DaysofPal- Israeli occupation has practically reshaped the occupied West Bank into what amounts to Israeli development zones, implementing a de facto annexation throughout 2025, according to Palestinian settlement affairs researcher Mahmoud al-Saifi.
Speaking to Sand News Agency on Tuesday, al-Saifi said the past year saw a tangible acceleration of annexation on the ground, driven by rapid settlement growth, expanded infrastructure projects, and an escalation in settler violence against Palestinians.
He said Israeli occupation has built roughly 200 kilometers of roads designated exclusively for settlers, while the settler population in the West Bank is nearing one million, almost a quarter of the area’s total population.
Al-Saifi estimated that around 700 settlement locations now exist across the West Bank, including both large settlements and smaller outposts.
He said these sites are accompanied by near-daily attacks on Palestinians, alongside continued road construction and infrastructure expansion aimed at consolidating the settlement enterprise.
He also warned of efforts to reclassify certain settlements as urban cities, pointing to the settlement of Qarniya near Qalqilya as one such case.
Settlement activity, he added, has grown more aggressive with the relocation of Israeli military camps to the Jenin area and intensified operations in the northern West Bank following the Israseli disengagement-related policies.
Al-Saifi further said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for about 58,000 new settlement housing units, calling the decision an announcement of a new settlement year in 2026.
He also cited measures granting Israeli occupation direct control over the Jordan Valley in the eastern West Bank, which makes up roughly 29 percent of the territory.
Calling for a unified Palestinian response, al-Saifi urged political unity and the activation of popular resistance to counter settler attacks and obstruct Israeli settlement agenda.
An estimated 750,000 Israeli settlers currently live in hundreds of settlements across the West Bank, including about 250,000 in occupied East Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials say settlers carry out frequent assaults on Palestinians as part of a broader strategy aimed at forcing them off their land.
Data from the Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission shows that Israeli forces and settlers carried out 23,827 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property across the West Bank in 2025 alone.
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