An integrated Israeli system provides legal and political cover for settler crimes.

Settlement Weekly Report 1 – 7 August, 2026
By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that a wide range of media outlets and social media platforms have witnessed a massive wave of condemnation and outrage following the disclosure of statements made to the BBC by lawyer Yehuda Shimon, a resident of the Havat Gilad settlement outpost and legal representative of settlers accused of assaulting Palestinians. In his remarks, Shimon called for the killing of residents of the villages of Tell, Sarra, Jit, and Far ata in the Nablus and Qalqilia Governorates, and openly incited violence and mass killing against entire Palestinian communities. His statements reflect a blatant disregard for Palestinian lives and a deeply alarming incitement against civilians.
Such statements aren’t new, they date back to Aug. 2024, and gained relevance and significance due to the dangerous role played by this lawyer and others employed by an Israeli Human Rghts organization called Honenu, which defends Jewish terrorism in the West Bank. At the time, those shocking statements came in the wake of a widespread wave of violent attacks by settlers on Palestinian villages adjacent to the abovementioned settlement outpost, which he again tried to justify as a natural retaliatory reaction after the killing of an Israeli security guard during the criminal act committed by the occupation army and the terrorists of ‘Havat Gilad’ against the town of ‘Tel’ on 24 July.

Who, then, is lawyer Yehuda Shimon? According to many sources, he is one of the most prominent students of the extremist Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, the spiritual father of the terrorist ‘Hill Youth and the Price Tag’ in particular and the most extremist settlers in the West Bank in general. Shimon the lawyer publicly adopts the fatwa and ideas issued by this rabbi, as the racist doctrine is consistent with the statements made by Yehuda Shimon to the BBC, stating that ‘the life of one Jew is worth the lives of 10 million Palestinians,’ in a -dir-ect quote and application of Ginzburg’s teachings, which state that ‘the blood of Jews has a higher value and cannot be compared with the blood of nations other than Jews.’
Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg is the head of a religious school in the Yitzhar settlement, south of the city of Nablus, which is the main stronghold of his followers from the terrorist ‘Hill Youth’ groups. He has controversial books, such as the book ‘The King’s Doctrine,’ which discusses cases of the permissibility of killing non-Jews, and other writings in which he publicly glorified the massacre of the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, which was carried out by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein in 1994, which resulted in the martyrdom of 29 Palestinian worshipers.
Near the Yitzhar settlement, where the religious school headed by the aforementioned hate-mongering rabbi is located, lies the Havat Gilad outpost southwest of Nablus, between the settlements of Yitzhar and Kedumim, the latter being the home of lawyer Shimon. This outpost encircles Palestinian towns such as Tell, Far ata, and Jit, it was established in 2002, it aims to further isolate Nablus and its surrounding villages, severing the geographical contiguity between the Nablus and Qalqilia Governorates.
It began as a haphazard settlement outpost with caravans, and previous Israeli evacuation orders were issued against it but never enforced. In 2018, the Israeli government approved granting it the status of a ‘new town’ to facilitate its connection to infrastructure and formally legitimize it. The occupation authorities also approved the transfer of hundreds of dunams of Palestinian land belonging to the Tell town and the villages of Jit and Far ata to ‘state land’ for the purpose of expanding the outpost, which is considered one of the most violent and extremist settlement outposts in the West Bank.
The lawyer continues to be a prominent figure in providing an integrated system of legal and political support, which legitimizes and protects settler attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. He is the legal representative of those accused of violence and terrorism and officially works as a lawyer for a right-wing extremist Israeli organization called ‘Honenu’, which is a legal organization that provides support, prosecution, and free defense of settlers and extremist Jews accused of committing violent crimes and terrorist operations against Palestinians in the West Bank.
He was, and still is, cooperating with a number of other lawyers specialized in protecting settler groups involved in acts of violence and terrorist crimes against Palestinians. Among the most prominent of those, who were associated with his work´-or-shared the same activity with him, is Ben Gvir, who is considered one of the most prominent names associated with the organization, before he became Minister of National Security, he continued to cooperate with Adi Kedar ‘the main lawyer and chief legal representative of the Honenu organization’.
The Kedar, leading the legal team that includes Yehuda Shimon, is -dir-ectly responsible for major Jewish terrorism cases, such as defending those accused of the crime of burning the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma in 2015, and the murder of Aisha Al-Rabi, 2018 at the Za’atara Checkpoint, south of the city of Nablus, where Kedar succeeded in pressing for the release of the accused and transferring him to house arrest in the nearby ‘Rahalim’ settlement during the trial period, and many of the crimes committed by the settlers that resulted in the burning of homes and cars and the shooting of live bullets at civilians.
