A report prepared by the National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated that the Israeli occupation forces are implementing a dangerous project that will change the features of the West Bank and push forward the imposition of actual Israeli "sovereignty" over Area C, at a minimum. This is taking advantage of the preoccupation with the brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip and the raids, raids, demolitions and destruction in the cities, towns and camps in the northern West Bank.

The report, released Saturday, added that over the past year, the occupation government allocated 3.1 billion shekels (equivalent to $838 million) to pave hundreds of kilometers of new internal roads between Palestinian areas, with the aim of linking Israeli settlements established in the West Bank with cities within the 1948 territories, which contributes to the implementation of the Israeli annexation project and creates a reality on the ground that is difficult to change.

It pointed out that, according to the occupation government's statements, the goal is to establish a million settlers in the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over their settlements, despite the fact that these projects directly impact the lives of Palestinians by fragmenting their cities, towns, and villages and further isolating them from their surroundings.

In this context, an investigation by the Israeli website "Shmomrim," published last week, confirmed that the occupation authorities are continuing to expand the colonial road network by paving hundreds of kilometers of new roads to connect settlements and colonial outposts with government support, making it difficult for Palestinians to exercise their rights to their lands.

The investigation publishes a number of evidences of this, such as the road built east of the village of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem, to connect the "Nahalat Zvi" colonial outpost, established in 2022, with a new extension of the colonial outposts that were recently established in the area. As a result of this road, landowners in the area are no longer able to access their land, and if they try to do so, they are subjected to attacks by settlers, after the settlers paved it in October of last year. This was despite contacts made by the residents of the area with the Coordination and Liaison Office and the occupation police, who did nothing to stop them, as they had previously destroyed the road paved by the people of Mikhmas.

The investigation reveals a significant increase in the construction and paving of unlicensed roads under the settler government led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, in addition to some roads approved by official authorities. These roads not only prevent Palestinians from accessing their agricultural lands but are also changing the face of the West Bank.

In addition to this road, which connects the colonial outposts to the pastoral farms in the area, the investigation also examines another road in the vicinity of the village of Maghayer al-Deir, near the town. The investigation reveals that residents were surprised to discover engineering tools used by the settlers on the northern side of their town, just meters from their homes. The tools were discovered with permission from the Binyamin Colonial Council, which allows them to carry out work to "protect state lands," they claim.

These roads facilitate the access of settlers from colonial pastoral farms to Palestinian villages, by tractor, car, and even on foot, as is the case in Khirbet Umm al-Marajim near the village of Duma, south of Nablus. They enable them to storm it, as happened with the "Gal Yosef" colonial farm, which was established last year, and burn its homes and vehicles, by quickly reaching the area via the road that heads from the colonial farm towards the south, directly next to the khirbet.

The Shmumrim investigation reveals multiple ways to finance unlicensed roads, directly through the budget of the Ministry of Colonization, which, in turn, supports the land patrol departments run by the colonial councils in the West Bank. These departments aim to monitor and prevent planning and construction in Area C, and may receive government support for "road construction and paving of dirt roads."

Documents from the Ministry of Colonial Affairs show that the Hebron Hills Settlement Council received 1.1 million shekels last year to support a road construction project in the Susya area. As part of this project, the Gush Etzion Settlement Council received 958,000 shekels "to improve existing roads to protect state lands in the hills," while the Binyamin Settlement Council received approximately 1.9 million shekels for six different road construction projects.

The National Bureau reported that the occupation authorities are covering up this by preventing the publication of information about the new roads. However, Israeli organizations are documenting the situation based on aerial photographs. Meanwhile, the Peace Now movement explains that between mid-2023 and mid-2024, 139 unlicensed roads were built in the West Bank, totaling 116 kilometers in length.

In its latest report on the issue, the movement explains that 25 roads have been paved to establish new colonial outposts, 31 roads to expand existing colonial outposts, eight roads between an existing outpost and the nearest colony, and 46 roads to allow access to areas where there is currently no permanent colonist presence. No construction plan has been prepared for any of these roads, and no legal permit has been issued for their operation.

