In the weekly report published by the PLO's National Office for the Defense of Territories and Resistance to Settlement, information was given about Israel's illegal settlement activities in the West Bank.
The report stated that the settlements council in the north of the West Bank, known as the "Shomron Settlements Council" in Israel, published maps of a settlement block that is being worked on to be established, in coordination with the settlement structure called "Farms Union".
It was noted that the completion of this "horizontal belt" extending from east to west between the north and central part of the occupied West Bank would cut the geographical connection between the two regions and turn the Palestinian cities and villages in the region into "disconnected and besieged areas".
The report emphasized that the plan would create a settlement belt squeezing the Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya and Selfit provinces in the north of the West Bank, and warned that this would "eliminate the Palestinians' opportunities for urban expansion, economic and agricultural development in the future."
The plan is implemented with separate decisions
The report stated that the political levels of the Israeli government and the settlement movements and schools operating in the field played a joint role in the preparation and implementation of the plan.
It was stated that the Israeli security cabinet approved the basic elements of the plan with a series of decisions taken in 3 separate meetings, and the regional and local councils of the settlements prepared detailed development plans.
The report pointed out that the plan was not brought to the agenda under the name "horizontal belt" at the security cabinet meetings, and instead it was accepted as separate packages and articles for the legalization of the illegal settlement points that make up the belt and the expansion of the settlements.
It was stated that in this way, the settlements in question were geographically united and included in the official settlement system.
According to the report previously published by the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, relevant Israeli institutions evaluated 113 settlement development plans for the construction of more than 12,435 houses in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, in the first half of 2026. The Israeli government also approved the establishment of 34 settlements during the same period.
Since October 2023, when Israel launched its attacks on the Gaza Strip, there has been a serious increase in raids and attacks on Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and Israelis who usurped Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. The international community considers illegal Israeli settlements established in occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal under international law.
According to Palestinian statistics, there are approximately 750 thousand Israelis who have usurped Palestinian lands in 156 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and 360 illegal settlements established by Jewish groups and considered "illegal" according to Israeli laws. Approximately 250 thousand of them live in 15 settlements established in occupied East Jerusalem.