As a group, the lawyers form an organized judicial network supported by huge government and external funding, whose primary goal is to thwart any attempts to hold them accountable, and ensure their speedy release to keep attacking the West Bank.
More broadly, this reveals the double standards practiced by many countries, especially in the EU and USA, we point here to the enormous pressures that the Palestinian side is exposed to in its dealings with the allocations for Palestinian prisoners, martyrs and wounded, while an Israeli human rights organization is turned a blind eye, sponsored by the occupying state and whose budgets are fed by American and European parties. The ‘Honino organization’ pursues an organized policy to provide -dir-ect financial support, salaries, and rewards to the families of extremist settlers imprisoned on the grounds of committing terrorist crimes´-or-acts of violence against Palestinians, ensuring their steadfastness in the investigation and not confessing to crimes during the investigation, and encouraging others to carry out similar attacks.
Honini, under the eyes of the occupation government, provides fixed monthly salaries to the wives and families of detainees, allocating regular monthly sums of money to the families of settlers convicted of murders´-or-burning Palestinian homes, to cover living expenses throughout the period of serving their sentence in prison, and regularly depositing sums of money in the personal accounts of settlers inside the prisons, to enable them to buy their daily needs and pay childcare allowances. The organization grants rewards and additional assistance to families who have children, including covering the costs of schools, religious events, and family celebrations to compensate for the absence of the breadwinner and cover the entire expenses of transporting family members and wives from the settlements to Israeli prisons to visit their families.
It provides financial rewards through ‘community support funds’: In parallel with the salaries, the organization launches special online donation campaigns to collect millions of shekels for the families of specific settlers who committed major crimes, such as, ‘the killers of the Dawabsha family´-or-Aisha al-Rabi’, and delivers these funds as ‘resilience grants’ to the families. The funds come mainly from tax exempt donations made by wealthy people and right-wing organizations in the USA and Israel, in addition to in-dir-ect facilities and cover from extremist Israeli government agencies.
Meanwhile, in a related settlement development activities and plans of the Occupation Authorities, the Knesset Finance Committee held an extraordinary session last week during the election recess to approve the allocation of hundreds of millions of shekels for settlement expansion. The committee discussed allocating NIS 335,000,000, part of a long list of budgets that had not yet been finalized in a session held the previous weekend. If approved, the Settlement Ministry s budget for this year will reach a record high of NIS 821,000,000, in addition to NIS 944,000,000 in future financial commitments, exceeding the budgets of 15 other ministries.
Alongside the session, Finance Minister and Minister of Settlement Affairs in the Ministry of Army, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the allocation of NIS 113,000,000 for the so called ‘development of more than 70 archaeological and heritage sites" in the West Bank, describing the move as unprecedented.’
At this point, according to the Hebrew Channel 7, the Settlement Council in the northern West Bank, headed by Yossi Dagan, announced the allocation of NIS 50,000,000 within the framework of a 5-year plan to develop the education sector and educational institutions in the settlements in the northern West Bank, as the aforementioned council plans what it calls the qualification of students in rhetoric, artificial intelligence, and the English language, and training students in the Israeli novel in the world.
The considerable funds allocated by the Occupation Authorities to settlement expansion go hand in hand with military orders to benefit destructive settlement activities. The occupation authorities continue to expand in issuing these orders to seize citizens’ lands in various governorates of the West Bank. In the first half of this year, it issued 40 military seizure orders for military purposes to control Palestinian lands, and the total Palestinian areas that were seized´-or-restricted during the first half of 2026, according to the “-union- for Justice” Foundation, amounted to about 6,860 dunums.
Followed by 22 new military orders last July to seize control of more lands, especially in the Tubas and Jenin Governorates, and to transform the ‘Givat Zeev settlement’, 5 km northwest of the city of Jerusalem, into a municipality and allocate financial funding to support the consolidation of settlement and isolate Palestinian communities, regardless of the international position, which condemned such measures and considered -convert-ing the settlement to a municipality an illegal unilateral measure, its goal is to undermine the so called two-state solution.
In fact, last month witnessed an escalation in settlement decisions and plans, and the establishment of new facts on the ground through structural expansion and the legalization of settlement outposts and pastoral farms. The most prominent settlement decisions and plans that were approved´-or-revealed during the month included the expansion of the ‘Eli settlement’ ‘south of Nablus’ by building 763 new settlement units and tripling its population in the coming years with the aim of accommodating thousands of additional settlers and developing outposts and pastoral farms belonging to it.