In this regard, the author of the Peace Now report, Yoni Mizrahi, confirms that the construction of roads has become a major tool for seizing Palestinian land without the need for a colonial population density. He adds that in some colonial outposts, only one or two families may live, but with the help of roads, they seize vast areas. He adds that the last two years have witnessed an escalation in settler violence and an increase in the construction of outposts and farms, in addition to the expansion of the road network that strangles Palestinians and restricts their access to their lands.

The colonial leaders openly declare that the goal of building such roads is to contribute to the seizure of the largest possible area with the least number of colonists.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made this clear during a recent official ceremony in southern Hebron, where he and Colonization Minister Orit Struck handed over dozens of four-wheel drive vehicles to support these farms. Smotrich emphasized that the proliferation of sheep and goats on the land prevents Palestinians from accessing them.

The roads being built to the farms and settlement outposts play a vital role in this, as they not only facilitate the movement of settlers, but also contribute to consolidating their control over the land. Yotam Cohen, a volunteer with the Israeli human rights organization Torat Tzedek, confirms that these roads intensify attacks on Palestinians by enabling settlers to quickly access the lands via these roads in four-wheel drive vehicles.

The National Bureau stated in its report that the activities of these colonial outposts and unlicensed pastoral farms receive clear government support, in addition to multiple funding channels, such as the Colonization Department of the World Zionist Organization. Its Director-General, Hosea Harari, acknowledged at one of its conferences, held in June of last year, that in 2023, the department invested approximately 75 million shekels to support unlicensed colonial farms and outposts, including 7.7 million shekels allocated for road construction. This department also received an additional budget of 75 million shekels from the occupation government to "support security components" in the settlements, including guard posts and surveillance cameras.

He added that these pastoral farms receive generous financial support not only from the occupation government, but also from local authorities in the colonies, the Colonization Department of the World Zionist Organization, and from colonial organizations and associations, such as the Friends of Samaria, the Amana Association, and the Permanent Fund for Israel, known as the Keren Kayemet, which is considered a major supporter through its participation in various projects, and through devious and dangerous means to whitewash and expand the farms, and to provide them with roads to ensure communication between them.

The report noted that the terrorist Amana movement, which was sanctioned by the former US president's administration, plays a prominent role in providing support to the settlements and pastoral farms, including helping them pave roads to connect these outposts and farms to the nearby settlements. This effort is being spearheaded, according to Israeli sources, by Ze'ev Hever (Zambish), the man whose door is open to Netanyahu, many say.

He explains that some observers see Hafer as the “mastermind behind the project to control” Palestinian lands, and as the head of the “Amana” group, the main executive arm for establishing the colonial outposts. Haaretz newspaper quotes him in an interview with the magazine “Ndalani Yehosh” (Regional Real Estate) as saying: “Building connections between these outposts and the farms and preserving open land is Amana’s central mission,” and that the primary means we use are the farms. He added that “the area occupied by these farms amounts to 2.5 times the total area occupied by the hundreds of settlements combined.”

The report confirms that this "Amana" organization, led by Ze'ev Hever, a far-right terrorist in the Jewish underground movement in the early 1980s, was convicted in 1984 for his involvement in the attempted assassinations of mayors in the West Bank in 1980. In subsequent years, he became increasingly influential, and the occupying state awarded him its highest official award (the Israel Prize). He is now the secretary-general of the organization responsible for building most of the most violent colonial outposts in the West Bank.

Sources also report that it is considered a "powerful organization," with assets estimated at 600 million shekels (about $158 million currently).

In this context, Yossi Dagan, a prominent member of the Likud Party and head of the Northern West Bank Settlements Council, is constantly appearing. Some describe him as an "octopus in the service of colonialism." He has done much to achieve this goal, particularly securing the necessary approvals for the construction of the Hawara bypass road, the bus station at the eastern entrance to Ariel, connecting the settlements to high-speed internet, lighting intersections and streets, installing traffic signals at the entrances to the settlements, and licensing cemeteries.

