Israel uses military orders to expand West Bank settlements

Military orders driving expansion

The Palestine Liberation Organization's National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in a report released Saturday that Israeli authorities have altered the West Bank's topographical map over recent years by repurposing military infrastructure and seizure orders to expand illegal settlements. The document said such tactics include opening new roads connecting outposts to larger colonies, modifying boundaries of military firing zones for civilian purposes and converting abandoned military bases into residential settlements.

Displacement and territorial transformation

The report noted that Israeli forces destroyed entire Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley and Masafer Yatta areas, forcing residents to leave while establishing new settlement outposts in the same locations. It added that some outposts were established in direct coordination with the Israeli political leadership, noting that military seizure orders originally intended for temporary security purposes have evolved into primary instruments supporting permanent settlement projects.

Scope of settlement enterprise

Between 2023 and 2025, Israeli authorities issued 140 military seizure orders categorized under security needs, with 81% allocated to illegal settlements and outposts, according to bureau data cited in the report. The document referenced Israeli newspaper Haaretz in reporting that the commander of the Israeli army's Central Command signed eight orders in recent months modifying firing zone boundaries to legalize existing outposts and allow further expansion.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 645 illegal Israeli settlements and military sites throughout the West Bank at the end of 2025, comprising 151 settlements, 350 outposts including 89 pastoral outposts, and 144 additional military and industrial sites. The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank reached approximately 778,500 by the end of 2024, with the majority residing in the Jerusalem governorate.