Israel is escalating its relentless expansion of illegal settlements by confiscating land in the occupied West Bank, including through the alarming step of blatantly ordering the seizure of land in Area A, which is under the control of the State of Palestine authorities. This move deepens Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise and further undermines the rights of Palestinians living under occupation, said Amnesty International today.
In July 2026 alone, the Israeli military signed at least 15 land confiscation orders covering approximately 200 dunams (20 hectares) of land in Areas A and C in the Jenin governorate in the north of the occupied West Bank, with the apparent goal of connecting two planned Israeli settlements in the area: Emek Dotan and Noa. The two settlements are among 34 new settlements whose establishment was approved by the current Israeli government earlier this year.
“These latest confiscation orders from Area A show how Israel is now brazenly expanding its annexation agenda to areas that have been under the control of the Palestinian authorities since the Oslo Accords. States with close trade and political relationships with the Israeli government must urgently take action to pressure Israel to rescind these land confiscation orders. Any states providing assistance to Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements or other war crimes risk complicity in international crimes against Palestinians,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“By building new roads linking settlements to one another, Israel is carving up the Jenin governorate into isolated cantons, undermining the area’s geographical and economic integrity and tearing Palestinian communities apart; further fragmenting them and restricting their freedom of movement. Alongside Israel’s forcible transfer and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Area C, these measures illustrate in action the Israeli authorities’ determination to intensify its formal annexation of Palestinian land across the occupied West Bank.”
These latest confiscation orders from Area A show how Israel is now brazenly expanding its annexation agenda to areas that have been under the control of the Palestinian authorities since the Oslo Accords.
Heba Morayef, MENA Regional Director
In a recent report Amnesty International documented how the Israeli authorities have been accelerating annexation through a state-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the unlawfully occupied West Bank.
According to Peace Now, this is the first time since the Oslo Accords that military seizure orders have been issued in Area A openly for civil purposes benefiting settlers rather than for ostensible security reasons. In May 2026 the Israeli army confiscated privately owned lands within the city of Jenin for the purpose of establishing a military base.
Under international law, an occupying power must not confiscate land in an occupied territory unless absolutely necessary for military reasons; this does not include illegal settlement expansion.
In recent days Israel has also sparked a global outcry by advancing its controversial E1 settlement plan in violation of international law with an announcement that it has opened tenders for the construction of 1,234 Israeli homes in the occupied West Bank. If implemented, the plan would isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of Palestinian territory and will effectively divide the West Bank in two, making Palestinian movement across these areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territory more difficult and further fragmenting Palestinian communities.
According to the Jenin governor’s office the planned road connecting the two Israeli settlements, combined with other settlement activities in the area, will sever Jenin from other Palestinian governorates such as Tulkarem, Tubas and Nablus, further fragmenting Palestinian communities in the unlawfully occupied West Bank. Severing Palestinian towns form one another also undermines the economic, social and political ties between them.
The Jenin governor’s office told Amnesty International that the enforcement of these confiscation orders has already started and when completed, the negative economic repercussions for hundreds of families will be immense, as they will be cut off from their livelihoods, including agricultural lands and olive groves, just as the olive harvest season is approaching.
The confiscated lands are mostly privately owned by residents of the villages Qabatiya, Arraba, Mirka, Misilya, Jirba and Al-Yamoun in Jenin Governorate.
Most of these lands are located along Road 60 which crosses from the north to the south of the West Bank. On 29 July 2026, Israel’s Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration approved a plan for the expansion of the road, which is a critical part of settlement infrastructure easing the movement of settlers across the West Bank, often at the expense of Palestinians’ freedom of movement, and encouraging further transfer of Israelis to illegal settlements. In recent years the Israeli army has been blocking the access points of Palestinian villages and towns along Road 60 using metal gates, military checkpoints and dirt barriers.
In April 2026, UN OCHA reported 925 movement obstacles that permanently or intermittently restrict the movement of 3.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank, marking a 20-year high that is 43% more than the annual average during the last 20 years. Other land confiscation orders for the expansion of settler infrastructure and roads have been issued by the Israeli military in other parts of the West Bank, including Qusra – Nablus governorate, and Kufr Ni’meh – Ramallah governorate.
“Israel’s shameless use of land seizure orders to dispossess Palestinians and accelerate the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory must be stopped immediately. By confiscating Palestinian land to expand its illegal settlements, Israeli authorities are escalating long-standing violations of international law and further entrenching a system of dispossession and oppression. Israel must immediately halt these unlawful land seizures and end the relentless expansion of illegal settlements,” said Heba Morayef.
“The international community must move beyond rhetoric and take concrete steps to uphold its legal obligations to bring Israel’s violations to an end. States must use all available measures at their disposal; this means suspending cooperation that contributes to these violations, conditioning economic projects with Israel on the withdrawal of these land confiscation orders and ensuring that businesses do not support projects linked to settlements, unlawful occupation, land confiscation and annexation.
Private actors have also a crucial role to play in refraining from prioritizing profit over compliance with human rights standards. They must responsibly disengage from, or refrain from entering into business projects with entities contributing to the expansion of Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT, including security-related infrastructure, transport or other commercial projects.”
Amnesty International reiterates its call on Israeli authorities to remove all settlements, which are war crimes under international law, and to dismantle its system of apartheid against Palestinians, which is a crime against humanity. It also urges Israel to end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory once and for all in line with the July 2024 International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion endorsed by the UN General Assembly in September 2024.
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