‘Blue Line Team’ As an Executive Tool of Occupation Authorities for Seizing Palestinian Land

Settlement Weekly Report 5 - 11 Sept, 2026
By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that two major events dominated the settlement landscape in the West Bank last week: the seizure of vast tracts of land in the northern and central West Bank by the so-called "Blue Line" team, and the British government s decision to impose sanctions on the occupying state by banning settlement products from ‘UK markets’.
In the first scene, Bezalel Smotrich is leading a frenzied campaign to seize Palestinian land as part of his election propaganda ahead of the 26th Knesset elections. To this end, he is relying on the so-called ‘Blue Line team’ within the Civil Administration. The team was officially established in 1999 as an executive arm of the occupation in the West Bank, tasked with identifying and formally and technically establishing ‘state land’ for use in settlement expansion, as well as resurveying and demarcating such land. This came after the occupation relied on outdated maps and surveying techniques in the 1970s and 1980s. The team, which comprises surveyors, cartographers, and legal experts, resurveys these lands using modern technologies and geographic information systems ‘GIS’, marking their boundaries in blue on official maps.
The team’s role was strengthened and turned into a high-speed executive tool according to the powers acquired by Bezalel Smotrich in the Army Ministry in agreement with the Likud Party and Netanyahu. Previously, the ‘Blue Line Team’ was subject to a military hierarchy led by the Minister of the Army and the Commander of the Central Region of the occupying army. Under political agreements, the authority to supervise the team and the land survey and registration operations was completely transferred to Smotrich and his civilian deputy - Helen Root - appointed to the Civil Administration.
This change removed the ‘brakes and security considerations’ that were sometimes imposed by the army, and made the team work with a completely political settlement agenda, what used to take the team years to approve and re-scan, is now completed within a few months´-or-perhaps weeks. Smotrich took advantage of the team to draw ‘blue lines’ around scores of random pastoral and agricultural outposts to legitimize and turn them into independent official settlements ‘as happened recently with the Hadat and Keda settlements’.
As part of Smotrich s settlement plan, huge budgets were pumped, jobs were created, and new surveyors and legal experts were appointed to enhance the technical capacity of the team, with the aim of accelerating the surveying operations of vast areas of the lands of Area C in the West Bank to establish them as ‘state lands’. Recently, Smotrich has increasingly relied on the team’s work, through it, the Occupation Authorities seized 7,498 dunums of land belonging to the Qabatya town in the Jenin Governorate, under a military order described as ‘immediate and urgent,’ citing ‘security and military’ grounds. Qabatya was specifically targeted because of its strategic geographical location in the vicinity of Jenin, as well as its role as a key link in plans for ‘silent annexation’ and the restructuring of military control in the northern West Bank.
The reasons for targeting Qabatya in particular lie in its strategic position, which is intended to help encircle the northern West Bank and isolate Jenin and its surrounding areas located south of Jenin, Qabatya serves as a major gateway to the city. Control over its land and the establishment of military towers there would give the occupation army comprehensive oversight, enabling it to isolate the city and its refugee camp from surrounding villages and towns. The area around Qabatia has also witnessed determined efforts to establish and expand new settlement outposts, such as, the ‘Noa and Emek Dotan outposts’ near Arraba, and to turn them into settlements, as recently occurred.
The occupation’s measures in the area are consistent with Israeli government policies aimed at providing permanent infrastructure to ensure the continued presence of settlers in the region and impose ‘silent annexation’ through military orders, as part of an escalating pattern of land seizures. These measures are not isolated, rather, they form part of a series of 15 military orders issued by the occupation army’s Central Command to seize land in Jenin Governorate for the construction of bypass roads. The total area of land targeted by the occupation authorities around Qabatya through the latest military orders announced in recent weeks has reached 13,769 dunums, under 2 military orders, the first issued in July 2026, targeted 6,271 dunums for ‘military and security uses,’ while simultaneously targeting the neighboring town of Arraba, while the second issued in Sept. 2026, targeted 7,498 dunums for the construction of a military road and an observation tower.
From the Qabatya town in the northern West Bank to the Al-Mughayir village in the center, settlement expansion is expanding to impose a new reality in a settlement plan that changes the situation in an unprecedented way. The head of the Village Council, Amin Abu Alia, describes the situation in his area as follows: ‘The people of the Al-Mughayir, northeast of Ramallah, remain with about 900 dunums out of 43,000 dunums due to the settlers’ control over a large area of land and the establishment of 11 new settlement outposts on its lands. The most prominent of these outposts and settlements, the Malachi Hashalom outpost’ that was established in 2001 and expanded significantly to include scores of residential units and caravans, it is considered a major center for herder settlers and targets vast areas of Al-Mughayir lands to the east.
