Israel has issued two tenders for the construction of 356 new illegal settler units in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli anti-settlement group says.
The Peace Now movement, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, said on Wednesday that Israel’s ministry of construction and housing published the tenders for the construction of a new neighborhood in the Geva Binyamin settlement, southeast of Ramallah.
The first tender covers 342 units, while the second includes 14 designated for reserve soldiers, the observer said.
According to the group, an additional tender was published on Sunday for a settlement project in the Giv’on HaHadasha settlement, south of Ramallah.
“Since the beginning of 2025, tenders for building 5,667 housing units in settlements have been published – a record-breaking figure, roughly 50% higher than the previous peak year of 2018, when tenders were issued for 3,808 units.”
“If the tenders published this year are implemented, the new homes will add nearly 25,000 settlers to the West Bank,” the group added.
It said the expansion of settlements “only deepens the pit Israel must eventually climb out of.”
The development comes as the Israeli parliament (Knesset) has given preliminary approval to a bill that would apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank, a move widely seen as a step toward formal annexation.
“The Israeli government is doing everything to realize annexation on the ground and turn Israel into an apartheid state,” Peace Now said.
The regime has also escalated its West Bank violence since October 7, 2023, when it launched the campaign of genocide in Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces and settlers have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied territory.
Amid intensifying Israeli military raids and settler violence, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Tuesday that the West Bank is facing its largest displacement crisis in more than five decades.
More than 700,000 settlers live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied territories.
The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in several resolutions. Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine illegal.
The ICJ demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV ]
