Report: Israeli Plans to Seize Lands in the Valley and Surrounding Jerusalem

SadaNews - A report prepared by the National Office for Defending Land and Resisting Settlement stated that the occupation authorities are set to implement new colonial schemes to seize large areas of land in the Jordan Valley and the vicinity of the city of Jerusalem.

The office added in its weekly settlement report released today, Saturday, that the occupation authorities discussed plans last week to build 248 colonial units in various parts of the West Bank and intend to move forward with six schemes in four settlements, including 102 units in the "Rotem" settlement, located north of the Jordan Valley, approximately 14 units in "Givat Ze'ev", 4 units in "Shilo", and 138 units in the "Eli" settlement situated deep within the West Bank. It announced the seizure of more than 70 dunams through an order for military and security purposes from the lands of the villages of Qaryut, Eastern Luban, and Sawiya in the Nablus governorate, in favor of establishing a buffer zone around the "Eli" settlement built on the lands of these three villages.

The report pointed out that the "Higher Planning Council" of the occupation authorities has been holding weekly meetings since November 2024 to advance housing projects in the settlements, a shift that raises concern about a weekly approval process, not only to facilitate construction but also to accelerate it, without fear of international backlash due to the cumulative nature, which is proceeding quietly and has resulted since the beginning of this year 2025 in the approval of a total of 26,078 colonial units, an unprecedented record.

The report indicated that the Israeli government is seeking to normalize planning in the settlements and reduce public and international scrutiny and criticism. It has also activated old decisions to seize hundreds of dunams of land from the village of Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem.

In the northern Jordan Valley, it was revealed last week that settlers have fenced off more than 4,000 dunams of agricultural land owned by around 40 Palestinian families. These lands are classified as highly fertile agricultural lands, owned by their owners with official title deeds. The settlers exploited the world's preoccupation with the situation in the Gaza Strip and the closure of roads and gates in the Valley by the occupation forces to carry out this robbery of Palestinian lands and fence off that vast area, depriving residents of access to their lands.

The northern Jordan Valley is witnessing a significant escalation in the pace of settlers' assaults on citizens and their properties, ranging from attacking the residences of citizens, intimidating them, assaults, and destroying their properties, in addition to pursuing them in pastures, preventing them from accessing, assaulting their livestock, and stealing them.

The Hebron governorate is also experiencing a series of assaults, as the occupation forces last week destroyed large areas of agricultural land in the town of Beit Ummar north of Hebron and began leveling land.

In the city of Hebron, occupation forces leveled agricultural lands in the Bir Arka area northwest of Hebron, destroying agricultural lands and stone chains, covering an area of approximately 70 dunams, belonging to the Al-Zaghr and Al-Qawasmi families, as well as Al-Qunibi and others.

The village of "Um al-Khair" in the Hebron governorate to the east of Yatta city has borne the brunt of these assaults.

For the third consecutive week, settlers have intensified their attacks on citizens during the olive picking season, with their assaults covering various governorates in the West Bank. They targeted farmers with gunfire, assaulted them physically, and stole fruits and agricultural equipment, simultaneously expanding several colonial outposts.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 71 assaults by settlers on 27 villages in the West Bank during the period from October 7 to 13, half of which were related to the olive picking season, with attacks characterized by assaulting farmers, stealing crops, or equipment, or vandalizing olive trees.

Moreover, settlers' violations continued during the period from 14/10/2025 to 22/10/2025, reaching approximately 78 assaults, including 23 attacks on olive pickers, preventing them from harvesting, 10 cases of entering lands with their livestock and releasing them among the trees for further destruction, 9 cases of land seizure and fencing some of it, 10 assaults on olive trees involving burning and breaking, burning 10 vehicles and a workshop for repairing vehicles, and 6 cases of stealing olives from various locations, along with repeatedly attacking 3 Bedouin gatherings, expanding roads and colonial outposts, and demolishing five houses, a farm, two sheds, and a commercial store.