Yossi Dagano has strong ties with prominent rabbis such as Rabbi Levanon, Daniela Weiss, head of the Nahala colonial movement, and the Amana Association.

He manages a broad network of external relations with regional and international entities he calls "Friends of Samaria," enabling him to raise funds not only to support colonialism, spread colonial outposts and terrorist pastoral farms, and connect them with internal roads, but also to arm the colonists.

The National Bureau reports that Israeli reports indicate that the Zionist Organization's Colonization Department and the Jewish Agency are involved in serious crimes, including the transfer of ownership and disposal of private Palestinian lands, their allocation to Jewish colonization, and their contribution to the displacement of Palestinians from their pastures and farms, with the support of the military and political echelons.

In recent years, according to the Peace Now movement, it has become clear that this department is deeply involved in illegal activities by allocating privately owned Palestinian lands to settlers, without the consent of their owners. This is despite the fact that the Government Comptroller's Office issued an advisory opinion in 2015 confirming that the powers and duties performed by the Settlement Department, a non-governmental body, fall within the core powers of government, and therefore the government may not delegate them to a non-governmental entity.

The opinion also prohibited the allocation of direct budgets to the department within the budget law or through direct financial transfers.

Instead of acting on this advisory opinion, in 2015 the Knesset enacted an amendment to the Law on the Status of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for the Land of Israel, which aimed to enable the government to continue its activities in the West Bank through the Colonization Department.

With the passage of this law, the status quo was formally established, allowing this department to freely dispose of the lands transferred to it by the state, without any obligation to report or be transparent.

The National Bureau for Defending Land documented the following weekly violations in the West Bank governorates during the reporting period:

Jerusalem

Israeli occupation forces forced Jerusalemite Sufyan al-Lawzi to demolish his home in the town of Kafr Aqab. He was given only half an hour to demolish his two-room home, claiming it was built without a permit. He was also fined a hefty sum if he did not comply with the self-demolition order immediately. He was also forced to remove the rubble from his home to preserve nature.

In Beit Anan, settlers attacked guards and employees at the solid waste landfill, seizing a digger and a motorcycle. They assaulted the guards and employees while they were on duty, seriously injuring several of them and causing fractures. They also forcibly seized a "bagger" used for dumping waste, in addition to a motorcycle belonging to one of the guards.

Hebron

Settlers uprooted a number of olive saplings and vandalized a fence surrounding land owned by the Al-Hathalin family in Khirbet Umm al-Khair in Masafer Yatta.

The settlers also released their livestock into large areas of agricultural crops in Wadi Al-Jawaya, owned by the Al-Shawahin family.

In the Fateh Sidra area, settlers released their livestock around Farid Al-Hamamdeh's home, provoked the family, and erected occupation flags on citizens' lands in the area.

On the Wadi Sa'ir road, a citizen, his wife and his son were injured in an attack by settlers, which resulted in him suffering bruises and wounds in various parts of his body. His wife (50 years old) was also attacked, resulting in her suffering a broken hand, and his son suffering head injuries. They were taken to the hospital.

In the village of Al-Zuwaydin, occupation forces suppressed a protest in the village denouncing the settlers' attempt to seize their lands.

In the village of Umm al-Khair, the occupation authorities notified Musa al-Hadhlin of the demolition of three homes, each covering an area of 150 square meters, and a home in the Hamida area, each covering an area of 120 square meters, belonging to Nayef Suleiman al-Najada. Five homes were also demolished in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, on the pretext of lacking a permit.

The occupation army and settlers in military uniform raided the home of Akif Salem Harizat in the village of Manizil in the Masafer Yatta area, destroying the contents of the house and its furniture, and stealing an amount of money worth six thousand shekels.

Bethlehem

The occupation forces notified the demolition of a car wash in the village of Husan, located in the "Al-Shurafa" area at the eastern entrance to the village, on the pretext of lacking a license. It is worth noting that the facility has been demolished previously.

