Israel's Cabinet announced on Thursday (July 2nd) that it had approved a plan to establish 13 new settlements in the central West Bank, a move described by the Palestinian governorate of Jerusalem as "the most dangerous in years," stressing that the immediate goal is to completely isolate occupied Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and turn it into an isolated enclave.

The approval came as part of a broad settlement project that extends from northwest Jerusalem, west of Ramallah and Al-Bireh to the Jordan Valley, which means, according to the Jerusalem Governorate , the closure of the northern and western gates of the city to Palestinians, and the severing of the geographical connection between the center of the West Bank and the eastern slopes leading to the Jordan Valley.

Settlements are a blow to the two-state solution

Palestinian circles and forces warned that the new plan will lead to the dismemberment of the West Bank by legitimizing existing outposts and linking the major blocs to each other, in addition to controlling the heights and strategic traffic axes surrounding Jerusalem, thus strengthening Israel's control over the area.

The Jerusalem Governorate warned that this accelerated settlement belt aims to eliminate any future possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, considering that the project constitutes a "direct blow to the two-state solution" and represents a new stage in attempts to change the demographic and geographical reality in the city's vicinity.

Settlements gnaw away at thousands of dunams in the West Bank

During 2.26 months, the West Bank witnessed an unprecedented settlement boom, described by the competent Palestinian institutions as "the highest pace since the beginning of UN documentation in 2017", with a significant expansion of informal outposts and pastoral farms and the legalization of existing sites, which has brought a radical change in the map of Israeli control over the land.

According to data from the Palestinian Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements, the total number of settlement sites increased to 542 sites, including 192 major settlements, 350 outposts and pastoral farms, while the year 2025 alone witnessed the establishment of 59 new outposts, an increase of about 40% since the current Israeli government took office, and the number of settlers in the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – exceeded the 780,000 settler barrier.

Settlement outposts force 36,000 Palestinians to flee

Construction has witnessed an unprecedented boom, with the Supreme Planning Council of the Israeli Civil Administration approving 28,163 new housing units in 2025, the highest number recorded in a single year.

The Cabinet approved the legalization of dozens of informal outposts, including 19 in 2025 and 34 settlements and additional outposts in early 2026, which led to their transformation into official settlements that devour thousands of dunams.

The escalation of settler violence has led to the forced displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians, especially in Bedouin communities and areas in the northern West Bank, while the United Nations has documented 1,732 attacks carried out by settlers over the past year, including attacks on homes, farms and properties, in the context of an escalation that exacerbates the humanitarian situation and redraws the geographical and political landscape in the West Bank.