In addition to the structural plan for the ‘Gush Etzion bloc’, south of the West Bank, where the general assembly of the so-called ‘Gush Etzion Regional Council’ approved on 20 July a large scale settlement structural plan for the area located southeast of the ‘Tekoa settlement’, extending over an area of about 6,000 dunams. It is being promoted in cooperation between the ‘Gush Etzion Regional Council, the Tekoa settlement, and the Amana Settlement Movement’ to establish residential areas, tourist facilities, employment areas, agricultural lands, in addition to open spaces and roads in the area between the villages of Tekoa and Al-Maniya and the lands that were classified as a nature reserve east of the city of Bethlehem.
Through a series of new military decisions, the occupation forces confiscated a large area of land in the city of Al-Bireh, to build settlement roads to serve settlers in the nearby Beit El settlement. The military decisions target this area leading to St. 60, which penetrates the West Bank from north to south, where orders were issued to seize the Palestinian lands surrounding it from both sides.
On another street works also continue at the entrance to the Beit El settlement, west of Beitin village in the area separating the village from the settlement, with the aim of connecting the Beit El and Psagot settlements and St. 60 without passing through the current road used by the Palestinians. The area of the targeted area is estimated at between 300 and 400 dunums of land, all of which was confiscated pursuant to these military orders.
With regard to the settlement plans, the District Planning and Building Committee in Jerusalem decided at the end of last month, according to the ‘Ir Amim Association’, to deposit a plan to build about 2,300 settlement units on an area of 195 dunums to expand the ‘Gilo settlement’ southwest of occupied Jerusalem. The project will push the aforementioned settlement south to the outskirts of St. 60, the main road linking East Jerusalem with the Bethlehem area in the West Bank. With the continuation of construction work in the ‘Givat Hamatos settlement’ and plans to expand the ‘Har Homa settlement’, the project constitutes an additional step towards completing the geographical separation between Jerusalem and the southern West Bank.
In accordance to the association, about 28 dunums of land included in the plan were confiscated from their Palestinian owners under the Absentee Property Law, then classified as “state land” and allocated for the benefit of settlement expansion. The site designated for construction includes large olive groves, including perennial trees dating back decades, which reflects the private Palestinian ownership of these lands, the implementation of the project will likely lead to the uprooting of these trees as construction work begins.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Expanding a settlement outpost in the Beit Iksa town, northwest of Jerusalem, where they brought bulldozers and heavy machinery and began bulldozing and leveling the lands, in a move aimed at strengthening their settlement presence in the area, protected by the occupation forces.
- Attacking the bus driver, Mo’atasem Al-Qaq, and severely beaten him, where he suffered injuries and bruises, after which he was taken to the hospital.
- Cutting the main water line supplying the ‘Al-Mahtosh, Al-Ara’ra, and Al-Tabneh communities’, deprived residents of drinking and irrigation water.
- Attacking the Armenian Church in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, by throwing stones and spitting at its entrance en masse.
- Handing over demolistion orders to a number of homes and facilities, including, the house of Zaki Abd Al-Rahman’s sons in the Jaba town., which consists of 4 floors, the house of the Dweik family, which consists of 4 floors, and the house of Radaida, as well as 2 livestock barns belonging to Atta Mlihat.
Hebron:
- Attacking Adham Al-Wawi in the Wadi Ma in area of Masafer Yatta, he sustained injuries that required his hospitalization, they also vandalized his vehicle.
- Setting fire to the vehicle of Mu taz Moh’d Ghunaimat and damaged another vehicle in the Surif town. They also attempted to set fire to a house and spray-painted racist slogans on walls in the Deir-Nil area of the town. Moreover, they attacked homes and vehicles in the Al-Jalatiya Neighborhood east of the town, pelting them with stones and preventing Red Crescent ambulance crews from reaching the scene.
- Attacking houses belonging to the Al-Daghameen family in Khirbet Al-Kharaba, southeast of the Al-Samo a town, grazed their livestock on their land and vandalized residents property in the area.
- Opening fire on citizens in the Al-Shuyokh town, resulted in 2 injuries, they also released their cows into the lands and properties of citizen Khalil Mughnem in the Al-Rahniya area of Yatta, south of Hebron, caused damage to trees and fences. This was occurred before the settlers attacked members of the family by spraying them with pepper spray, resulting in injuries to several family members.
- Demolishing 2 rooms and a health unit of the Mixed Basic School in Masafer Yatta, which provides educational services to about 60 male and female students.