The occupation forces also demolished a 100-square-meter house, built of iron and galvanized sheet metal, in the Al-Khamar area, southeast of Bethlehem, on the pretext of lacking a permit.

In the lands of the village of Artas, the occupation forces began paving a colonial road through the village lands adjacent to the tourist pools of Solomon, reaching the eastern part of Al-Abyat. This will lead to the possibility of separating the areas of Abu Zeid and Khallet al-Nahla from Artas, and the possibility of bypassing the Khalayel al-Loz area and separating it from its lands, with the aim of expanding the "Efrat" settlement.

Ramallah

Citizens Adnan Hassan Rashid and Musa Shalalda were injured and bruised in an attack by armed settlers on the town of Kobar. They also kidnapped two young men, Adnan Abdul Rashid and Muhammad Bassam, after tying them up, assaulting them, and torturing them.

In the town of Sinjil, dozens of settlers renewed their incursion into the hill area, raising Israeli flags there. Meanwhile, the occupation forces began building a separation wall around the town, extending 1,500 meters in length. This prevents residents from moving, contributes to the settlers' seizure of the town's lands, and transforms it into a prison, suffocating and isolating it from the homes located behind Route 60.

In the village of Qibya, occupation bulldozers demolished two inhabited homes belonging to Rajih al-Tahir and Faraj Abu Zahra. The demolitions were carried out under the pretext of building in Area C.

Nablus

Citizens confronted an attack by settlers in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, where they attacked a number of participants in an anti-colonial march near Jabal Sabih. The residents confronted the settlers.

It's worth noting that the residents of Beita have been organizing a weekly march to protest the Israeli occupation forces' seizure of their lands in Jabal Sabih for the "Avitar" settlement outpost.

In the village of Qusra, the occupation forces continued bulldozing the village's lands as part of a policy aimed at seizing more agricultural land for colonial expansion.

The occupation forces delivered a notice to stop work on the Burqa Park, which is being built in the archaeological area of Al-Masoudiya, on the pretext that it is located in Area C. The park is funded by the Palestinian Union of Local Authorities at a cost of 130,000 shekels, and work on preparing it began ten days ago, with the aim of providing entertainment for the residents of the area and making it a breathing space for families, in light of the siege and colonial attacks.

Salfit

Thousands of settlers stormed religious sites in the town of Kafr Haris, amid a heavy deployment of occupation forces that provided protection.

The occupation authorities closed the town's entrances and imposed strict military measures, including prohibiting Palestinian movement and forcing shops to close, a common occurrence during Jewish holidays.

The raid came in response to calls by colonialist groups to organize noisy Talmudic prayers and celebrations, including scenes of dancing and singing near Islamic shrines, in an ongoing attempt to impose a new reality and Judaize these sites.

The occupation forces halted work on the road paving project between the towns of Bidya and Mas'ha. Soldiers stormed the site, halted work on the project, and issued orders to the workers to halt the work.

In Wadi Qana, the occupation authorities served notices to remove a fence and uproot olive trees over an area of 100 square meters, and to uproot 12 olive trees under the pretext that they are a nature reserve.

The Israeli occupation forces also uprooted more than 1,200 olive trees from citizens' lands in the village of Haris, covering an area exceeding 63 dunams, in preparation for seizing them for colonial expansion in the area.

Jordan Valley

Settlers stormed Khirbet Samra in the northern Jordan Valley, roamed among residents' homes, and placed occupation flags nearby.

Others began fencing and cultivating land in the Wadi al-Faw area in the northern Jordan Valley, despite the fact that it is owned by citizens by land title.

In the Al-Farisiya area, settlers attacked a shepherd and attempted to steal his livestock. Others cut water lines in the Al-Auja Waterfall community and carried out provocative car tours among residents' homes. They then cut off water pipes extending from the Al-Auja Spring, which supply residents with drinking water.

In the Ein el-Hilweh settlement, settlers stormed the settlement and placed occupation flags on citizens' property in repeated provocative acts. They also placed cement blocks around some springs in Khirbet el-Deir, an additional step to impose their seizure and prevent Palestinian citizens from exploiting them.