Israeli Government Accelerates Settlement Expansion in West Bank, New Report Reveals

A comprehensive 65-page report released by left-wing organizations Peace Now and Kerem Navot details extensive settlement activity promoted by the Israeli government in the West Bank from 2023 to 2025. The report highlights the establishment of 185 new outposts, including around 130 farms and hilltop communities, alongside plans for 40,064 new housing units. In 2025 alone, 27,941 housing units were advanced, more than double the previous annual record.

The report also notes the legalization and regulation of 102 new settlements and outposts, and the declaration of 25,959 dunams as state land, nearly half of all such land declared since the Oslo Accords. Infrastructure development included the construction of at least 223 kilometers of new roads and agricultural expansion over 11,520 dunams by Jewish residents. The report states that farm outposts now cover over one million dunams.

A significant structural change identified is the transfer of broad civilian authority from the Civil Administration and military command to Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Settlement Administration within the Defense Ministry. This shift, described by Smotrich as a "DNA change" in the system, includes control over planning, construction, land registration, infrastructure, roads, nature reserves, and enforcement. The removal of the requirement for Defense Minister approval at each stage of building plans reportedly accelerated planning processes.

The report also covers the resettlement efforts in northern Samaria following the lifting of restrictions on Israeli entry to areas evacuated during the disengagement plan. Renewed development occurred in Huwara, Sha-Nur, Ganin, and Kadim, with additional settlements promoted around Jenin and Samaria, alongside investments in infrastructure, roads, and heritage sites. It further documents the eviction of 118 Palestinian communities and herding groups between 2023 and 2025, primarily due to violence and restricted access to grazing and water.

While the report sharply criticizes the government’s policies as a deliberate effort to deepen Israeli control over the West Bank, the data presented clearly illustrates the scale of settlement, construction, infrastructure, land management, and civilian administrative activity undertaken during the government’s three-year tenure.