New Expansions in the Israeli West Bank Settlements

It was published on Haaretz daily newspaper on the 22ed of May 2006 that the Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz has approved the decision made by his predecessor Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to expand four Israeli settlements located in the West Bank. The settlements are Oranit, south of Qalqilyia city, Betar Illit west of Bethlehem city, Giv'at Ze'ev in Jerusalem and Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley. Below is a brief description of each of the four settlements slated for expansion.

1- Giv'at Zeev settlement bloc

Giv'at Ze'ev settlement was established in 1982 and expanded over the years on the lands of Al Jib village and Betuniya town. It is one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank and one of the six settlements comprising the Giv'at Ze'ev bloc (Beit Horon, Beit Horon B, Giv'at Ze'ev, Giv'at Hadasha, Giv'at Hadasha B, Giv'on, Mevaseret Zion, Har Adar, Neve Sameul). See map of location

Table 1: Israeli Settlements comprising the Giv'at Ze've Bloc.

Source: ARIJ – GIS Database 2005

Giv'at Zeev settlement area is 2856 dunums and houses a total population of 10,790 Israeli settlers; whereby, the total area of Giv'at Zeev settlement bloc is 5821 dunums and houses a total population of more than 12000 Israeli settlers.

Over the past couple of years, the Giv'at Zeev settlement has witnessed an increase in area on the expense of the neighboring Palestinian villages.  Table 2 below shows expansion occurred according to the analysis conducted by the Applied Research Institute â?? Jerusalem.

Table 2: Expansion at Giv'at Ze'ev settlement

Images below clearly shows the expansion that occurred during the past few years in the settlement of Giv'at Ze'ev.

2. Betar Illit settlement

As for the settlement of Betar Illit, the Chief Commander of the Israel Defense Forces in Judea & Samaria, Ya'er Naveh has signed a military order authorizing the expansion of the settlement 'municipal boundaries'  by 500 dunums. The decision to expand the settlement 'was also made by former defense minister Shaul Mofaz and was later endorsed by his successor, Amir Peretz.' Quoted from Haaretz Newspaper May 22, 2006. (IDF authorizes expansion of four West Bank settlements)

Betar Illit settlement is located to the southwest of Jerusalem city and is one of eleven settlements comprising the Gush Etzion settlements bloc (Allon Shevut, Bat Ayin, Efrat, Elazar, Gev'ot, Hadar Betar, Kfar Etzion, Migdal Oz, Neve Daniel, Rosh Tzurim, and Kfar Etzion- Nahal and Betar Illit). See Table 3 below

Source: ARIJ GIS Database 2005

The settlement lays on 4686 dunums of lands originally owned by Palestinian residents from Husan and Wadi Fukin. Today, it is a home to 26300 Israeli settlers.

During the last couple of years, satellite images showed an increase in the Settlement's area, which dramatically affected the surrounding Palestinian communities who lost yet additional areas of their cultivated lands, which were confiscated to expand the settlement's area. Table 4 below shows the expansions occurred during the period between 2002 and 2005.

Source: ARIJ GIS Database 2005

In addition, hundreds of new housing units were added to the settlement in the last couple of years, which contributed to the expansion of the settlement vertically and horizontally. Table 5 below shows chronologically published tenders issued for new housing units in Betar Illit Settlement.

Source: ARIJ Monthly Reports (2003-2005)

See images of settlement expansion during the period between 2000 and 2005.

3. Oranit Settlement

Oranit settlement is located south of Qalqilyia city (northwest of the West Bank), on the 1949 Armistice Line (the Green Line). The settlement was established in 1983 on 1289 dunums of lands originally owned by Palestinians from Siniriya and Kafr Thulth. Today the settlement is a home to 5316 Israeli settlers.

4. Maskiyot settlement

Maskiyot, is a military training area located east of Tubas city in the northern Valleys (northeast of the West Bank). It was established in 1987 and has a total area of 18 dunums. The Israeli Minister of Defense Amir Peretz agreed to expanding this training site to settle in 30 Jewish families evacuated in August 2005 from Shirat Hayam settlement; formally located west of Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The decision to settle 30 Jewish families in Maskiyot military training area is a first step to in turning yet another military site into a settlement with enough potential to accommodate more Israeli families to come and settle in, in the near future.

Israeli Settlements growing Vertically

Not only have Israeli settlements have been expanding horizontally but also vertically, 'reinforcing' the existence of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territory. In an Analysis conducted by the Applied Research Institute â?? Jerusalem shows that during the period between, the Israeli government issued dozens of tenders to construct thousands of new housing units in West Bank Israeli settlements. Table 6 below details the Israeli Tenders issued for new housing units in West Bank Settlements between January 2003 and June 2006.

Source: ARIJ Monthly Reports January 2003-July 2006

The governorates of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Salfit and Jerusalem were the four governorates, which witnessed the most expansions in the number of housing units; whereby, the settlements of Modi'n Illit, Betar Illit, Ariel and Maâ??ale Adumim were the four settlements with the highest number of new housing units.

The International Legal Status of the Israeli settlements

The existence thus the expansion of Israeli settlements is illegal and contradictory with international laws, such as:

UNSC Resolution 452: 'Calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab occupied Territory since 1967, including Jerusalem.'

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949: 'the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the Territory it occupies.'

Furthermore, the Israeli decision to expand the settlements also violates the Roadmap signed on April 30, 2003, between Israel and the Palestinians (originally developed by the United States, in cooperation with Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations (the Quartet)) under which the Israeli Government agreed to freeze all settlement expansions. 

Prepared by
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