Israeli Military Orders and Settler Terror, Two Sides of the Same Coin

Settlement Weekly Report 8 – 14 August, 2026

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that the irrationality of the Israeli Occupation Government knows no bounds, as its military orders continue to fall down across various governorates of the West Bank, Jenin has borne a particularly heavy share of such orders. Last July, Major General Avi Ballut, Commander of the Central Region, signed 15 orders to seize land, some of it located within Area A, in order to connect the ‘Emek Dotan settlement’, adjacent to the Arraba town, with the ‘Nawa settlement’, north of Qabatia, for an apparent civilian settlement purpose rather than a temporary security purpose. On the 6th of this month, several of these orders came into effect.
The 1st was a military order to remove trees and plants from land belonging to the Ya’bad town, at the main entrance, covering an area of 51.26 dunums, the 2nd targeted land in Arraba, along the Arraba -Ya’bad road, covering about 66.698 dunums, the 3rd ordered the removal of trees and plants from land at the main entrance to Arraba, covering 32.21 dunums, the 4th targeted land in Arraba along the Jenin - Nablus road, covering 52.44 dunums, the 5th targeted land in Arraba along the same road, opposite Fahma camp, covering 71.81 dunums, the 6th military order targeted land belonging to the towns of Anza and Ajja, covering 36.45 dunums.
The 7th ordered the seizure of 3.5 dunums of land belonging to the Marka town, in the Al-Hafirah area south of Jenin. Nor does the matter end there. The governorate is groaning under the weight of military orders aimed at seizing town lands for the construction of new military bases, including in Area A. The same is the case in the Jabriyat Neighborhood in central Jenin, where plans call for the establishment of a military camp that threatens the security of the local population and could contribute to their displacement.
Another military site is being planned in Al-Yamon, where more than 22 dunums of town land have been allocated for the construction of a military site and its access road in the northern part of the governorate, to build ‘military roads’ and fragment the geography of southern Jenin, the Occupation Authorities issued a package of 15 military orders at once, seeking to seize control of about 200 dunums of land belonging to the towns of Arraba, Qabatia, Al-Yamon, Masliya, Marka, and Jarba. The orders are intended for the construction and expansion of military and settlement roads stretching more than 11 km.
It is not easy to determine the precise number of military orders issued since the formation of the far-right government headed by Netanyahu and his partners Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in late 2022, due to their sheer number and variety, ranging from confiscation orders and land seizure orders to demolition and closure orders, among others. However, data issued by Palestinian bodies, such as, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission and the National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement, reveals an unprecedented surge in these orders. For example, 114 military orders were issued between Oct 7, 2023 - 2026, expanding settlement boundaries.
A number is roughly equivalent to the total number of military orders issued in this area over the previous 20 years combined. These orders added more than 25,000 dunams to the settlements and paved the way for the establishment of 53 new settlements, outposts, and pastoral farms. Furthermore, about 173 land seizure orders, issued ‘for security and military purposes’, -dir-ectly confiscated around 4,211 dunams. The orders were used to create ‘security buffer zones’ around settlements, and alternative military roads were constructed to connect settlement outposts, about 140 military confiscation orders were classified under the pretext of ‘security needs’.
Reports documented that 81% of the orders were used exclusively to serve settlers and pastoral outposts, such as, providing thes outposts with electricity and water and constructing road networks. The occupation also issued a series of military orders that paved the way for the confiscation of more than 20,000 dunams in various areas of the West Bank, further entrenching a reality that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Setting aside the figures, despite their significance, the seriousness of the situation lies in the ‘administrative coup’ led by Smotrich after the Occupation Government in June 2023 canceled the traditional military path to ratifying settlement and building settlements by transferring absolute legal and military authority to the Minister at the Ministry of the Army, Smotrich. The military orders were no longer merely ‘temporary’ measures, but rather turned into permanent administrative decisions to impose Israeli civilian sovereignty over the area designated ‘C’. Smotrich is considered the actual driver of this unprecedented boom in issuing military orders, and his -dir-ect role is to issue and -dir-ect these orders through multiple paths.
He takes over the powers of the ‘Civil Administration’ in accordance with the coalition agreements with Likud and appoints him as a second minister in the Ministry of Army, which enabled him to effect an administrative coup by establishing the ‘Settlement -dir-ectorate’ -dir-ectly affiliated to him within the Ministry and appointing a civilian deputy head of the Civil Administration and granting him full powers to manage life and planning affairs in area C.
