Resistance to the Wall and Settlement: On the 50th Anniversary of Land Day.. The Colonial Project Accelerates Under the Cover of War

SadaNews: The head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority stated that the fiftieth anniversary of Land Day reaffirms the centrality of land in the Palestinian national consciousness, as it is the essence of the conflict and its historical and political foundation. On this day in 1976, our people set an advanced model in defending land and identity against policies of confiscation and uprooting, establishing this milestone as one of the most prominent expressions of collective steadfastness in our contemporary history.

Shaban noted that this anniversary comes amidst a highly complex reality, where procedures for controlling the land and imposing colonial facts are accelerating, reproducing the same policies that our people have faced for decades, albeit with more intense and organized tools. Therefore, recalling Land Day today is not merely a historical reminder, but also a renewed political act affirming our people’s attachment to their land and rights, their rejection of all attempts at liquidation and judaization, and their continuation in defending their existence despite all challenges.

He added that the significance of Land Day, as a revealing station for the continuity of policies aimed at controlling Palestinian land, is renewed through the expansion of settlements, land confiscation, and tightening restrictions on construction and planning, leading to the imposition of field realities that reshape geography and demography to serve the colonial project. What we are witnessing today is not a break from the past, but an extension of it with more complex tools, necessitating a deep reading of these transformations and the development of confrontation tools that match their changing nature.

Shaban affirmed that under the shadow of the fiftieth anniversary, we stress on behalf of our people that land will remain the focal point of struggle and its title, and that all attempts to obliterate identity or impose facts on the ground are doomed to fail against the rooted will of steadfastness. We also renew the call to the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, and to take practical steps to stop the ongoing violations against Palestinian land and people, ensuring the protection of their legitimate rights, foremost among them their right to their land, resources, and sovereignty.

42% of the West Bank is Subject to Colonial Procedures

He pointed out that the accumulated spatial data over the years indicate that approximately 61% of the area of the West Bank falls within the classified areas (C), where the occupation authorities impose full security and civil control, with more than 70% of the land in area C subjected to colonial procedures and labels such as state land, nature reserves, and military training areas. Approximately 15% of the West Bank land has been declared state land, with the vast majority allocated for colonial expansion, in addition to 18% of the total area of the West Bank declared as military training areas, which denies Palestinians the right to enter, use, and reclaim them, while settlers are allowed to infiltrate and establish outposts there. Data also shows that the area controlled by colonial construction in settlements and their areas of influence reaches approximately 12.4% of the total area of the West Bank, while colonial bypass roads enforce separation between Palestinian existence and connectivity to the settlement sites, controlling more than 3% of the area of the West Bank, thus reflecting complete control over more than 42% of the West Bank, illustrating the gap between actual use and planning control that severely restricts Palestinian development with a colonial intention aimed at eliminating the prospect of a Palestinian state in the future.

He added that the same data indicates that the number of colonies and settlement outposts in the West Bank has exceeded 542, consisting of 350 outposts and 192 colonies inhabited by more than 780,000 settlers, while the occupation authorities continue to issue military orders and structural plans targeting thousands of dunams annually. He indicated that in recent years, the pace of approvals for colonial units has increased to reach tens of thousands, in parallel with the construction of hundreds of kilometers of bypass roads that redraw the geographical map and deepen the isolation of Palestinian communities, as part of a comprehensive project aimed at tightening control over the land and undermining any possibility for the establishment of a geographically connected Palestinian entity.

Systematic Targeting of Bedouin Communities with Terrorism and Displacement
Shaban noted that since October 7, settlers' attacks have not been limited to direct assault, but have turned into a functional tool for reshaping the spatial dimension in the West Bank, especially in areas where Bedouin and agricultural communities are spread. The escalation of armed settler terrorism, carried out under security and political cover, has led to the displacement of no less than 79 Palestinian Bedouin communities either partially or fully, including communities of varying sizes and characteristics, comprising 814 families and more than 4,700 citizens, in one of the largest waves of forced displacement in a short period of time. This displacement cannot be read as an incidental result of chaos, but rather as part of an organized intervention aimed at vacating strategic areas, especially in the classified areas (C) and around settlement blocs, in preparation for their reallocation within the colonial project.

