Targets ≈6,000 dunams of Palestinian land
On July 20, 2026, the so-called “Gush Etzion Settlement Regional Council” in the occupied West Bank approved a large-scale settlement master plan for the area southeast of Tekoa settlement, covering approximately 6,000 dunams. The plan is being promoted jointly by the Gush Etzion Settlement Regional Council, the Tekoa settlement, and the Amana settlement movement. It includes the establishment of residential areas, tourism facilities, employment zones, agricultural land, as well as open spaces and roads in the area between Tequ and Al-Maniya villages, including lands that have been classified as a nature reserve east of Bethlehem.
The Israeli occupation authorities are seeking to create a geographical extension of Tekoa settlement southward through the seizure of Palestinian land and settlement construction, which would restrict Palestinian urban expansion in the area. This settlement expansion would also create significant geographical contiguity between Israeli settlements and outposts in the area, including Ma’ale Amos, Ibei HaNahal, Tekoa, Nokdim, and David, thereby forming a settlement bloc or settlement belt in the area under the umbrella of the so-called “Gush Etzion Settlement Regional Council.”
Photo 1: The Plan for Tekoa Settlement, as Published by Yaron Rosenthal, Head of the So-Called “Gush Etzion Settlement Regional Council”
According to a statement by the council’s head, Yaron Rosenthal, the settlement plan constitutes a “strategic step aimed at strengthening the development of eastern Gush Etzion and securing the future of the Jewish communities (settlements) in the area.” Rosenthal added in a statement posted on social media: “We are not looking only at the next few years; we are planning for the future generations. We will continue building and developing, strengthening the settlement enterprise, preserving the land, and creating settlement contiguity that will ensure the continued growth of Gush Etzion.” Map 1.
Map 1: The Tekeo settlement plan as it appears on the map
Analysis of the plan and the published map shows that 28.2% of the targeted area—equivalent to 1,640 dunams out of the plan’s total area – 5,822 dunams– falls within land classified by the Israeli occupation authorities as “state land” under Israeli Military Order No. 59 of 1967.
The new settlement plan reveals that the seizure and control of Palestinian land are no longer confined to areas that the Israeli authorities claim to be “state land,” or “settlement jurisdiction areas,” or other Israeli-designated classifications. Rather, the plan extends to Palestinian lands located outside these classifications, thereby overriding the usual land classifications established by the Israeli occupation authorities themselves. This indicates that the Israeli occupation authorities are seeking to impose a new settlement reality on the ground, regardless of the classifications they invoke to justify their settlement building activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