Bethlehem:
- Attacking Yahya Alyan, while he was on his land in the Abu Injim area, east of Bethlehem, severely beaten and sprayed him with pepper gas, which led to him suffocating and suffering from bruises and wounds.
- Expanding a settlement outpost in the Janata village, and bulldozed agricultural lands in the Beit Iskaria village with the aim of expanding the ‘Gush Sarim settlement’ by moving the main gate located in the middle of the ‘Gush Etzion’ settlement bloc.
- Bulldozing agricultural lands and uprooted scores of trees in the Battir town. Moreover, settlers grazed their sheep on the lands and among the uprooted trees. In Beit Jala
- Forcing 3 citizens to demolish their homes in Beit Jala city in order to avoid paying heavy fines and demolition costs if carried out by the occupation, besides forcing citizen Bassem Sabri to demolish his son Moh’d’s house, which was under construction in the Bir Aouna area in the city.
- Storming the ‘Qarnet-Damas’ area in the Nahalin town, and demolished 2 inhabited houses, each consisting of 2 floors, and a commercial facility for selling iron, with an area of about 3,000m2, after they stormed the town, they stationed in the ‘Khalayel-Qas’ area.
Ramallah:
- Attacking citizens vehicles in the Ein Samiya area, east of the Kafr Malek town, and threw stones at the vehicles, which resulted in the shattering windows of a truck.
- Storming the outskirts of the Sinjil town, and carried out orgies in the ‘Gharaba area’, and in the Turmusaya town, settlers expanded a pastoral outpost established in the town’s plain by bringing equipment and machinery to the area, in a move aimed at strengthening control over more land.
- Bringing building materials for a settlement outpost established on the outskirts of the Al-Taybeh village, east of Ramallah, while another group of them gathered at the village crossroad.
- Assaulting the citizen, Issam Mah’d Radwan, and his wife, Nahil Youssef, while they were on their farm in the Zarqa area in the village of Bitello, which led to them sustaining wounds and bruises that required their transfer to the hospital.
- Attacking a sheep farm west of Al-Mughayyir and fired live bullets, wounding a 10 year old child with a bullet in the back.
- Fencing land next to the Abu Fazza community, in the Taybeh town, as part of attempts to impose new realities and impose restrictions on citizens.
- Expanding a settlement outpost in the Kafr Ana area in the lands of the town of Silwad, specifically within plot no. 63 of Basin no. 16 as part of the ongoing expansion of the outpost.
- Demolishing a house under construction and a horse farm in the Jabal Al-Asour area in the village of Kafr Malik, east of Ramallah, under the pretext of being located in areas C.
Nablus:
- Attacking Palestinian homes in the area between the villages of Jalud and Talfit, setting fire to 3 vehicles that were completely destroyed. I
- Damaging the power in the town of Madama, south of Nablus. They cut down power poles for the second time in a week, damaging the grid and causing power outages in parts of the area.
- Bulldozing Palestinian-owned land in the villages of Odla and Awarta, south of Nablus, to construct new roads and expand an outpost..
Jenin:
- Destroying part of the tobacco crops in the Arraba town, south of Jenin, and pelted Palestinian vehicles with stones along the road leading to the town’s western entrance. Moreover, settler shepherds also spread out their livestock near the western entrance of the town, obstructed the movement of residents.
- Establishing a new settlement outpost following the construction of a military road in the Faqqu’a village, linking the area to the main road connecting Faqqu’a and Arabona.
- Issuing demolition orders for 40 commercial structures, giving their owners 7 days to demolish them. The orders were issued under the pretext of an -orderby the Israeli occupation army’s military commander in the West Bank, citing construction without licenses. The structures include commercial shops under construction, sheds used to sell vegetables and agricultural and electrical supplies, as well as restaurants and garages, located around the Al-Badiya Crossroad’, which connects the eastern areas of Jenin Governorate with the city center.
- Handing over a demolition order to Mustafa Al-Safeer, a resident of Silat Dhahr, for an industrial facility he owns. The facility includes a two-story building of 300m2, as well as another building measuring 120m2. He was also ordered to remove the industrial equipment from the facility in preparation for its demolition within 7 days.
Jordan Valley:
- Pursuing settlement expansion plans in the northern Jordan Valley by establishing a new settlement called ‘Beitaron’ in the Um Abar area, as the occupation is preparing to bring in about 20 settler families to live in the settlement, in a move aimed at consolidating control over the area and imposing more settlement facts on Palestinian lands.
- Erecting a number of structures on the road leading to Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas, amid fears that it will be the nucleus of a new settlement outpost in the area, as they placed iron corners as a first step to fence off hundreds of dunams.

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