During these orders, through which we shed light on what is happening in a number of West Bank governorates, for example but not-limit-ed to, and the accompanying ‘closed military zones and firing zones’, large areas of the West Bank are transformed into military training areas, which justifies the demolition of Palestinian communities and the displacement of their residents and their subsequent conversion to legitimize settlement outposts. By demolishing homes and preventing construction, the Civil Administration imposes impossible restrictions on the urban expansion of Palestinians in Area C, and in East Jerusalem, by denying permits under military orders, Palestinians are deprived of building permits.
These military orders are also issued with the aim of controlling water and natural resources, as water sources in the West Bank are entirely subject to Israeli military control through extended and new orders, such as, ‘orders 92, 158, and 456’. By prohibiting the drilling of wells, Palestinians are prevented from digging new water wells´-or-even collecting rainwater´-or-maintaining springs without a military permit, which leads to the drying up of Palestinian agriculture.
In addition to the Jenin Governorate, Nablus bears a great burden, as military orders constitute an essential tool for imposing and establishing Israeli settlement in the heart of the governorate, besides suffocating its city and villages, as these military orders control the entrances to the city of Nablus and turn it into a large prison, through these military orders, the occupation forces impose a strict siege through fixed checkpoints, such as, the ‘Huwwara, Beit Furik, Deir Sharaf, Al-Murabba’, Sarra and Awarta Checkpoints’, disrupting the movement of more than 400,000 citizens daily.
Military orders are also used to close the entrances to entire villages and towns, such as, ‘Barqa, Beita, Yatma, Al-Sawiya, Aqraba, Osrin, and Douma’ with earth mounds and iron gates, forcing citizens to take rugged alternative roads to reach their jobs and universities e.g. ‘An-Najah National University’, as well as legitimizing settlement outposts the ‘Avitar outpost’ on Mount Subeih as an example.
Military orders are also exploited to provide a ‘legal’ cover to seize the lands of southern towns of Nablus, such as ‘Beta, Qabalan, and Yatma’ and the expansion of the ‘Eli and Shilo settlements’, as the new military orders included the seizure of hundreds of dunums of land from the villages of Qariot, Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, and Al-Sawiya to expand these settlements, in addition to orders to confiscate thousands of dunams surrounding the settlements, such as, the ‘Yitzhar and Elon Moreh settlements’, to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their lands and olive fields
The same is also the case with the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, where orders to seize governorate lands constitute the most prominent strategic goal of Israeli military orders, through a system aimed at strangling the Palestinian Administrative Capital, isolating it from its rural surroundings, and fragmenting its geographical extension for the benefit of the project. Military orders are used to close the entrances to entire villages with iron gates and earth mounds, such as, ‘Sinjil, Turmusaiya, Abween, Nabi Saleh, and Ni’lin’, which turns these villages into separate ghettos. Residents are forced to take long, bumpy -dir-t roads to reach the governorate center.
The governorate is also witnessing a settlement attack that is legally covered by military orders to seize ‘for security and military purposes’ the construction of bypass roads, as thousands of dunams of land were confiscated from the towns of Michmas, Deir Dibwan, Burqa, and Al-Ram to build and expand bypass roads, legitimize pastoral outposts, and expand the major settlements surrounding Ramallah, such as, ‘Beit El, Psagot, Talmon, Dolev, and Benjamin’ complex, at the expense of citizens’ lands in Beitin, Deir Jarir, Al-Mazra’a Al-Gharbiyya, and Silwad. The Civil Administration and the army are also pursuing Palestinian facilities and homes in areas C in the governorate, such as, the villages of Kafr Ni’ma, Deir Ibzi’, Bil’in, and Kharbatha Bani Harith under the pretext of ‘building without a license’, which prevents many villages from expanding.
As for settlement activities, the Israeli ministers, members of the Knesset, and a number of senior settler leaders inaugurated, on the 8th of this month, a new settlement south of Jenin, called ‘Emek Dotan’, on the lands of the Arraba town, south of the Jenin city. The scenes showed the head of the North West Bank Settlements Council, Yossi Dagan, reciting what is known as the ‘rite of blessing’, which is recited when establishing a new settlement. The occupation forces evacuated the northern mountain area in the town and asked the residents to leave, and turned 2 houses into military barracks in the area to ensure the access of Knesset members and officials to the new settlement, to which the occupation brought 25 mobile homes in addition to tents.
The Occupation Army Radio reported that 22 Israeli families settled in the new settlement, and that about 300 families registered their names to settle in the northern West Bank. The inauguration of this settlement represents the first step within a broader plan to establish 34 new settlements in the West Bank, including 6 settlements in the Jenin Governorate.