The ‘Mtzudat David outpost’ is a pastoral settlement outpost located in the vicinity of the village lands and is used by settlers to control pastures. The ‘Givat´-or-Nehma outpost’ is a modern pastoral outpost that contributes to restrictions on Palestinian farmers and shepherds in the region. It brings together the ‘Adei Ad outposts’ to the north and northeast of the village, and is linked to a network of other settlement outposts, such as, Esh Kodesh and Ahiya forming a belt surrounding Al-Mughayir, and the neighboring villages, such as, Turmusaya and the ‘Shilo settlement’ - the mother settlement surrounding the area, whose pastoral outposts are fed by the support of its settlement councils to connect them to a bypass road network. These outposts ‘especially the pastoral ones’ deprive the people of Al-Mughayir from exploiting more than 42 thousand dunams of their fertile historical lands, and turn the village into a besieged isolation whose residents cannot move freely except in a narrow structural area.
As part of the ongoing measures against the Al-Mughayir village, and in connection with the dangers surrounding it, the Israeli authorities announced last week the theft of lands with an area of about 1,665 dunums, for the benefit of the two settlements of ‘Keda’, to the east of Shilo, on the lands of Jalud, Qariot, Turmusaya, Al-Mughir and ‘Hadat’, also to the east of the Shilo settlement, in a step that paves the way for the implementation of a broad settlement plan that includes the construction of more than a thousand housing units, after the conversion of Tafim. The Blue Line, which operates under the management of Smotrich as a technical and legal team affiliated with this administration, transforms this area from state land into land designated for settlement activity.
This step entails extreme strategic risks, as it represents the actual link linking the Dhahr Jabal settlements - Shilo bloc - to the Shafa Ghur area and the Palestinian Jordan Valley settlements. Geographically, the Shilo settlement bloc, which includes Hadat and Kida, is located on the peaks of the central highlands of the West Bank, known as ‘Dhahr Jabal.’
The lands of the ‘Keda settlement and the outposts surrounding Hadat’ extend eastward towards the eastern slopes -dir-ectly overlooking the Jordan Valley. This expansion aims to extend a continuous settlement line starting from the western coast (through settlements such as ‘Ariel, Eli, and Shilo,’ passing through Dhahr Jabal, descending through ‘Hadat and Keda’ to reach -dir-ectly the axis of the ‘Alon settlement’ line and the Jordan Valley agricultural settlements, though completing the plans of the Blue Line team in the region would isolate the north of the West Bank from its south when this settlement belt extending from the west to the far east ‘the Jordan Valley’ is completed.
On another front, the Israeli Central Court in occupied Jerusalem rejected a petition to freeze a tender for the construction of 1,234 settlement units in the E1 area,´-or-to halt the procedures related to implementing the plan. The court held that the start of actual construction remains a long way off and that the petitions filed against the project are likely to be resolved before it reaches the implementation stage. Judge Nimrod Felix said the period between the publication of the tender and the start of construction and any changes on the ground remains lengthy. He also pointed to the state’s undertaking that any subsequent progress in the tender procedures would not be considered a ‘fait accompli’ that would prevent the court from intervening.
The petition was filed last August as part of three consolidated petitions against the E1 plans, with the participation of Ir Amim, Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights, and Peace Now, along with Palestinian residents. In a joint statement, the three organizations criticized the court’s decision, saying it serves the Israeli government and gives it an opportunity to create facts on the ground during the final months of its term. They warned that implementing the E1 plan would strengthen annexation and undermine prospects for a political settlement, in addition to its implications for Palestinians living in the area.
In other development, Britain announced an economic boycott of settlement products and its intention to impose sanctions on ‘companies and individuals providing services, such as, construction, infrastructure, finance,´-or-real estate that supports the expansion of settlements.’ Coinciding with the British move, 12 nations announced plans to sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages in the occupied territories.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom affirmed their intention to impose national restrictions on trade in goods with settlements deemed illegal under international law, amidst escalating settler violence in the West Bank. The statement noted that French President Emmanuel Macron, British PM Andy Burnham, and Canadian PM Mark Carney agreed on the need for measures to prevent further deterioration of the situation, as settler violence reached unprecedented levels.
In this regard, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced last Tuesday, before the House of Commons, a ‘ban on imports of products from illegal settlements in the occupied territories,’ as well as sanctions against ‘companies and individuals providing services, such as, construction, infrastructure, finance´-or-real estate, that support the expansion of settlements.’ Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on settlements reflects a shift toward a tougher stance on Israel under the country’s new Labour PM, Burnham, who took office in July following the resignation of Keir Starmer.
Miliband had described the E1 settlement plan, adopted by Israel last year and involving the construction of more than 1,200 housing units, as ‘crossing red lines,’ arguing that it undermines the geographical contiguity of a future Palestinian State and risks making its establishment impossible. Meanwhile, French FM Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that France ‘will end trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.’
In response, the Israeli government announced a series of measures against Britain, including the closure of the British Consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, the expulsion of British representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center ‘CMCC’ on Gaza in ‘Kiryat Gat,’ and the suspension of British participation in training Palestinian Authority security forces. It also announced that it would bar 12 British figures from entering Israel, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a prominent advocate of the Palestinian cause.
