rare geological formations. The project is still in its planning stages after completing geological and engineering studies, and its cost is estimated at tens of millions of shekels.
Additionally, the Israeli Ministry of Interior granted official symbols to 4 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, in a procedure that is considered the last stage before -convert-ing them into officially recognized settlements, in a new step to enhance settlement and impose the ‘annexation plan’. The decision included the Asif outpost ‘Nofei Nehemiah’ in the northern West Bank, ‘Malachi HaShalom’ in the Binyamin area, and ‘Avia’ in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, in addition to the ‘Yitav outpost’ in the Jordan Valley area.
A step came after the commander of the central region of the occupation army, Avi Balut, signed the definition of the boundaries of influence for the four outposts, following the completion of planning and administrative procedures implemented by the Israeli Civil Administration and the Settlement Affairs Authority of the Ministry of the Army.
Under that recognition, the new settlements will be able to obtain -dir-ect government services, including connection to the Mekorot water networks, the provision of official postal services, in addition to allocating budgets for infrastructure and security support. This step comes within a broader Israeli policy to settle the status of settlement outposts in the West Bank, as Israeli data indicate that 37 official symbols were granted to settlements and settlement outposts during the past six months.
Simultaneously, the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom reported last week that the Religious Zionism Party led by Bezalel Smotrich is exerting pressure on the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, to control the site of Joseph s Tomb in the city of Nablus, and to return the Jewish presence and the religious school to the site permanently. According to the newspaper, Rabbi Dov Lior recently published a letter in which he called for what he described as correcting the shame of the withdrawal from Joseph’s Tomb, which took place about a quarter of a century ago.
Within the context, Knesset member Zvi Sukkot and Chairman of the Northern West Bank Settlements Council Yossi Dagan sent an urgent letter to Netanyahu, requesting approval for the restart of the religious school inside the Joseph Tomb complex. Such demands come about 26 years after Israel withdrew from the site after the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000. More than a month ago, Joseph s Tomb witnessed the storming of about 5,000 settlers, with the participation of Smotrich, who called for the imposition of a "permanent Jewish presence" at the site, for the first time in many years.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Attacking the Bedouin community of Al-Mahatoush-Al-Ara’ara, near Khan al-Ahmar, assaulting residents and pelting their homes with stones. They established a new settlement outpost near the community and began erecting greenhouses and agricultural structures 100 meters from residents homes. This escalation comes days after they laid a water pipeline running through the community s houses, aiming to restrict the Bedouin population, encircle their grazing areas, and impose new settlement realities in the region, and assaulted the Bedouin community of Al-Tabna in the same area.
- Attempting to set fire to vehicles belonging to residents, but the intervention and presence of locals prevented the attack in the town of Hizma.
- Issuing a demolition order for the home of Maher Samer Sarhan, which has stood for 30 years and houses 4 people in the town of Silwan,.
Hebron:
- Attacking the house of citizen Nizam Talib Shalalda in the Wadi Sa ir area, and tried to bring their sheep into the house and its surroundings, but the citizen s response prevented them from doing so, while occupation army forces and settlers stormed the Al-Ras Mosque in the city of Hebron, expelling the worshipers and preventing them from performing the dawn prayer. The attackers hung Israeli flags on the walls of the mosque and played loud music in Hebrew in its courtyard.
- Attacking the vicinity of the residence of citizen Moh’d Musa Shanaran and attempted to storm it in the village of Um Khair, south of Hebron. They sprayed gas through the windows, which led to a number of family members suffering from suffocation, but treated in the field, erected occupation flags on the roads and in the vicinity of the residences in the village, provoked citizens and beat a number of them.
- rebuilding and constructing tents and facilities inside the random settlement outpost known as ‘Beit Ainot Hill’, located to the northeast of the city of Hebron. A step comes a few days after the police and occupation forces demolished the outpost and evacuated the settlers from it, last Thursday. According to the settler groups’ platforms, the work includes building a synagogue inside the settlement outpost.
- Reconstructing took place relying on extensive financial donations, collected immediately after the end of the demolition process, to stabilize settlement in the area.
- Notifying the demolition of five inhabited homes, under the pretext of building without a permit, all of which are inhabited, and 3 agricultural facilities, including sheep pens and sheep fodder warehouses in the Um Qisa community in Masafer Yatta.
Bethlehem:
- Setting fire to homes near Palestinian residents in the Khala’il al-Luz area, specifically around the house of a member of the al-Ahmar family, amidst gunfire. Residents intervened and extinguished the blaze, which threatened to spread to several other homes.
- Attacking and beating a number of shepherds, resulting in injuries to Khalil Muslim Rashayda, 45 in the village of al-Rashayda.
- constructing a settlement road west of the Jab’a,village, cutting through land belonging to the town of Surif. The road is 2 km long and 6 m wide, and this construction will confiscate hundreds of dunams of agricultural land, preventing Palestinian landowners from accessing their fields.
- Bullding a settlement road in the Hanjaliya area, west of the village, leading to an existing settlement outpost. This project threatens the confiscation of more agricultural land and further restricts Palestinian access to their fields.
Ramallah:
- Storming the Arab Ka abneh community east of Ramallah, raided the home of Naif Ka abneh, vandalized his property, and caused damage.
- Attacking the outskirts of the Mughayyir village, cut through a metal fence surrounding a plot of land, and then released their livestock to graze their sheep there, damaging crops and trees.
- Bulldozing land near the town of Taybeh, in the area opposite the Abu Faza a residences east of the town.
- Erecting a fence around large areas of land between the towns of al-Mazra a al-Sharqiya and Kafr Malik to establish a settlement outpost in the area.
Nablus:
- Injuring a 16-year-old boy after being attacked with stones by settlers at the Awarta checkpoint. He was taken to the hospital.
- Injuring brothers Nasser and Ali Sufian Maher Bani Fadl in an attack by settlers in Khirbet al-Tawil in the town of Aqraba, east of Nablus.
- Attacking the council staff in Asira al-Qibliya village with stones and pepper spray. The staff, who were accompanying firefighters to extinguish a fire between the village and the village of Awarta, were attacked by settlers after they managed to put out the fire. Two vehicles were damaged, and the head of the council, Abdul Qader Makhlouf, and council member Ibrahim Ahmed suffered from smoke inhalation.
- Attacking the Al-Hisba area in the town of Beita, assaulting a guard before spraying him with pepper spray.
- Grazing cows on agricultural lands belonging to the two villages of the Beit Dajan and Salem, east of Nablus, continuing the policy of seizing Palestinian lands and displacing their owners.
Jenin:
- Notifying to stop construction work on 7 houses in the village of Aba al-Sharqiya, east of Jenin, under the pretext of building without a permit, located in the southeastern side of the village. They were given 20 days to object to the occupation courts´-or-prove the license for their homes. The notifications coincided with the occupation forces continuing to bring more caravans, leveling lands, and building roads to the site of the ‘Ganim settlement’ evacuated in 2005 according to the unilateral withdrawal plan, ‘disengagement’, and to a camp that the occupation forces began to establish, during recent weeks, near the site of the settlement located in the southeastern side of the village.
Jordan Valley:
- Storming a number of citizens’ homes in Khirbet Ras al-Ahmar, southeast of Tubas in the northern Jordan Valley, wreaking havoc and destroying a surveillance camera system in the area.
- Closing a -dir-t road linking the city of Tubas and Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas Khirbet, impeding the movement of citizens and their vehicles. They also attacked a water transmission line hundreds of meters long in the area, which citizens use to water their livestock.

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