The list in Jenin, in addition to ‘Emek Dotan’, includes the settlements of ‘Aloni Shomron’, ‘Rom Gilboa’, ‘Ma’yanot’, ‘Noa’, and ‘Ta’nakh’ within the framework of what is known as the ‘Contact Plan´-or-the One Million in the Shomron project’ – 1,000,000 settlers in Samaria. The new settlement was established on a site previously occupied by the ‘Menashe Brigade’ camp of the Occupation Army, before it was evacuated during the implementation of the disengagement plan in 2005.
At the same time, the Occupation Authorities issued a tender to build 627 new settlement units in the ‘Kochav Ya’kov settlement’ in the Jerusalem Governorate on the lands of the Kafr Aqab town, north of occupied East Jerusalem. The Governorate said that they are continuing the policies of expanding settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories, noting that the tender was published on 6 Aug. and that the settlement plan, which includes 253 dunums of town’s land, was approved in April 2025.
The Governorate explained that the units will be built in the aforementioned settlement located between occupied Jerusalem and the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, with the aim of expanding the settlement and strengthening its connection to the surrounding settlement networks and roads, including the separation of the city of Jerusalem from Ramallah and Al-Bireh.
In Jerusalem, the Occupation Authorities recently advanced 3 new settlement projects encompassing the construction of over 3,400 settlement units. The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee submitted a plan for a new settlement comprising about 650 units in Nofei Rachel, at the main entrance to the Um Tuba Neighborhood south of Jerusalem, it also approved another plan for 450 units in the Um Lison settlement, located between the towns of Al-Mukabber and Sur Baher, in addition to a plan to expand the Gilo settlement between Jerusalem and Bethlehem by more than 2,300 units.
All of this occurred in less than 3 months before the Israeli elections, according to a report published by the Ir Amim Organization, the acceleration of these 3 plans at this time reflects an attempt to impose new facts on the ground, leaving the next Israeli government facing a settlement reality that will be difficult to repeal.
In Nablus, the Qosra town was largely circulated by the media, in which it dealt with the barbaric practices of the terrorist ‘Hill Youth’, which enjoys full political support from the Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben Gvir, and mysterious protection from the Occupation Army. The target is not only the homes of citizens on the outskirts of the town, but also the neighboring highlands and most of Ras Al-Ain.
The Israeli ‘B Tselem organization’ warned in this regard of attempts to displace 2 Palestinian families from their homes in the town and seize them in the context of the accelerating policy of ethnic cleansing, as these terrorists are making every effort to establish a settlement outpost in the courtyards of the two homes and continue to besiege them, in an attempt to push the 2 families to leave their homes and seize them.
The occupation army didn’t remove these terrorists from the place, nor did it take measures to protect the two families, rather, the pictures documenting the situation in the vicinity of the two houses show the occupation soldiers praying with the settlers in the place. Such behavior by the occupation soldiers is not new, as the Toubasi family experienced in neighboring Jalood last month, through besieging and occupying their home by these terrorists, in light of the full complicity of the occupation army, and what several villages and towns have experienced in recent months, including Ein Sinia, Turmusaya, Al-Masodiyah, Beita, Abu Falah, and many others.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Carrying out expansion work in the pastoral outpost that was established near the Jaba’ Bedouin Ma’azi Community, coincided with provocative actions and imposed restrictions on citizens in the area.
- Submitting a plan to establish a new settlement bearing the name ‘Novi Rachel’ at the main entrance to the Um Tuba Neighborhood in the south of occupied Jerusalem. The plan includes establishing about 650 settlement units on 27 dunums, in a location adjacent to Palestinian homes in Um Tuba, which makes it part of a series of settlement plans being pushed in the southern region of occupied Jerusalem.
- Notifying the demolition of homes in the Wadi Hummus area and the Sur Baher town, southeast of Jerusalem, noting that a number of homes threatened with demolition have been built for about 20 years.
Hebron:
- Setting fire to a house in Khirbet Um Zarit, south of Hebron, east of Shaab Batim village, while other settlers erected a tent on Palestinian-owned land east of Adiqqa village in Masafer Yatta, in a move seen as paving the way for a new settlement outpost.
- Attacking Palestinians at the Nabi Saleh Mosque in the Jalatiya Neighborhood of Idhna town, assaulted them under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
- Demolishing the home of Ibrahim Mufleh Atemin and, for the second time, filled in a water well belonging to Hashem Ibrahim Atemin in the Yatta desert.