U.S. alignment with the occupying state was swift, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that sanctions could destabilize the West Bank and that Washington wouldn’t ban imports from Israeli settlements. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee went further, warning of the repercussions of the sanctions and trade measures announced by Britain over products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
He noted that such measures would likely have broad negative consequences, pointing out that some U.S. states, including Florida, have laws that could restrict commercial dealings with entities taking similar action against Israel. He warned that British measures targeting Israel could trigger countermeasures affecting the ability of British companies to conduct business in some U.S. states.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Expanding the agricultural settlement outpost, established near the Mahtoush Bedouin community adjacent to Khan Al-Ahmar. The settlers have begun erecting a new fence surrounding the community, which restricts the movement of citizens and-limit-s their access to their lands, in an attempt to enable the settlement outpost to expand at the expense of the community’s lands.
- Forcing Shadi Obeidat to self-demolish his house under the pretext of building without a permit in Jabal Mukaber. They also demolished 3 houses and displaced their residents in the Beit Hanina town, belonging to the Abu Mayala family, which had been in place for about 20 years, which led to the displacement of 21 citizens, and 5 houses were notified for demolition in the north. Jerusalem, including a house near the Jaba Military Checkpoint, gave its owner 24 hours to evacuate it, and notified 4 others in the Coptic suburb of the town of Al-Ram to evacuate them within 2 days in preparation for their demolition.
- Handing over demolition orders to many owners of houses during their storming of the town of Al-Issawiya, north of the city, while bulldozers began demolishing in the Coptic suburb of the Al-Ram town, north of occupied Jerusalem, amid heavy firing of gas bombs around the area.
Hebron:
- Using dogs to attack women and children at the entrance to Al-Shuhada Street in central Hebron, causing them great terror.
- Releasing a herd of cattle near the homes of the Mughnam family in the Al-Rahniya area, djacent to the Susya settlement, and also in the yard of Moh’d Al-Najjar’s home in Khirbet Al-Markaz, in Masafer Yatta, as well as on the land and around the home of Moh’d Al-Jabarin in the eastern area of Sha b al-Butm.
Bethlehem:
- Storming the vicinity of the Sweis family home in the Khalayel al-Lawz area, tampered with the family’s property, destroyed a number of trees surrounding the house, and stole the barbed wire that surrounded the land.
- Setting up a tent near the entrance to the Rashayda village from the western side, which means the establishment of a settlement outpost in the place.
Ramallah:
- Constructing a settlement road on the lands of the Ni lin town, in ‘Wadi Ni lin’ to the north, with a length of up to 5 km, with the aim of reaching the Jabal Al-Alam area, which the settlers seized in 2021, and established a pastoral outpost on its lands.
- Storming the outskirts of Al-Mughayir village from the western side, and grazed their sheep on citizens’ lands and near their homes, others stormed the outskirts of Barqa village from the eastern side, and grazed their sheep on citizens’ agricultural lands, which led to damage to agricultural crops in the area, and attacked citizens, and targeted an ambulance, coinciding with the outbreak of confrontations with the village’s youth.
- Transporting wood towards the settlement outposts in the ‘Shaab al-Luz’ area, west of the village of al-Mughayir, and in the village of Deir Abu Mishal, settlers set up a new tent on ‘Jabal al-Qara’an’ as part of repeated attempts to establish a settlement outpost and seize more village lands.
Nablus:
- Handing over orders to stop work on a number of facilities and lands in the city of Nablus in Jabal Ajram in the Al-Maajin neighborhood in the city. The soldiers hung notices to stop work on a kindergarten belonging to the citizen Tariq Al-Majdalawi, the Future Hands Association, and a number of lands there, under the pretext that they are located in areas C.
- Storming Jabal Al-Arma in the town of Beita and obstructed the movement of citizens, and attempted to attack some houses in its vicinity. in the town of Awarta
- Storming the Awarta town and wrote racist and hostile slogans.
- Attacking the house of citizen Marouf Mohieddin Nasasra in the eastern neighborhood of the Beit Furik town and severely beaten him and his son, which required their transfer to the Friendship Medical Center in the town to receive treatment.
- Cutting off the water line connecting to a house in the village of Beit Imrin. They also cut off the electricity supply that feeds the Masoudiya area and prevented the local council from reaching the site to repair the fault.
- Attacking the area between the towns of Beita and Osrin, and cut and damaged a number of electricity poles, which led to a power outage to a number of homes.
Jenin:
- Bulldozing lands and uprooted olive trees near the village of Wadi Daouk, south of Jenin, including lands located on both sides of the street, at a distance of more than 50 meters from the main road, covering an area estimated at 27 dunams.
- Handing over demolition orders for 4 houses belonging to the children of the citizen Khaled Rahhal, in the Ras al-Shamali area of the Arraba town, on lands near which the ‘Emek Dotan settlement’ is being built. It also forced farmers to dismantle greenhouses built about 150 meters from the bypass road after notifying them of their removal.
Jordan Valley:
- Fencing areas of land in the Al-Hadidiya area in the northern Jordan Valley, threatening to deprive citizens of new pastoral and agricultural lands, and stole iron and plastic barrels that citizens use to store water to water their livestock.
- Attacking citizens and their homes and beaten them in Khirbet Al-Hamma in the northern Jordan Valley, and in the northern Yarza community, east of Tubas, settlers vandalized the water lines, which led to the water being cut off from the community, which resulted in a severe shortage of water that threatens the basic necessities of life.

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