Israel unveils 1,024 new West Bank settlement homes

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian government agency has warned that Israel is pressing ahead with plans to build more than 1,000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank, describing the move as part of a broader strategy to deepen its control over Palestinian territory and further complicate hopes for a future peace agreement.

According to the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli authorities are advancing projects that would add 1,024 housing units across more than 1,069 dunams of Palestinian land. The commission said the plans reflect an accelerated campaign to expand existing settlements rather than establish entirely new ones.

The agency stated that Israel’s Higher Planning Council, which oversees settlement construction through the Civil Administration, has reviewed nine settlement projects since the beginning of July. Of the proposed homes, 455 units have received approval, while 569 units have entered additional planning procedures before final authorization.

Officials said the expansion focuses on increasing the size and population of established settlements through revised zoning regulations, denser construction and expanded residential areas. They argued that the policy is intended to strengthen settlement blocs and create permanent demographic changes across the occupied West Bank.

One of the largest approved projects involves the expansion of the Mevo Dotan settlement, located on land belonging to the Palestinian town of Arraba in the southern Jenin area. The plan includes 455 new housing units spread across nearly 539 dunams.

Meanwhile, two additional proposals seek to expand the Beit Hagai and Asael settlements in the Hebron governorate, adding 569 housing units on more than 519 dunams of land.

The commission accused Israel of using settlement planning as a comprehensive system to reshape the geography of the occupied territories by linking settlements through infrastructure projects while limiting Palestinian urban growth. It said these policies amount to a gradual consolidation of what it described as a de facto annexation of occupied land.

The issue remains one of the most contentious aspects of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United Nations and much of the international community consider Israeli settlements in territories captured in 1967 to be illegal under international law and have repeatedly warned that continued expansion undermines the viability of a negotiated two-state solution.

Palestinian leaders continue to seek an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while Israel disputes international interpretations regarding the legal status of the occupied territories. The latest settlement plans are expected to draw renewed international scrutiny amid ongoing tensions across the region.