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West Bank Dispatch: Israel sets mark for settlement units approved in a single year

In the past six months alone, Israel has approved the construction of 13,000 new settlement units, breaking the previous mark for the most settlement units approved in a single year.
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A distant picture of trailers erected on a hill for a new outpost near the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Levona in the West Bank, June 27, 2023.
A structure for a new outpost near the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Levona in the West Bank, June 27, 2023, following the approval by Israel’s Civil Administration Higher Planning Committee (HPC) on June 26 of the promotion of 5,623 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including 1,428 in the Eli settlement. (Photo: © Atef Safadi/EFE via ZUMA PressAPA Images)

Key Developments (June 26-29)

Read more from the West Bank Dispatch here.
Read more from the West Bank Dispatch here.
  • Israel advanced plans for some 5,700 settlement units in the occupied West Bank in the latest push by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to expand illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. The latest approval brings the total number of settlement housing units advanced during the past six months to just over 13,000, breaking the previous mark for the most settlement units in the West Bank approved in a single year since Peace Now began tracking approvals in 2012. By comparison, just over 4,400 settlement units were advanced in all of 2022. In the wake of a shooting last week that killed four Israeli settlers, Netanyahu and other government ministers have vowed to promote settlement expansion at a rapid rate, deeming it Israel’s “response to terrorism.” Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, a source of routine violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and one of the major obstacles to Palestinian statehood, territorial contiguity, and sovereignty. 
  • Two Palestinians were injured and six more were detained, including a journalist, during an Israeli army raid on Nablus city on Tuesday, June 27. According to Wafa news agency, Israeli forces raided several homes in the city, sparking confrontations with Palestinians. At least one person was injured with live ammunition in the lower abdomen, and another was hit with shrapnel in the eye.  
  • Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and arrested a number of Palestinians on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday on Wednesday, June 28, according to local reports. Following the morning Eid prayer, Israeli police reportedly stormed the compound and forced worshipers out of the Bab al-Rahma (Gate of Mercy) area. Some 18 Palestinians were reportedly arrested from the area, which Israeli authorities have permanently closed off to Muslim worshipers. 
  • Israeli settlers continued their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, with incidents documented in the Masafer Yatta, Jericho, Nablus, and Ramallah areas. In a rural area outside of Jericho, armed Israeli settlers reportedly threatened Palestinian shepherds at gunpoint. At least two men and a 10-year-old child were reportedly injured, though the nature of their injuries was unknown. In Masafer Yatta, Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian youth, leaving him battered and bruised. A number of Palestinians were also arrested by Israeli forces after residents of a village in Masafer Yatta demonstrated against the erection of a new settler outpost on their land. Israeli settlers and soldiers also reportedly blocked off the main road near the village of Turmus Ayya, forcing Palestinian vehicles to take alternative routes. Turmus Ayya was the subject of an Israeli settler pogrom last week, during which dozens of homes and vehicles were burned to the ground, and a Palestinian man was killed. 

Important figures

  • At least 174 Palestinians, including 30 children, have been killed since the start of the year by Israeli gunfire.

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