He added that these realities reveal an advanced pattern of colonial privatization of violence, where the implementation of implicit governmental goals has been entrusted to settler militias, which have moved to capitalize on the state of war and international distraction to intensify expulsion and intimidation operations, achieving field results that are difficult to obtain through direct official channels. In this sense, displacement becomes a tool for redrawing the geographical map by dismantling Palestinian presence in rural and Bedouin anchor points, transforming them into areas susceptible to settlement or annexation, as part of a broader strategy aimed at imposing new demographic realities that undermine any possibility for future Palestinian geographic continuity.

165 Settlement Outposts Established by Settlers After October 7
Shaban clarified that data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority indicates an unprecedented increase in the pace of establishing colonial outposts since October 7, with settlers establishing more than 165 new outposts, including 59 outposts during the year 2025 alone, indicating a clear shift towards a pattern of rapid and unofficial expansion led by settler militias on the ground. These outposts serve as an advanced tool for imposing colonial facts, starting as limited settlement points that quickly evolve into nuclei for future expansions, supported by military protection and infrastructure, thereby contributing to the control of vast areas of Palestinian land and isolating communities, imposing a reality that is difficult to reverse within a strategy aimed at reshaping the geographical map in the West Bank.

Since October 7, the Planning Authorities Reviewed a Total of 390 Structural Plans for Settlements

Shaban added that after October 7, the planning authorities in the occupying state reviewed a total of 390 structural plans for settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, indicating that the large number of plans currently under study warns of a premeditated intent by the occupying state to initiate the largest colonial expansion operations, alongside unprecedented decisions to establish as many settlements as possible, reaching 54 officially announced new settlement sites, including settlements to be built from scratch. He warned against such decisions that result in further confiscation of Palestinian land, tightening restrictions on them, and their displacement, indicating that the occupying state assigns the colonial project a fixed description, akin to a rolling ball of fire that does not settle for a geographic scope but seeks to consume more land at the expense of the original landowners. Shaban stated that the occupying power, in its continued attempts to besiege natural Palestinian construction and growth on Palestinian land, continues to issue demolition orders followed by continuous demolitions of Palestinian construction, with the total number of demolition orders distributed after October 7 exceeding 1,800, including 991 orders in the year 2025, which included (demolition orders, stop construction notifications). Approximately 60% of these notifications were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem, in addition to (1,400) facilities demolished by the occupation in the entire year 2025 alone.
 
925 Military Checkpoints and Gates Besiege the Palestinian Presence
 
Shaban added that the number of permanent and temporary checkpoints (gates, military or earth barriers) that divide Palestinian lands and impose restrictions on the movement of individuals and goods has reached a total of 925 military checkpoints and gates, trying to impose a parallel geographical space that sets the boundary for cantons and enclaves as an ugly face of the apartheid and segregation system that has escalated in its manifestations in recent months.

Shaban said that the annexation and expansion wall established by the occupying state in 2002 still isolates more than 295 square kilometers of citizens' land, noting that if the occupying state completes the construction of the planned sections, it will completely isolate 560 square kilometers, which is nearly 9% of the total land in the West Bank. He pointed out that the economic and social impacts of the wall remain present and have a significant impact on citizens' lives and their lands.

Shaban emphasized that Land Day is a national occasion to rally around popular resistance and protect the national resources of the Palestinian people in all places of their presence against the dangers and colonial occupation plans. He stated that popular resistance, being the most effective means to protect Palestinian national resources, is capable of breaking the occupation's plans aimed at stealing land and besieging Palestinian existence and displacing them forcibly, while simultaneously calling for the activation of more nighttime protection committees, particularly in areas subject to continuous attacks by terrorist settlers to repel assaults and protect the safe among our people.