Report: Israel Pushes New Settlement Projects to Alter Geography of Northern West Bank

The National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance reported that Israeli authorities are pressing ahead with 18 new or expanded colonies, including Yahnit near Jenin and Rosh HaAyin Mizrahit in Salfit. Several outposts and grazing farms are being legalized and integrated into Israel’s settlement master plan.

Plans include a colonial road linking Homesh to the Jordan Valley, effectively severing Nablus from Jenin. Sanur settlement is set for expansion with 126 permanent units around its historic fortress. Satellite data shows extensive bulldozing in Shaked–Reihan bloc west of Jenin, extending settlement influence into Areas A and B.

The report highlights Israel’s accelerated bid to control Mount Ebal north of Nablus, where settlers established a new outpost in March 2026. Mobile homes and heavy equipment are being deployed under a cabinet decision to legalize 22 new sites. Israel invokes biblical narratives of an “altar” at Barnat to justify turning the area into a Jewish religious-tourist site, consolidating control over strategic high ground.

In Tubas, the “Crimson Thread” project is destroying farmland and water networks in al-Baqi’a plain, threatening 24,000 dunums and hundreds of farmers’ livelihoods. Haaretz revealed the plan includes a 22-km military road and barrier, isolating large swaths of land.

Financially, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is pushing hundreds of millions of shekels in new allocations for settlements, including 200 million for “Jewish identity” programs through 2028. He openly calls for annexing the West Bank, dismantling Oslo accords, and expanding Jewish presence into the Negev and Galilee. Former PM Naftali Bennett echoed that Area C, 60% of the West Bank, “will be part of Israel.”

Weekly field violations documented include demolitions, land confiscations, settler attacks, and destruction of olive trees across Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, and the Jordan Valley. Incidents ranged from home demolitions in Kafr Aqab and Bethlehem, to violent settler assaults in Hebron and Yatta, to road closures and crop destruction in Ramallah and Nablus.

The report concludes that Israel’s settlement drive is intensifying ahead of elections, with right-wing leaders escalating rhetoric and policies aimed at permanent annexation of the West Bank.