- Issuing demolition orders for the Khirbet al-Daba School and several homes and farms in Masafer Yatta, in addition to orders to demolish brick and corrugated iron dwellings in the same area.
- Opening fire indiscriminately at shepherds while they were in the Wadi Bayda area, west of the town of Idhna, near the separation wall area, resulted in the death of 3 sheep and the injury of several others.
- Storming the Khallat Farra area west of the Yatta town, and demolished a 180m2 house belonging to Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Aliyan, who lives there with his family, along with a livestock pen, under the pretext of building without a license.
Bethlehem:
- Attacking the house of Ahmad Hajj in the Universities’ Housing area east of Bethlehem, smashed all its windows. They also grazed their sheep near homes in the Hamroush area of Beit Fajjar, while others were present near the home of Ibrahim Abu Awda in the Abu Najim area to the east.
- Shooting a Palestinian man with live ammunition in a settler attack in the Abu Najim village, then they attacked the ambulance that arrived to treat him, breaking its windows and spraying the crew with pepper spray, causing them to suffer from suffocation. Following this, the settlers blocked the village s main road.
- Storming the tourist site in the Solomon s Pools area located between the Khader town and Artas village. They positioned themselves at the second and third pools and performed Talmudic rituals, closed off the area and forced visitors to leave.
Ramallah:
- Attacking the Abu Falah village, amidst shooting in the village school, and in the Beit Ur Al-Tahta town, they stormed the town amidst shooting.
- Storming the outskirts of the village of Jaljalia in the Al-Batin area and wandered into citizens’ agricultural lands.
- Attacking the Al-Ka’bneh Community, east of the Al-Taybeh town, and released livestock into agricultural lands and near citizens’ homes, causing damage to crops and trees.
- Bulldozing land in favor of a settlement outpost in the Gharaba area northwest of the Sinjil town, in favor of expanding a settlement outpost that was established several months ago on citizens’ lands, with an area of about 10 dunams, and a ‘caravan’ was installed in it.
- Attacking citizens and foreign solidarity activists in the Al-Ka’bneh Community, which led to the solidarity member sustaining bruises in the face and head after being severely beaten, and stormed the home of citizen Nayef Al-Ka’bneh, in an attack that was repeated after a violent assault launched, which resulted in 3 citizens being injured with various injuries, injuring 6 citizens, including children and women in an attack by settlers on the Al-Mughair village, where they attacked citizens in the Al-Mughair plain, and fired tear gas at them while they plowing their land.
Nablus:
- Attacking 2 citizens, and beaten them in the Beit Furik town, east of Nablus, and injured 3 others as a result of settlers attacking them in the town of Beit Dajan while they were on their land in the eastern region of the town, which led to them sustaining various bruises and wounds.
- Storming the villages of Awarta, Osrin and Sura, south of Nablus, and the vicinity of the religious shrines in Awarta, and others surrounded a house on the outskirts of the Qasra town, south of Nablus, and set up a tent around it in new attempts to seize it. They also prevented those inside it from leaving´-or-receiving anyone. The house consists of 2 floors, belonging to citizen Loai Abdel Moneim Abu Rida, who resides in the United States and holds American citizenship, while inside it are his brother Qosai and his son Ahmed, in addition to members of the Abu Rida family.
- Storming citizens’ lands and carried out provocative actions against the residents in the Khirbet Marajim community.
Salfeet:
- Issuing a military order to seize lands belonging to the Marda village under the pretext of ‘military purposes’, in a strategic location north of the ‘Ariel settlement’. The order targets lands from basin n. 3 of Marda lands, in the ‘Wadi Qasim and Kafif Abhar areas’. Maps included in this military order reveal that the targeted plot of land is located -dir-ectly south of St. 505, at a road junction leading to the area north of the ‘Ariel, at a point midway between Marda and Jamma in, which gives the location strategic importance in terms of monitoring and controlling the movement in the area.
Jordan Valley:
- Attacking Palestinian houses, threatening residents with expulsion, fenced off more land in the Hammamat Malih area of the northern Jordan Valley. Fencing off land belonging to the Latin Patriarchate in Hammamat Malih, effectively closing it off to Palestinians.
- Destroying a water pipeline that supplies crops and families in the Ras Ahmar area, they also bulldozed in Khirbet Yarza agricultural structure belonging to Sae’d Ahmed Sae’d, claiming it was built without a license.
- Attacking Palestinians and their property in the Ein Hilweh Community, they also harassed shepherds in Khirbet Hadidiya, while Israeli forces forced them to leave their lands.

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